Snapper, I assume that you’re familiar then with the 149 Sqdn Stirling that used your little latin phrase there on it’s nose?!

Great pics!

THere are some reenactors posing with FM213 in the Radell/Vines book ‘Lancaster A Bombing Legend’, too.

‘Hart’? Who the hell is ‘Hart’?!

He’s ‘CH3’!!! Easy name to read, poo to say aloud on TV though!!!

Lancman is 34 this May, and has been going to Hendon for much of his life! The real decline at the RAFM has only come about in more recent years, I think.

Food, lighting etc etc may only be small quibbles to some, compared to the thrill of seeing such wonderful and rare airframes in person, but to me, as a semi-regular, I want to see those airframes treated with some dignity because of that very same rarity. You want it to be a place of pride, not some gloomy place where staff don’t give a s**t anymore.

And while I’m ranting on about the place…okay, so the Lanc should ideally be a matt black; though, later war Lancs ended up a little bit more shiny. But what fool decided that once conservation/repair work on her lower fuselage skins was completed, they would repaint the Lanc so that it now looks like nothing more than a damn stupid patchwork quilt of different shades/finishes of black?!

That aircraft, ‘office broom’ Lancaster that it may be, completed well over a hundred operational missions over Germany. Not only is it a surviving complete Lancaster, uber-rare in it’s own right, but it was also operational, and scored a resounding great big two fingers over the usual survival odds. Can we say ‘Respect’, anyone?

Yet it sits there with a rapidly being-ruined paintjob, with it’s backside uselessly raised into the air for no good reason whatsoever, with two naff ‘Man At C&A’ dummies sat in the cockpit supposedly ‘landing it’. (With the bomb doors open? Oh yeah?!) In the gloom, and forever being shunted about and part-disassembled like some old wardrobe that’s in the way, to get other things in and out.

I LOVE Hendon; for all the delights offered by Duxford, it was my first aviation museum, and I’ve never forgotten it. It breaks my heart to see the way it is going now though.

😡

Re. the attitude of the staff at the RAFM, I too encountered this on one of my more recent visits. (Just pre-Milestones) The staff on the desk at the entrance to the BoB Hall laughed aloud at my enquiry about the restaurant, and directed me to try local pubs. They said they would never eat the food from in there.

Staff in the shop were loudly and openly slagging off their managers, moaning about this, that and the other, caring not that I could obviously hear them.

And as for uniformed guards, I dare say I could cross into the hallowed ‘white area’ and clamber up into Sugar, and no bu**er would even notice.

Years ago, a uniformed guard noticed that I was taking particular interest in photographing the Lanc, approached me, and let me cross the curbs and have her all to myself, as it were. Another guard who saw me there unde rher bomb bay came flying over, was placated by the other one, and was then also lovely to me.

Little old ladies used to work in the shop, and very friendly they were, too.

Lights used to be switched on.

Once even, a long, long time ago, and quite possibly in a galaxy far, far away too, the fish and chips in the restaurant wa spretty nice, too.

Someone PLEASE copy and paste this entire thread to Hendon, and see what they say; last time I did so (That entire last rant we had about the food there) they didn’t even reply.

🙁

I seem to recall that the Blenheim was a small model?

Dave-episode 4 was always my favourite, so much drama! Keep letting us know what you think! 😉

ROTFLMAO, that’s brilliant!

No no no, that’s still far too dignified; it’s needs to be crammed into a small internal space, have most of the lights directed at it turned off, and be regularly taken apart because it blocks a doorway, too!

Man, that’s funny! 😀 😀 😀 😀

No nonsense Steve, I believe that hand-cranking is the only way to rotate them, right Fluffy?