Dart repaint

 It's nearly 6 years since I was at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation and in the interim it's largest exhibit, the Handley Page Dart Herald has started to look the worse for wear so it's good to see that it has recently had a full repaint.

Looking good

The Wanaka air show is not far away now and the line up is looking good. Current attendees can be found here 

 I'm looking forward to this one especially with the Mosquito hopefully able to display. Fingers crossed for the weather.

If all goes to plan there should be a couple of museum visits before the air show starting with the MOTAT aviation Hall in Auckland. Updates will be on here.

Mosquito update

Sounding good😀

Dewotine D520

This is a 1/72 scale kit of the WWII French fighter. Since it arrived in just a clear bag - yes ebay again - with no instructions or box I have no idea of the manufacturer but judging by the flash and simplicity of construction my best guess is an old Frog kit.

Great news

Avspecs of New Zealand, who are responsible for the Mosquito aircraft currently airworthy in the world have announced that their latest project, which us destined for America, will soon be flying and will be appearing at the Warbirds over Wanaka airshow at Easter. I already have show tickets😀

Morane Saulnier MS505

The MS 505 Criquet was a post war French version of the Fiesler Storch with a radial engine. I saw this one many years ago at the East Fortune Museum of Flight but in November last year it was moved to Duxford and placed on the UK register so I assume there is a possibility that it could fly. I glimpsed it through the window of The Forge last weekend.

Bucker Jungmann

At warmer times of the year you can often see something of interest in the air at Duxford doing an air test or practising a routine but on an overcast day in February I wasn't expecting anything. However this Bucker Jungmann was parked on the field and I noticed that a few pre-flight checks were being carried out and, sure enough, it took to the skies and did a short display routine which was an off season bonus. A second bonus was the aircraft being returned to the hangar which was the reason why the door was open giving a better view of the Tempest in my previous post.

Duxford 10.2.24

As mentioned below we popped up to Duxford yesterday for the Aerial Spies exhibition but also had a look around the other hangars for a catch up since the Battle of Britain airshow last September. Of note was a new hot air heating system in the hangars which will apparently save IWM £41k a year in heating costs and the hangars were noticeably warmer than previous winter visits. Outside a new kids adventure playground is under construction.

Of course the main purpose of the visit was to check on airframes. The Stephenson hangar was very gloomy but the silver MkXIV Spit was having some minor work. Nothing had changed in the main hangar and a glance in The Forge showed the Firefly project wings under tarps so lets hope that means work on them is done rather than suspended. A Morane Storch was also there which my mate Gaz advised had come from East Fortune.

The TFC fleet was undergoing some winter maintenance as was Sally B and Miss Pick Up and the Walrus was in the hangar again but no obvious work had been done on it. I also got to see the Hawker Tempest for the first time and was lucky that the hangar door was opened later in the after noon for a better, albeit slightly cluttered, view.

Elsewhere there was a gap where the recently departed Typhoon used to sit but the exhibits still need re-positioning as the Sea King is blocking the Buccaneer and the MkI Firefly is hemmed in.

Work continues on the Shackleton in the Conservation hangar and it was interesting to see the work on the He162 which has revealed RAF roundels.

Anyway, some pictures from the visit.

Spies in the Skies

This is the name given to a temporary exhibition in the front of the Duxford super hangar, running for a couple of months from 27th December. The exhibition highlights the work of photo reconnaisance aircraft in WWII and showcases a Westland Lysander, Lockheed Electra 12A, two Spitfire PRXIs, a Spitfire XIV and a replica Spitfire 1G along with examples of the aerial phootographhs taken. It was an interesting display and made a good excuse for an early season visit to the museum.

Saved?

The last remaining Blackburn Beverley was under threat of being scrapped following the closure of its home at Fort Paull. A rescue plan was put in place which was to see the aircraft moved to Yorkshire to be fitted out as holiday accommodation. This got no further than the aircraft being dismantled but not moved due to the costs involved. Now, however, Solway Aviation Museum have stepped in with a plan to move the aircraft north to their Carlisle based site for reassembly and restoration. Funds are still required and an appeal has been launched but it sounds more encouraging. Hopefully it can get back to looking as it was when I last saw it almost 10 years ago.

Hangar collapse

There has been an ongoing saga about Hangar 3 at Old Sarum for a few years. This is a WWI hangar that is listed but has been left to fall in to a state of disrepair amidst a planning campaign to develop the airfield including the addition of housing. Sadly storm Isha last weekend caused its collapse.There are calls for it to be fully restored but it remains to be seen if it actually happens.

Here it is a few years ago not looking pristine but at least in one piece.

Sywell Air Show

This is a new event on the calendar and is sounding like a successor to Flying Legends. Only time will tell but a decent aircraft line up has been announced and is being added to so I have taken advantage of the early bird discount and got tickets for the Saturday.

Heading north

This Jaguar, a long term resident of Cosford and caught here about 5 years ago, was dismantled last month and moved to a new home at RAF Lossiemouth.

Spitfire sold

Spitfire MkIX SL633, which had a minor landing accident back in the summer, has been sold and will start a new life in Australia. I believe that the only time I have seen this aircraft was at Flying Legends back in 2015 when I took this shot.

Duxford departure

The fourth Eurofighter Typhoon prototype, which has been on display at Duxford since 2009 has now moved on. It's disposal had been rumoured with small panels having been removed some while ago. The airframe was dismantled last month and moved to RAF Cosford where it will be used for ground instructional purposes.