I guess its a question of trying to predict the future, which is alway a little tricky, but do you think any other airframes will join the collection at Bruntingthorpe at any point? As current types are retired and the recession eases can you see anything else arriving? Or is it a case of most recent aircraft being too complex to play with, Hawks and Tornados etc.

MH

Ummmm difficult one, cant really answer that one to be honest, the colection is big enough, and the resorces are stretched as it is.

Who knows, 20 years ago it was just us with 728 and few of Nevs statics, now look at it. 😉

And its also down to our brilliant host, Dave Walton, without him we, all of us would be knowhere, thankyou Mr Walton 🙂

Time will tell 😉

What happened to the other 2 canberras flown in?

163 is now at Cov ‘airworthly’ and waiting engines, as scorpion63 and I have said above and 568 was spares recovered and broken up in about 2003-04ish 😉

Cheers

Now I hope you can forgive me for this little diversion but the first arrival in 1995 was this ‘little’ lot, x 8 40ft trailor loads rusty steel

Eeeeeeeeeeek !

And by Feb 1995 it was all unloaded, waiting for us to start, those doors in the forground are the ones that are up and being worked on at the mo

Back to the aircraft

The first of 1995 was tristar which came in just before the Guppy, the Tristar was spares recovered and eventually chopped up, she had been ‘swept’ up by about 2002

In the late spring of 1995 the Guppy arrived, again I just missed the landing by about 30mins, traffic jam on the M1 B***** !

Then 2 weeks before the 1995 Big Thunder Airshow the Swiss Hunter was delivered, this was a hush hush thing and I missed the delivery by a few days, the shot below was taken on the day we helped the guys disarm the seat prior to the airshow.
We learnt all we know about the Hunter that day

1995 was for me a great year at Brunty, In May David held a 40’s dance and party in the hangar where 558 now sits, Sally B came in and was positioned inside with the BBMF Spitfire and Hurricane either side of her, with the 40’s band sat infront, as a celebration of 50 years since VE day, it was an an amazing night, everyone dressed up in the right gear, all sat outside under the tree’s eating and drinking from their hammpers then a big band dance, and I didnt take my camera !

The airshow of 95 was the best one for me peronally, clambering over all the visiting aircraft and refueling most of them, great

Then in 1996 the couple who owned the Camberra’s brought in their Dove which stayed for a few months the left us

There was then and gap of a year before the two last deliveries which were the Iskra in the spring of 1997 and last but not least the Comet Canopus, again I got a phone call and dashed out of work on a cold October day, as I got there the sun was just going down and she arrived over the hedge, didnt do a go round just straight in and down.

Iskra first

The support ‘ship’ was the most ‘interesting’

Then the Comet on that cold dark October evening

The last delivery was back in 2001 when the latest 747 (with Asda logos now on the side) was delivered, I didnt bother making the journey to see ‘her in’.

And that wraps it up for ‘flown in’s’

All the other aircraft in the collection have been ‘roaded in’ and put back together over the same period of time that this photo diary spans, some have been brought back to taxying and some as static’s.

Oh I forgot there was this one that I missed, a Beech 17 Volpar conversion for the ‘Beech boys’ which has know flown the nest

This ‘lovely’ arrived in Feb 2005

I hope you have all enjoyed this trip of mine down memory lane

Cheers