# A Deep Dive into the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon



## nuuumannn (Dec 13, 2021)

Hello everyone, my next deep dive is another world class aviation museum, the RAF Museum at Hendon, now "London", apparently so as to not confuse punters as to its location. I have decided to do this museum the justice it deserves since it gets a lot of flack online, particularly because of recent changes to the museum's layout and display spaces, which we will be examining and discussing here, so get ready for an informative ride that not everyone will agree with, I'm sure, but I can guarantee it will inform and possibly entertain. I should point out that I have connections to the RAF Museum (from here on in RAFM for brevity) and I have very fond memories of the place, which is a part of the reason I'm doing this. It is a great museum full of professionals who know what they are doing, even if not everyone agrees with the decisions they make.

Anyway, the RAFM holds the largest collection of vintage and historic aircraft in the UK, with aeroplanes at locations around the country and within its own facilities, but this deep dive will examine Hendon only, the home of the RAFM, although reference will be made to Cosford and the RAFM store at Stafford, which I never got to while I was at Hendon.

So, join me, if you dare, on a Deep Dive into the RAF Museum, Hendon.





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The RAFM's Avro Lancaster I R5868 is still the centrepiece of the museum and we'll look at its remarkable history later. For now a caveat; these images were taken in 2018, so things might have changed by now. We begin with a look back at the origins of the RAFM, first mooted in World War Two, which seems like a prescient time to have thought about a military history museum, although sadly, those with history in mind did not act swiftly enough to prevent the postwar cull that saw many significant RAF types disappear into extinction, such as the Short Stirling, de Havilland Hornet and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. The desire to preserve the RAF's rich history, as brief as it was by the end of World War Two didn't end there; personnel at air stations around the country began collecting aeroplanes to form their own collections, which saw public interest during open days and airshows. Places like Biggin Hill, Colerne and St Athan had, by the late 1960s amassed large numbers of historic and often eccentric airframes, some of which were maintained in runnable condition and which survive to this day as a part of RAFM's collection.

An actual RAF museum was discussed on and off within Whitehall following the war and in 1965, concrete efforts were made to establish such a thing. Plans immediately began to formulate around where a possible location might be for the RAFM, and one idea was on the banks of the River Thames in downtown London, and plans were drawn up for this rather restricting venture, which came to nothing for that very reason - no room to expand. Sites around the country were visited, including RAF Henlow, which had become a repository for historic airframes that the RAFM and the RAF Air Historic Branch (AHB) had decided were worth saving. A bit about the AHB, it was initially established in 1919 but at the end of World War Two was at RAF Stanmore in North London with the aim of preserving RAF records and it holds that role to this day. From Stanmore it moved to Bentley Priory, just up Stanmore Hill and was there for many years until moving to its current location at RAF Northolt following Bentley Priory's closure as an RAF base in 2008. Most of the airframes that littered air station collections and gate guardians around the country belonged to the AHB and it was AHB airframes that went into the RAFM at Hendon on opening in 1972, but in 1998 these were, in an administrative stroke of the pen transferred to RAFM operation and ownership. There's more to come on the AHB, so keep an eye out.

RAF Bentley Priory, home to the AHB and administration HQ for a massive fleet of historic airframes scattered across the country.




1707 Bentley Priory Spitfire

Back to the RAFM and RAF Hendon was still an active airfield in the late 1960s when the decision was made to establish the RAFM on site at Britain's most historic military aerodrome and one of its earliest. In August 1965, RAF librarian Dr John Tanner visited the Grahame-White factory hangar at Hendon for a possible location, but it wasn't for another year that this was followed up with further action. Although the Grahame-White hangar certainly had historical provenance, more about Claude Grahame-White and his aircraft factory later, a decision was made in 1967 that the RAFM should occupy the old wooden Belfast Truss Great War vintage hangars still occupying the airfield's eastern perimeter. To facilitate their preservation, as well as the aeroplanes that were to go within them, they were encased in a modern 1970s era concrete shell, which serves as the administration headquarters of the RAFM to this day. Within this building was the offices and facilities required for a modern museum, including an archive and library with its own reading room, still in use. This is the RAFM HQ building, with the archive occupying the top floor, the domed ceiling on this side of the entry vestibule are the archive and on the other side is the library, with the Reading Room located above the entry. The big hangar numbers are a recent addition and I'll explain their reason later.




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Opening on 15 November 1972 by Her Majesty the Queen, the RAFM was run as a civilian entity, rather than a branch of the service, but with Ministry of Defence funding, which given the nature of the service was not a huge amount initially and the museum relied, and still does today on corporate sponsorship. Soon the original hangar spaces were expanded on and new structures were incorporated into the site, the Bomber Command Hall, where R5868 can be seen above, and a new remote structure, the Battle of Britain (BoB) Hall, which formerly opened its doors in 1978. This was built following the collection of suitable airframes for an exhibition titled "Wings Of The Eagle", which saw elements of the RAFM's extensive collection of wartime Axis equipment go on public display together. Today the BoB Hall has been revamped, which has caused much criticism among enthusiasts for various reasons, but the museum, I am assured had justifiable reason to make the changes, and besides, the aircraft that inhabited it are still on display, at Hendon and Cosford. As an interesting little aside, the mannequins that adorned the entrance to the old BoB Hall were modelled off the Royal family!

