Always been lots of suggestions about Hendon on this forum, so whoever wins this contract will hopefully consult widely. Any further ideas here? Or should £23 million be spent on the aircraft exhibits?

http://www.attractionsmanagement.com/detail.cfm?pagetype=detail&subject=news&codeID=311169

An interesting question. I’m sure £23 million won’t go very far though, judging by how much money seems to be gobbled up by most projects these days.

I have been going to Hendon, most years since around 1980, so have seen the evolution of the place first hand. I have to admit to really liking its original display of Hawker aircraft together, in the “Camm” collection, but it is always good to have a change.

For me its strong points are the Battle of Britain Hall, and the Graeme White Factory/WW1 element. They are both specific, displayed in context, and tell a story.

Its weaker points are the Bomber Command Hall, Milestones of Flight, and main building in their current state.

– The Bomber Command hall has become confused with non-RAF types, and partially a staging ground for aircraft without a home.

– The Milestones of Flight, which in concept is a good idea to display a wider range of nations types on-site as an added attraction to prospective visitors is a nice addition, but to be honest could have been anywhere in the UK.

– The Main Display Hall seems to have become a place to just put everything else currently, which needs zoning better.

I personally think that given the large number of types of aircraft they have plus the ~100 year historical timescale available as a backdrop, a re-vamp of Hendon should concentrate on zoned areas centered around a particular conflict or era. Using the Battle of Britain, and WW1 Hall as a template for success. Each zone could have the main aircraft for that conflict/era together, eg.1980’s: Tornado F2/Hawk T1/Wessex/Jet Provost T5/Harrier GR3/Jaguar GR1 with some background “dressing” like one or two ground vehicles, Lightweight Landrover, and the history boards telling the key political and social background to life at the time.

For example:

– WW1
– 1930’s aircraft (UK, Middle East?).
– WW2 Fighter Command/Battle of Britain (Europe, North Africa, Burma?)
– WW2 Bomber Command (Europe, North Africa, Burma?)
– 50’s and RAuxAF (meteors/Vampires/Canberra)
– Malaya (Mosquito/Tempest/Brigand/Auster/Harvard, etc.)
– Cold War QRA (Lightning/Vulcan/Hunter)
– RAF Germany (Phantom/Wessex)
– Falklands/80’s (Harrier, etc)
– Bosnia/Gulf War – (Harrier GR5/Jaguar/Buccaneer/Tornado)

There are many ways in which something could be “zoned” and I agree that the balance would have to be made so as not to clutter displayed aircraft either.

For what its worth, here’s what I know on the subject:

What is commonly referred to as an aircraft data plate would contain the fuselage assembly construction number, and the RAF identifying serial if built for them, and other info. I will update this posting with a photo of one or two examples, including one from my Hornet DH103.

I have seen examples of DH data plates and mod plates from Vampires DH100, Venoms DH112, Doves DH104, Sea Vixens DH110, etc. and they all show the same information in the same format. I haven’t seen one for a pre-DH100 type aircraft though, so I don’t know if they used them or indeed used the same format.

Wooden fuselages of Hornets, Mosquitos and Vampires were frequently (but not always) painted with the construction number of the airframe on the side of the cockpit exterior, prior to being finally painted. I have also seen the actual serials being chalked onto the fuselage sides prior to being painted in the factory too.

David, see my earlier link,last page….http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/74-A-27-Typhoon-MN235-public.pdf

Its a good start, but out of date and missing some.

Many thanks,

And for my next trick…

We are now starting on the Blind Flying Panel. We were fortunate that the lower mounting bracket castings that attach the anti-vibration mounting assemblies to the cockpit forward cross-member… the one that supports the compass tray)… were still attached and in good condition. The top mounting is missing, and we have no idea… (after poring through the AP… including the repair illustrations)… as to its mounting position in the aircraft. It might be attached to the gun sight dimmer panel, but its shape, according to the AP… (We managed to identify it!)… seems to rule this out. Could it have been mounted on a bracket attached to the rear surface of the oil tank? The bracket itself is simple enough to fabricate; but any clues would be much appreciated.

We are also trying to source a Brass cap, Conical spring; Rubber Bobbin, and Aluminium retainer plate that
comprise the anti-vibration mount proper; (6A/617). We have two, but need a third, if any one has one going spare.

I have NOS springs for sale.

Can’t be. They are not the same shape.

With every attending cockpit or display having their own merits, my personal favorities were the following:

Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group’s Whirlwind HAS.1, XA862. Really shows a lot of hard work put into it, well presented and displayed.

Wings Museum’s Douglas A-26C Invader, 43-22649. Amazing to see its condition now, compared with a few years ago.

Gary Dean’s Mustang P.51D, 44-11175. A stunning cockpit display that really felt alive.

The Throttle quadrant is now pretty well finished… thanks to Air Ministry for much useful information on the internal arrangements of the lever interlinks and spacers.
A temporary knob has been fitted to the Propeller pitch lever for effect; as we don’t have one of the correct type…
[ATTACH=CONFIG]229145[/ATTACH]
If anyone has a spare one lying around…(They were fitted to most pitch levers through the 40’s and 50’s); we would really appreciate the donation of one to the project.
The restoration has taken a total of four weeks… and much strong coffee, cursing, penetrating oil; sanding, filing and Elastoplast.
Here is the result…

Inboard Face.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]229146[/ATTACH]

Outboard Face.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]229147[/ATTACH]

Top Face.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]229148[/ATTACH]

What a difference! Great work there.

Note to self…. must do the same for the Hornet throttle box. Its the only one left (I think) so have been nervous to take it apart.

It certainly does look a bit sad – although turned right-way up, and (perhaps?) reunited with a canopy and nose glazing, I reckon it’ll still make rather a fine exhibit.
I can’t help looking forward to the completion of the Sola Flymuseum He115 a tiny bit more though!

I totally agree. If the conservation work is successful, the Dornier should be turned the correct way up, and most definitely have a canopy and nose glazing put in place.

With German aircraft especially, the glazing is such a key feature of the type, and lifts it from being airframe remains to an instantly recognisable exhibit.