Bob, re the aircrew manuals and cards.

I have spoken to the lads at BAE Heritage Centre at Warton (01772 891000 or 01772 633333) who would love to add them to the Heritage archive library which is being built up.
All data held is available to historians and researchers on request (usually at no cost).

Contact them via the BAe switchboard and ask for Dave Hutton at the Heritage Centre or pm me for his home number/e mail.

The Centre are building up an impressive collection of pictorial and documentary histories of British built aircraft both military and civil. So if you have material surplus to requirements or wish to add to the archive let me know and I will pass on the details

These help?

Having read through all the posts on this thread I feel I must set the record straight regarding the above post. I was also at Cosford at the start of the 1980s and under no time did members of the Aerospace Museum Society activitys just involve just cleaning the hangars and escorting school partys around, the society would soon have ceased to exist though lack of interest. The Aerospace Museum Society & the Friends Of Hendon have over the years formed a close working relationship with the management of the RAFM with numerous projects being carried out.
Regarding the Vulcan B1 that was scraped the Society did look about trying to help save it but the airframe was passed saving due to the time it had spent outside as a RAF instructional Airframe

Certainly in the very early days of the Society we were actively involved in maintaining not only the airframes but also encouraged to undertake some restoration work ( albeit it under supervision). Whilst I have no doubt the society still plays a valuable role in presenting the museum to the visitors, like all things though ‘ its not like it was’.

It is good to know the work of the society and its members is valued and wish you well with future projects.

XA900? I still have my XA900 Preservation badge ‘cobbled’ together I think by Brian Philips. There was a real desire to at least make an attempt at the restoration by the guys at the top hangars. Unfair to say that the deterioration was down to time spent outdoors whilst with 2SoTT. With some equipment and a few more active members , maybe, just maybe we could have at least given our best shot.

Personal insults and attacks against him, and therefore the RAF Museum, are hardly likely to encourage an atmosphere in which an exchange of ideas can take place.

kev35

My post duly amended.
Kev-With such eloquence and common sense, perhaps as a united concerned group we must surely be a voice to be heard.

I believe it should be noted that we are not anti progress, nor are we ‘anoraks’. many within this group are professionally involved with aviation either Owners/custodians, curators, writers, researchers,Historians and have a passion for our aviation heritage that gives us concerns as to how best to display our national treasures

Have to say that after my last visit to RAFM last year, I don’t have any appetite to go again for a long time.

As for Cosford, I have mixed feeling about the way things are going there. I accept that the new Cold War hall is a good step and it’s enabled some important aircraft to find shelter, and even the crowded layout has some advantages as it enables visitors to see aircraft from very unsual angles. But the whole museum is becoming very different to how it was and I get the impression that they’re desperately trying to copy Hendon’s approach, so I can only assume that Cosford will also become a playground which is devoted to entertainment rather than information. What’s betting that the Dutch Neptune gets chopped before too long when Cosford lose interest in it, just like they did with their Vulcan B1? If they leave it long enough, they’ll be able to claim that it’s “beyond economic repair” yet again and it’ll be dumped, just like some of those airliners which were destroyed for no reason whatsoever. Plenty of available space but some idiot must have decided that they looked untidy, so they get scrapped. Who are these morons that make these decisions?

I think their whole attitude stinks!

If memory serves me well the Do24 was at one time slated to move, though I can’t remember when and where. The Neptune was a gift from the Dutch and even during my time there rumours regarding selling it off were rife ( just a couple of years after its arrival). It was due to a ‘dressing down’ I received from the the Museum manager for opening up ‘204’ during a warm dry day in February (The Museum was shut to visitors), that I left and went on to work with other museums.
Could the Vulcan XA900 be saved? I don’t know. We as a society tried our best to put a programme together utilising our own time and money but were knocked back. The same would also be true no doubt of the Beverley.

We as enthusiasts appreciate the histories and relevance of the airframes, however sadly Managers see one model or mark as much the same as another. One has only to look at disposed airframes to see what relevance is placed on their uniqueness eg XA847, WT555.

Letters to Dr Fopp and the trustees etc will certainly get their attention, but will it be enough?

Haven’t been to Hendon for some years. The Bev was still in situ and there was a good feel to the place although a little antiseptic.

The meandering display policy has always been a puzzle to me, particularly the Milestones hall. Not sure if the Development Eurofighter DA2 has replaced the 1:1 model. Surely that particular airframe should be with the R&D Collection at Cosford along with the EH101.

G-ATEL Accountant SBAC 1957