A scene from the BoB Hall featuring genuine summer 1940 veterans Bf 109E and Fiat CR.42, which we'll see later in this thread as they are both still at Hendon.




BoB Hall

So let's get into some controversy and a realistic appraisal of how museums survive in a modern environment where they are competing for attention with other attractions in the greater London area. A world renowned museum might not necessarily be the destination of choice for visitors to London, nor even families wishing to keep them and their kids occupied in the weekend, so the RAFM has work to do to interest people in this modern digital age. Several years ago, the trustees of the museum conducted a review of the museum's future, which included visitor surveys over a period of several years to establish what it was that the general public wanted from a museum about the RAF. The results were alarming. Visitor numbers remained relatively static over the period in which the research was carried out, around 100,000 per year, but expectations were generally not being met. At over 70 percent of all attendees, the largest visitor demographic was families with children, often who had little or no understanding of the RAF or of aviation in general. In saying that however, many in this demographic did have a family member or friends who had or currently served in the RAF.

In this age of instant gratification through social media and the world wide web, wandering about a darkened hall full of static aeroplanes with nothing describing them except a bracket of text on a flat board was anachronistic. The museum was also accused of lacking context; there was little that advised how the aircraft were used within the greater structure of the RAF and by far the biggest request made by the public was that the museum provide more information about people involved with the aeroplanes and the service in general. People want to hear about people, and the RAF Museum did not provide this. Today, the entry to the museum is in what used to be the BoB Hall, but is now Hangar 1, "RAF Stories" and "First To The Future". The entry to the museum display proper, with a wall of headgear worn by RAF personnel over the years.




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There will be more on these choices as we meander our way around the site, but suffice to say, reviews of the museum since the changes were made have largely been positive, the museum is now catering to the requests of the largest visitor demographic. The reality of this move is that if it didn't the museum would not survive. The RAFM is a National Museum, so it is free admission to the public and it relies of public attendance for continued funding, making money from special exhibitions and shop/cafe sales. This is the reality of museums today, folks - either accept it or don't.

So, soap box away, let's look at some aeroplanes. We begin with one of the treasures of the collection, the world's only surviving complete example of an Airco DH.9A. This particular aeroplane has a fascinating history, and I've referred to it on this forum on numerous occasions. built as DH.9A F1010 by Westland as one of a batch of 150 aircraft powered by the US built 400 hp Liberty V8 engine, the aircraft first entered service in August 1918 and was chosen to be financed by His Serene Highness, the Nizam of Hyderabad, after whom the aeroplane was named, entring 110 (Hyderabad) Sqn. (Hyderabad was, at one stage a state within a state in India, and has a long and turbulent history - see here: Hyderabad - Wikipedia )

The DH.9A perched above the entrance to the new display area. Curiously it's missing a tyre.




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Going into action in September 1918 in France, F1010 took part in several bombing raids against German cities, including Frankfurt and Koln, and it was during an attack on Kaiserslautern on 5 October 1918 that the aeroplane was brought down, either by engine failure or AA, but it landed intact and its crew survived and were interned. Following this, the aircraft's movements are murky, but while it was undergoing restoration back in Britain, German Lozenge camouflage covering was found. Eventually the aeroplane resurfaced in the big Deutsches Luftfahrt Sammlung in the heart of Berlin, opened in 1936, the year of the XIth Olympiade and the world's largest aviation museum at the time. In 1943 during an air raid by the RAF, the museum was destroyed by fire, and in an act of bravery, staff members dragged half smouldering aircraft from the ruins following the raid and packed them on to trains east, ending up in Poland. Again, what happened to the DH.9A in this time is not immediately known, but it became apparent in the mid 1960s that a museum behind the iron curtain had a cache of historic Great War airframes and one of them was an ex-RAF DH.9A, devoid of wings and still bearing scars from its ordeal in Berlin. In 1968, private negotiations began with the museum housing these treasures, today the excellent Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego (MLP) in Cracow, an arrangement was made that the DH.9A would be exchanged for a Spitfire, XVIe SM411. By 1971 the details were being hammered out between the RAFM and the MLP, but it was not for another six years that an RAF low loader ventured forth through Warsaw Pact held territory to Poland carrying a Spitfire! This was known as Operation Fair Exchange and by 28 June 1977, the remains of the last surviving DH.9A were safely within the RAFM Store at Cardington.




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That's it for today, the word count is easily exceeded in these posts, so more to come from Hendon soon.

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## rochie (Dec 14, 2021)

great start Grant

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## Airframes (Dec 14, 2021)

Another great tour on the way I see - good stuff Grant.

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## Crimea_River (Dec 14, 2021)

Very much looking forward to this tour. Though I was there in 2015, I'm sure that I will learn a lot more from your detailed accounts Grant.

