Cardiff Aviation Museum - behind the scenes

In addition the display aircraft below there is a compound behind themain museum where future projects and spares are stored and this includeds the Comet that came from Cosford although it wasn't possible to get a picture of it. Anyway, here are a few pictures of non-display stuff shot in a sudden cloudburst!                                            

Cardiff Aviation Museum

Finally managed to be Cardiff way over a weekend and so made the most of it and visited the Aviation museum which is housed in a hangar on St Athan airfield with a number of aircraft on display out front. Apart from the aircraft there are a number of cockpits along with a number of aviation related displays, such as models and artefacts in what would presuambly have been admin rooms in thee hangars former life. Upstairs is a decent cafe selling snacks and ho food. Certainly worth a visit if you have any inteerst in aviation.                                                                  

Miss Demeanour lost

The Hawker Hunter previously in the colourful guise of Miss Demeanour and an air show favourite went to the USA some while ago and was being used in a military training capacity. Sadly the aircraft is reported as lost in a crash in to the ocean on Tuesday night. Fortunately the pilot was OK say the reports. Here she is at Manston back in 2013.

Llandow Air Disaster

This disaster was the crash of an Avro Tudor returning from Ireland in 1950 with 78 passengers, largely rugby fans, and 5 crew. The aircraft stalled on approach to Llandow airfield near Cardiff killing 75 passengers and all of the crew. At the time it was the world's worst air disaster. The aircraft impacted just outside of the small village of Sigingstone and a memorial was erected in 1990 to mark the 40th anniversary. The memorial has not long been restored.

Lockheed F94 Starfire

A Heller 1/72 scale kit of this 1950s all weather day/night fighter. A colourful model built straight out of the box.

Ramsbury Airfield

We took a small detour today from a journey west along the M4 to visit Ramsbury Airfield. It was opened in 1942 and used by both RAF and USAAF during the course of WWII mainly in a transport capacity and this included, early in the morning of 6th June 1944 52 C47s with gliders in tow setting off for Normandy carrying 82nd airborne division in support of D-Day. Three months later the 101st airborne were carried from Ramsbury in support of Operation Market Garden.

Following USAAF operations the airfield was returned to the RAF in June 1945 and closed the following year thereafter returning to agricultural use. No war time buildings remain although it is possible to establish where the runways and some of the perimeter tracks once were. A memorial has been erected at the intersection of the main and a secondary runway with an information board on a perimeter track and an RAF centenary memorial in adjacent woodland. A Spitfire passing overhead was a bonus that caught me by surprise!

                                                                 

Battle of Britain Day

September 15th is designated Battle of Britain Day. In commemoration of the brave pilots who flew back in 1940 here is the balbo from rhe 2021 BoB show at Duxford.