When I visited Wyton in 2001 (or was it 2000, my memory isn’t all it used to be) the complete if slightly squashed centre section still existed. They also had the complete tail assembly from the serial (which I seem to remember could be read) backwards. It was all very corroded, but it was a start.

Mind you, if they wont restore the Halifax, why should they restore the Stirling. Maybe if they sold their newly donated Mustang for it’s list price as an airworthy aircraft, they might be able to afford a restoration of either Halifax or Stirling.

Willow

Thanks Moggy

Yes it’s obvoius isn’t it!

Willow

This is a disgusting incident. Have people no respect these days.

I have to ask though, what is a ‘Rostbif’ ?

Willow

My thanks to ‘steveyoung’ for correcting me on the ‘hanging issue’. It does sound a lot better than I had heard. I have seen main spars drilled for mounting points in the states, but I guess we do things properly here!!

I still think that it would be easier to hang up lighter aircraft like the Anson, Oxford, or Mosquito, rather than TSR2 and the CF100.

As an aside, I’m sure the Sunderland would look great hanging up, but somehow I don’t think the Hangar could take it and it would make the aeroplane very difficult to work on!!!

Willow

I have already admitted that I was caught out, so I have therefore great joy in pointing out that the Constellation is rated as one of the best looking aeroplanes of all time, and the Typhoon is, and let’s be fair, a bit of a lump. Therefore there is only one April fool here.

Willow

P.S. I agree about the Skyraiders

Got me!

Hook, line, sinker, and copy of Angling times!!!!

Today’s April fool

Willow

P.S. obviously nothing this stupid was actually going to happen.

I think you’ll find that the history of the USAAF at Duxford is more than adequately covered in the American Air Museum Hangar, at least I hope it is because having put it all in one place it would be a shame if some of it escaped.

Willow.

P.S. It’s all about getting money at the gate. A family is more likely to go if there is a greater variety of things to look at and do. It’s the same theory that explains why otherwise sensible Airshows insist on having Fairgrounds and craft fairs.

Bob,

with reference to Tom Reillys, there are at least 7 suspended aircraft in the main hangar. Ok most are 1930 light aircraft, but some people are quite interested in these, as well as ‘proper’ warbirds.
Tom Reillys would never be allowed in the UK because of our Health and Safety rules. 1 guide taking up to 20 people, including kids, around a working restoration centre with stored aircraft and parts of stored aircraft piled everwhere and not a barrier in site is an accident waiting to happen.
The aircraft are almost impossible to take in because of the overall lack of space.
Although having visited it for the last 4 years running I’m not complaining!

Having recently visited the Champlin Fighter Museum at Mesa Arizona, I have to say it is one of the most rewarding museums I have been to for a long while. The aircraft are all parked in neat rows, on the ground, with enough space for photos, but you can get real close. The barriers are there but unobtrusive, and all the aircraft give the impression of being able to be towed outside and flown at a moments notice. As a colours and marking ‘anorak’ I was also impressed by the finish on the aircraft, which was very good. Their Fw190D restoration is progressing very well. One for Flying Legends for the future (I wish). All the staff there were very helpful and friendly.
It’s a shame that the whole lot is off to a ‘closed’ building in Seattle where none will ever be flown again. I beleive that some will be suspended in a kind of set piece.

Although hanging things up is a good way of getting more aircraft under cover, you cannot properly appreciate an aeroplane just from looking at it from underneath at a distance.
TSR2 is big, really big. I mean you might think that a Buccaneer is a big aeroplane, but that’s just peanuts to TSR2.
HOWEVER, if you hang TSR2 up in a corner, it can look the same size as a Mig21 if the Mig21 is a lot closer. You really need to get among them to really understand how they compare.

Also, most aircraft are designed to be supported by either: an even load over the whole wing area, or the undercarriage. Hanging them up using a series of straps or lifting points (or worse, drilling the main spars for attachment points) is putting unecessary stress on parts of the airframe that were not designed for it. This cannot be good in the long term.
Anyway, most Hangars are designed to cover aeroplanes, not to support their weight. TSR2 and the CF100 are very solid, heavy aircraft. I hope someone has done his sums, or it could get very messy!

Willow