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## nuuumannn (Dec 15, 2021)

Airframes said:


> Another great tour on the way I see - good stuff Grant.



Thank you, Terry, I know I have big expectations to fill doing this and given your association with the museum, I do want to make sure I get it right, or at least do the museum justice.


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## gumbyk (Dec 15, 2021)

Thanks Grant. I can't see why any decision to personalise the stories can ever be controversial.


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## Gnomey (Dec 15, 2021)

Lovely shots Grant!

Been a good few years since I last went.


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## nuuumannn (Dec 15, 2021)

So, we continue at Hendon with displays in the RAF Stories hall, which is a darkened hangar full of stuff, just not a whole lot of aeroplanes - the focus is on the visitor experience and that becomes apparent from examining the display boards, which, far from dumbing down information, as the museum has been accused of doing, now provides display boards with audio and visual touch screen plasma capacity, along with the usual written information and for the visually impaired, 3D models of the exhibits specifically referred to. In this image we see the display board for the DH.9A referred to in the previous post and its wee Three Dee model.




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The focus for this image is of course the striking Avro Blue Steel stand-off bomb as the British call it, although using more accessible language, the Blue Steel was a cruise missile, surrounded by a range of ordnance in a display focussing on one of the RAF's core roles; the delivery from the air of things that go bang. A bit of interesting stuff about the Blue Steel. A considerable achievement that saw frontline service for a paltry seven years, the Blue Steel was a joint venture between Avro and Bristol Siddeley, who delivered the Stentor propulsion unit, developed from research done by the Rocket Propulsion Establishment at Westcott, where trials were conducted with hydrogen peroxide as rocket propulsion. This work was based extensively on German work from the Walther Werke at Hamburg and, just like in the United States, German scientists and pieces of hardware were brought to Britain to further research into this area. While the USA based German scientists at Huntsville, Ala concentrated on building massive liquid fuelled rockets the size of cathedrals, the British, who did not rely as extensively on its captured Germans, preferring to take what they had done and building on it with a British twist, concentrated on High Test Peroxide (HTP) and its potential, as for a given size of fuel load a greater amount of thrust could be derived from HTP and Kerosene based rocket motors, therefore HTP rockets could lift similar loads to their non-HTP counterparts, but at a lower overall weight and size.

The Stentor was a two-part motor, with a large and small thrust chamber, the larger igniting four seconds after release, the missile dropping 300 feet before the motor is ignited, boosting the thing to speeds up to Mach 2. Two seconds later, the flight controls unlock and the missile accelerates to its preset altitude and once this is established, based on the mission profile, the smaller motor takes over and the rocket then cruises to its target. The motor produced a total of 20,000 lbs thrust, the larger motor 16,000 lbs for a few seconds before it shut off and the second chamber ignited. Guidance was provided by a Elliot Brothers inertial guidance system, but the Blue Steel didn't have a very long range, only 200 miles, which put the carrier aircraft at a significant disadvantage, nonetheless, the Blue steel could reach altitudes in excess of 100, 000 feet, although its programmed height was usually 70,000 feet, the former well out of range of Soviet SAMs.

Next, a weapon we are all familiar with on this forum and for that reason I won't go into detail about it, the 4,000 lb blockbuster High Capacity Bomb Mk.II owing to the three nose pistols visible in this shot. More (surprisingly good) information here:









Blockbuster bomb - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org








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This next object is a most peculiar thing and was the first British hydraulically assisted gun position to go into service, the Nash and Thompson FN.1, commonly known as the "Lobster Back" for obvious reasons. Armed with a single .303 inch Lewis machine gun, the FN.1 was the first operational turret to use the hydraulic control system designed by Archibald Frazer-Nash and Gratton Thompson, and was fitted to the rear cockpit of the Hawker Demon two-seat biplane fighter, which entered service with 23 Sqn in 1933. These two gents formed Nash and Thompson Engineering, Archie Frazer-Nash's firm, aside from producing high end sports coupes produced hydraulic working gear, hence the "FN" designation in Nash and Thompson turrets.




DSC_0691

The following is a description of how it worked, taken from British Aircraft Armament Vol.1: RAF Gun Turrets, by R Wallace Clarke.

"The turret consisted of a circular drum attached to an inner ring which rotated on roller bearings in an outer ring bolted to the top longerons of the fuselage. The gunner's windshield consisted of four aluminium sections which pivoted into each other like a lobster shell. It rotated with the turret and was connected by linkage to the gun and seat , so that when the gun was halfway down from its elevated position, the cowl began to unfold. The seat was raised and lowered by means of two hydraulic rams which were interconnected to the gun cradle, ensuring synchronous movement at all angles of fire.

"The gun was mounted directly on the hydraulic valve box. At the rear of the gun were twin control handles which operated the hydraulic valves, controlling elevation and turret rotation. The gun was fired by means of a Bowden cable attached to triggers on the control handles.

"A Barr & Stroud Mk.IIIA reflector sight was fixed to the gun on the main production turrets, though some early models used the Norman Vane sight. A rotating service joint was situated at the base of the turret, providing pressurised oil to the power system. Oxygen was supplied through rubber piping connections, and electrical power entered through slips rings and brush gear. An automatic trip system was fitted which stopped rotation by disengaging the rotation valve when the gun was about to aim at the tailplane or wing.

"A hydraulic recuperator was fitted inside the turret in the pipeline between the service joint and valve box. Stowage for four 97-round drums was provided inside the turret and an additional peg was located on the fuselage decking. Footsteps were provided on the fuselage to facilitate entrance to and exit from the turret."




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Next, Spitfire V BL614 from its lofty perch has a distinguished history, including display at one of the RAF station museums in the '70s, at Colerne, mentioned in the introduction to this thread. Built by Vickers Armstrong at Castle Bromwich, BL614 went to 611 Sqn at RAF Drem, East Lothian in February 1942, during which time it was involved in convoy sweeps. It then was transferred to 242 Sqn, then 222 Sqn, (working its way through commonwealth units, the former a Canadian unit, the latter a South African unit), with whom it was flown to Biggin Hill to take part in Operation Jubilee, the troubled invasion of Dieppe in August 1942. Following that debacle, the unit moved back to Scotland for a period at Drem again, then Ayr, Strathclyde on the other side of the country for more convoy patrols. A Transfer to 64 Sqn saw the aeroplane head south of the border again and it saw action escorting USAAF medium bomber raids, but by November 1943 the aeroplane had been seconded permanently to a secondary role, arriving at No.6 School of Technical Training in December.

Following the end of the war, BL614 never left RAF service, being seen at various locations, including RAF Creedenhill as a gate guard, as many Spitfires saw use post war, before being rescued from its purgatory, as gate guardianship of airframes very much was/is by Spitfire Productions in 1967 for a role in the feature film Battle of Britain. Following cessation of filming it went to the Station Museum at Colerne as a substitute for Spitfire I P7350 that went to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, before being refurbished at St Athan for display at the new RAF Museum at Hendon. It's depicted in 222 Sqn markings as it was during Operation Jubilee.




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Built by Hawker Siddeley in March 1962, Folland Gnat XR977, as blatantly obvious served with the Red Arrows at RAF Kemble between April 1976, as Red 3, and September 1979, when the Reds exchanged their Gnats for Hawks. Following its retirement from the Reds it went to Cosford as a training aid before being parked for display across the airfield at the Aerospace Museum, an RAFM outstation at the time. During its RAF career, XR977 suffered a belly landing at the hands of RAAF exchange pilot Sqn Ldr Mark Fielding, who was at RAF Valley undergoing the advanced pilot training school. This was at a time when the RAAF couldn't train its pilots quickly enough to meet its needs and trainees were sent to the UK on exchange in the late 1960s/early 1970s.




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Finally, a look at the airframes in the RAF Stories gallery, with Westland Sea King HAR.3 XZ585 to the left, whose most notable action from a public perspective is having been flown by HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge during his time flying with 202 Sqn at RAF Boulmer, which seems to appeal to the public; anything "Royal" still does, and we'll see more of that during our venture through the museum.




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There is one more full size aeroplane left in this hangar and we'll look at that before we leave the building, but in the next instalment, well be focussing primarily on things, some of which never went beyond the conceptual model stage...

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## Wurger (Dec 15, 2021)




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## Crimea_River (Dec 15, 2021)

Good stuff Grant.


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## nuuumannn (Dec 16, 2021)

Thanks all. In this instalment we go back in time and examine some items of interest that explore aspects of the RAF's history that are worth telling but often get overlooked in the clamour to look at aeroplanes. This building does have things of interest and if one takes the time, more discerning visitors will find them as intriguing. These things are located in the RAF - First To The Future gallery space, highlighting technological developments the RAF partook in, some of which are indeed historically significant, although this part of the building is full of those pesky hands-on interactive things that enthusiasts rail against.

We take a look at two defining moments in the history of British aircraft propulsion first, starting with this Roll-Royce R engine. As we are all aware, the R put RR at the forefront of piston engine development for the next 20 years. Here is the surprisingly detailed wiki page on its development, which is definitely worth reading through:









Rolls-Royce R - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





This particular engine is R.25 and was fitted to the Supermarine S.6B S1596 flown by Flt Lt George Stainforth in which he prepared for his assault on the world air speed record, achieving it in S.6B S1595 on 29 September 1931, of which both the aeroplane and engine, R.26 survive in the Science Museum, South Kensington. Following removal from S1596, R.25 went into the world land speed record breaking monster Thunderbolt, built and driven by Capt George Eyston, which was powered by two Rs, the other being the previously mentioned R.26, and beating the record on 19 November 1937, Thunderbolt reached 312 mph, Eyston raising the record to 345 mph within the year.

Here's some data on the big beast:





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Thunderbolt - George Eyston • Land Speed Record


In November 1937 the British driver George Eyston set his third and final land speed record driving Thunderbolt, achieving 312 mph over the flying kilometre. Read about the records, the car and the driver.




landspeedrecord.org





Intriguingly, Thunderbolt met its end in New Zealand of all places, following display in the British Pavilion at the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition at Rongotai, Wellington in 1939, and a promotional tour of the country. During WW2 the car remained in New Zealand, devoid of its two R engines, which had been removed and returned to the UK, but the storage shed, where the car was kept caught fire in 1946 and it was reduced to a wreck. The fire also consumed some rare and historic surviving RNZAF machines too, including a Gloster Grebe and Hawker Tomtit. Following the demolishing of the building, the Thunderbolt's remains sat, rather pathetically on the side of the road for awhile, no one realising exactly what it was, until it was dragged across Rongotai and unceremoniously buried in landfill to create the new Wellington Airport's runway. A bizarre ending to a remarkable machine.




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Meanwhile, in another part of the country from Derby, where the R was undergoing testing, a young Frank Whittle was tinkering with an idea he had had for awhile, of producing power by compressing air and mixing it with raw fuel to drive a turbine. This is a Power Jets W2/500 engine, the forerunner to the Rover W.2B and Rolls-Royce Welland, which were the first production British jet engines. Technical information written by the Late Peter Berry, a former colleague of mine from my museum years in the UK:



http://enginehistory.org/GasTurbines/EarlyGT/r-r_w2b.shtml






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Now, a range of intriguing models on display in the gallery, each with promise, but most of which failed to inspire production, in some cases not even a full size example of these were built. We begin with the rather large and far too ambitious Tarrant Tabor, which was actually built, but crashed on its maiden flight. Info from the usual wikiplace on this lofty design.

"The Tabor was the first and only aircraft design produced by W.G Tarrant Ltd, a well-known property developer and building contractor at Byfleet, Surrey, which had been subcontracted to build aircraft components during the First World War. In late 1917 Tarrant assembled a design team, led by Walter Barling, hired from the Royal Aircraft Factory and Marcel Lobelle, hired from Martinsyde to design a very large long-range heavy bomber, capable of bombing Berlin. Construction was primarily in wood with conventional tri-plane strut-braced wings and a monocoque fuselage built up from ply veneers. The Tabor was originally planned as a biplane powered by four 600 hp Siddeley Tiger engines. However delays in development of the engines meant these would be unavailable and so the aircraft was redesigned to use six 450 hp Napier Lion engines to give a similar power/weight ratio, and a third, upper wing added.

"The final design had a wingspan of over 131 ft (40 m), with the central wing of much greater span than the other two. Four engines were mounted in push pull configuration pairs between the lower and middle wings with the other two mounted in tractor configuration between the middle and upper wings, directly above the lower pairs. The tractor engines used two-bladed propellors, the pushers four-bladed ones. With the end of the war conversion to a passenger aircraft was planned.

"The Tabor's maiden flight was from the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough on 26 May 1919. The Tabor, with two pilots and five passengers was taxied around the landing field using only the four lower engines. Satisfied with the behaviour of the aircraft the crew decided to take-off. The tail was off the ground but it was still running on the main wheels, intermittently lifting off. When the top two engines were started the aircraft pitched forward, burying the nose into the ground and seriously injuring all on board. The second pilot died after reaching hospital and the pilot died of his injuries a few days later. Later analysis suggested that the upper engines were so far above the fuselage that they forced the nose down when driven up to full power. The situation may not have been helped by the addition of 1,000 lb of lead ballast in the nose against the wishes of Tarrant."




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Next, the elegant Fairey Long Range Monoplane.

"The aircraft was designed to meet Air Ministry Specification 33/27, issued by the Directorate of Technical Development (DTD) in December 1927 after the failure of three attempts by the RAF to break the absolute distance world record flying Hawker Horsley bombers. According to a Ministry spokesman in the House of Commons, this aircraft was to be constructed not just "for a specific record," but as a serious study into methods of increasing the range of aircraft. In order to soothe the anxieties of the Treasury, the aircraft started life as the Postal Aircraft. The pointed nose and sleek lines of the prototype gave rise to the nickname "Eversharp," after the maker of pens and mechanical pencils.

"Although other configurations were studied, after wind tunnel testing a high wing was chosen, allowing a gravity feed from the fuel tanks. The wing's spars were of wood with a steel pyramid system of internal bracing intended to add torsional rigidity and ensure that flight loads were evenly distributed between the spars irrespective of the position of the centre of pressure, and were fabric covered. The fuel capacity was 1,043 Imp gals (4,742 L) and the system used a gravity feed and mechanical fuel pump in sequence; a wind-driven, emergency back-up pump was also provided. There were other features dedicated to the long-range function; there were two parallel oil filter circuits, allowing one filter to be removed and cleaned while the other remained in operation. The aircraft was even equipped with a pneumatic bed for a reserve pilot. After extensive testing using a Fairey IIIF and a DH.9A, the Napier Lion XIA of 570 hp (430 kW) was selected late in the design process."

Data on this intriguing machine here:









Fairey Long-range Monoplane - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org








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Next, we skip ahead a few years into the future and a model of the Supermarine Type 535, a prototype step on the way to the rather dismal Swift interceptor that saw better use as a tactical reconnaissance platform. The 535 was derived from the Supermarine 510, which was a swept wing version of the Attacker naval fighter and of which a single prototype survives in the Cobham Hall storage facility for the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton, incidentally on loan to the FAAM from the RAFM.

Some good development information on the Swift at Damien Burke's excellent and comprehensive Thunder and Lightnings website, where, if you are a fan of post-war British combat aircraft, you're gonna easily be immersed navigating your way through:





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Thunder & Lightnings - Supermarine Swift - History


Cold War British military aircraft, including history, surviving airframes, profile drawings, photos, walkarounds, links, references. Also viewing guides for UK airfields and the Test Flying Memorial




www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk








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This next object is a wind tunnel model of the de Havilland DH.117 interceptor designed to F.155, a requirement for a high speed high altitude interceptor issued in 1955. Background text on F.155 from wiki:

"This was a specification issued by the British Ministry of Supply on 15 January 1955 for an interceptor aircraft to defend the United Kingdom from Soviet high-flying nuclear-armed supersonic bombers. Discussion about the need for a new supersonic interceptor had been ongoing for some time in the early 1950s, and several designs introduced, but improving radar systems and weapons mooted the need for better aircraft in the short term. Information about new Soviet supersonic bomber designs emerged in 1954, sparking serious consideration for the first time. The Requirement emerged as a much larger and longer-range system than previously studied. The Requirement called for aircraft to be in service by 1962, the same date as the Tupolev Tu-22."

Considered the safest design submitted, out of the tender submissions the DH.117 was placed at a distant fourth, the firm had at that time done considerable research into weapon systems, such as the Fire Streak AAM that the winning aircraft was to carry and eventually went into service equipping de Havilland's own Sea Vixen and the English Electric Lightning interceptors. This stood the firm in good stead in terms of the weaponry requirement, although the rather large Red Hebe missile could only be placed on the aircraft's wingtips, the design being the smallest of those proposed. This seemed to be the main preoccupation of DH's tender submission, the weapon system, with less attention paid to the airframe itself, which was to be constructed of light alloys, but using as much titanium in pure and alloy form "...in regions subject to higher temperatures that are acceptable for light alloy and as a replacement for steel wherever possible", as the tender document stated.

Powered by a pair of the company's own Gyron Junior engines, with a Spectre bipropellant rocket motor powered by HTP and kerosene in the extreme rear fuselage, it was designed to be able to reach an altitude of 60,000 feet in six minutes, which was slower than the Fighter Command recommended time of 3 minutes to altitude. The aircraft did have a commendable maximum speed of Mach 2.35 and an extended loiter time of 40 minutes, well above the expected 15 minutes in the specification. Being technologically the simplest design, the firm determined that it could have a prototype flying in December 1958, with the second prototype in January 1959, with production deliveries in early 1962, stating that this could happen only if "...certain and very essential steps and decisions are taken early and adhered to." This alluded to the design's advanced nature and the ministry's tendency to alter specifications and requirements at its whim, which was a fair point, but that snark might have contributed to the ministry's decision not to choose the "safe" DH.117.




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This is the highly advanced Avro 730 supersonic nuclear bomber. A good page of historic information on this ambitious project here:





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AVRO 730 - United Kingdom Nuclear Forces







www.globalsecurity.org








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Information on the aircraft's advanced features:









Avro 730 - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





"The Avro 730 was a very high speed aircraft, originally designed solely for aerial reconnaissance purposes. In order to achieve the desired high speed performance, the aircraft consisted of a long, slender fuselage with a high fineness ratio; a small tapered almost-rectangular wing was mounted centrally on the fuselage. The characteristics of the wing, being relatively short and straight, enabled the lengthy aerial for the primary reconnaissance sensor, the Red Drover X-band radar, to be contained within the fuselage, as the wing provided little obstruction and therefore interference with the radar. A total of four Armstrong-Siddeley P.156 engines, two each being mounted in an over-under arrangement in pods positioned at the extreme tips of the wings, provided propulsion. The engine nacelles included variable-geometry air intakes, while the engines themselves were equipped with convergent-divergent nozzles. Alternative arrangements of two or three shock cones could have been installed on the nacelles.

"The aircraft adopted an atypical tail-first configuration; this approach had the effect of greatly reducing trim-drag while also generating increased lift at slower speeds. Longitudinal control was provided by the nose-mounted tail plane via trailing edge elevators, lateral control was enacted by ailerons located on the wing's trailing edge, and directional control was achieved by a conventional rudder. All four of the primary flight control surfaces were actuated by a quadruple-redundant electro-hydraulic control unit, designed by Boulton Paul. Fly-by-wire electrical controls and automatic control systems were also to be employed on the type. The undercarriage, designed by Dowty Group, used an arrangement of a single centre-fuselage main unit complete with four wheels, a nose unit with two wheels, and a pair of outriggers located on the engine nacelles.

"The Avro 730 lacked a conventional canopy in order to maintain the fineness ratio, the cockpit featured only two small windows facing to the side. On the intended initial development models, a raised canopy would have been present for direct vision; however, production aircraft would have made sole use of an electrically operated retractable periscope in order to provide an external view, including during take-off and landing. As originally envisioned, a crew of three would be carried: pilot, navigator and radar operator. All three were to be contained within the same compartment, which was both pressurised and refrigerated for passenger comfort; lightweight ejection seats were to be provisioned for all crew members."




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Working our way through to the late 1960s, we see a conceptual model for the UKVG project, of which I have written a little about elsewhere on this forum:

"The Tornado was developed quite separate to the AFVG project, the UK deciding on the UKVG project in 1967 based on VG work done in Britain, although the intent with the UKVG project was for joint foreign investment. The original MRCA came about as a conglomerate of the UK and F-104 Starfighter operators in Europe and Canada, who formed a working group to investigate a modern strike airframe. By late 1968 Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands had dropped out, leaving Germany and Italy."

This saw development following the collapse of the AFVG, Anglo-French Variable Geometry programme, at a time when, following the cancellation of the TSR.2 in early 1965 the RAF was desperately scrambling to seek a next generation strike aircraft and thus prompted the British government to sell its soul to whichever foreign buyer wanted it to get a new tactical bomber. It eventually got second hand Buccaneers, although the UKVG was an interim step before the excellent and long-lasting Panavia Tornado, which kind of resembled hopes for the OR.339 requirement that resulted in the specification to build TSR.2, OR.343. The concept model of a Luftwaffe UKVG.




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Another promising also ran was what was euphemistically called the Thin Wing Javelin, a supersonic variant of the Gloster product that inhabited RAF squadrons in the late 50s and early 60s until the arrival of the Mach 2 supersonic hotrod Lightning. This was a deliberate attempt to keep the Javelin project current and ultimately required extensive redesign to the extent that it barely resembled the aircraft it was named from.

Expected to have a maximum speed of Mach 1.6 with a higher ceiling that contemporary foreign interceptors, the aircraft was to have a supersonic optimised delta wing, the new jet was to be built to Specification F.135D Thin Wing Gloster All Weather Fighter, an update of the initial F.118 specification and a prototype was ordered in 1954 to be serialled XG336. Gloster prepared a full-scale mock-up beforehand, but expectations and supersonic research, using wind tunnel models like this one below saw much alteration to the design, including an area ruled rear fuselage, in keeping with what was becoming trendy on foreign designs such as the F.106 Delta Dart, whose predecessor the F.102 the original Javelin was a contemporary of.

The final incarnation of the thin-wing Gloster P.376 just before cancellation was a large aircraft carrying the Vickers Red Dean all-aspect AAM as a possible contender for F.155 previously mentioned, but its cancellation in 1957 as a result of the Duncan Sandys' White Paper meant that the concept of a supersonic Javelin died with it. Of note was that the Thin Wing Javelin did not meet the stringent performance requirements of F.155, and at the time the Air Staff investigated the possibility of buying the doomed Avro Canada CF.105 interceptor, but the decision to pursue F.155 also killed that idea as the Arrow did not meet the performance aspects of that specification - it was too slow in the climb and maximum speed aspects of the requirement.




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That's it for today. Next, we say farewell to this building and the last aircraft in here and then we take steps back into The London Aerodrome, Hendon's own distinguished history.

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## rochie (Dec 17, 2021)

excellent Grant,

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## Wurger (Dec 17, 2021)



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## Gnomey (Dec 17, 2021)

Lovely shots Grant!

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## Graeme (Dec 17, 2021)

Great shots/info!


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## nuuumannn (Dec 17, 2021)

Graeme said:


> Seen above in the background - what's this one mate?



That's the DH.117 mentioned in the most recent post. It was an interceptor designed to F.155 of 1955.




RAFM 21

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## nuuumannn (Dec 17, 2021)

gumbyk said:


> I can't see why any decision to personalise the stories can ever be controversial.



Me neither. British (online) enthusiasts get their noses put out of joint real easily, as you probably know. The RAF Museum has been subject to quite a bit of online hate and this new look certainly has added to that and at the time of my visit, when I took these pictures, the museum had only just reopened the new bits. I took the opportunity to interview the director with the intent of turning it into an article, but the interview wasn't the best and wasn't all that revealing, partly my fault and the fact I was given a half hour, which stretched to nearly double that, but the final product was never published and I'm kind'a glad because it wasn't a good article. Nonetheless there was some useable stuff that did make it into publication in other articles.

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## Graeme (Dec 17, 2021)

nuuumannn said:


> That's the DH.117 mentioned in the most recent post.



Yeah, apologies mate - I was scrolling upwards, THEN, seconds later, saw the answer. Cheers.


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## nuuumannn (Dec 19, 2021)

We are still in the big former Battle of Britain Hall (old habits die hard) and we are looking at Short Sunderland V ML824. The aircraft has an intriguing history that is worthy of recounting here in brief, because there were charitable individuals who thought it important to preserve examples of these big beasts in the land of their origin before they became extinct.

Constructed by Short Bros and Harland at Queen's Island, Belfast as a Sunderland Mk.III in June 1944, it was swiftly converted to a Mk.V following entry into RAF service. Based at Castle Archdale, the aircraft joined 201 Sqn as its first Sunderland V and began anti-submarine patrols, which occupied the aircraft throughout the rest of the war, moving to 330 Sqn at Sullom Voe, Shetland, before war's end. In September 1945 the aircraft was struck off charge and stored at various places around Scotland, including Wig Bay, where it was reconditioned for service during the Berlin Airlift in 1948, but it ultimately wasn't required. In 1950 it was returned to its manufacturers in Northern Ireland and underwent refurbishment for service with the Aeronavale and departed in October 1951 for Dakar, Senegal with Flotilles F7, 12S, 27F and 50S. The aircraft remained in Aeronavale service until 1960, after which it was flown to the naval base at Lanveoc, south of Brest, France, where it made its last flight in December that year, the very last flights of the type in French service.

ML824 hasn't been moved from its position in the hall since it was put there in 1978. Note the rear keel beaching trolley alongside. Originally the aircraft stood on its own beaching gear outside the museum but the massive metal wheel equipped stanchions that attached under the main wings either side had corroded so badly they were in danger of collapsing, so they were replaced with the cradle the aeroplane sits on.




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Meanwhile, back in the late 1950s, the RAF had retired the type, but there were no examples remaining in the UK and so one at Seletar in Singapore was being readied for a flight to Britain in 1959, but it slipped off its beaching gear and the rear fuselage was twisted so badly the aircraft was written off. After this rather unfortunate accident, a Welsh enthusiast called Peter Thomas raised funds privately with the intent of bringing an RNZAF example back to the UK, but the sheer cost and technical difficulty of flying a Sunderland from New Zealand on the other side of the world to the UK was too great. Following this avenue, Thomas wrote to the French government, who still had three of the type left, acted positively and very kindly donated one of them, ML824 to Thomas' Short Sunderland Trust and in March 1961 it made its final flight to Pembroke Dock, where the trust had set up base. Following a positive reception from the public that a Sunderland had returned home, one of the last French Sunderlands remaining went to the IWM and can be seen at Duxford, in 1968 the trust's secretary wrote to Dr John Tanner proposing preservation within the RAF's proposed museum that he eventually became director of. With acceptance, ML824 was dismantled and taken by ship up the Thames from Pembroke, then by road to Hendon in 1971, where it was reassembled in the Grahame-White hangar, which we'll see very soon. Finished with the Sunderland trust, Thomas eventually went on to form the Skyfame Museum at Staverton, from where the IWM at Duxford received some of its aeroplanes once Skyfame collapsed in 1978.

Ml824 was at one stage open to the public, and although it wasn't at the time of my visit, I have been assured this will happen again. One element of the aircraft's display that has angered members of the enthusiast community is that the struts holding the auxiliary floats under the wings have been shortened to prevent the public bashing their heads against the floats as they walk around the aircraft. During my visit, it was explained to me that the originals remain in the collection and that the alteration can be reversed (so, calm the eff down!).




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Next, I changed my mind about this item as I originally wasn't going to devote the time of day to it, but decided against that whilst researching the items directly outside the hall, that item is the seaplane tender ST.206. built in 1931 as the sixth example of its type with the role of servicing flying boats and other RAF water borne aircraft, the tender was based at Calshot first, then Catfoss, and in 1942 it was converted into a fire tender, being transferred to Northern Ireland in support of the RAF's flying boats at Castle Archdale, where it would have briefly encountered ML824 with 201 Sqn. In 1946 it was struck off charge and sold through the Admiralty into civilian hands, its actual movements unrecorded until 1990 when it was acquired privately for conversion back into seaplane tender condition and in 2004 it sailed to Normandy as part of a flotilla during the 60th anniversary of Overlord. By 2008 it was for sale, but it wasn't for two years that the RAFM purchased it, arriving at Hendon in May 2010, the last RAF launch to fly the Ensign. Apparently, back in the 1930s, the boat was worked on by T.E. Lawrence, who was involved in the testing of this type on its acceptance into RAF service.




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ST.206 is currently indoors, unlike these next two RAF motor boats, who have spent the entirety of their display life at Hendon outside in each other's company, the launches 1374 and 2757. The former is a 63' Pinnace Mk.I and was primarily used as a multi-use tender at RAF marine facilities at home and abroad, this one having served at Gan Island, Diego Garcia. Returning to the UK in 1969, the pinnace remained in service until the disbandment of the RAF Marine Branch in April 1986, remaining in civil hands until 2002. It has been at Hendon where it has sat next to its display mate Rescue Target Towing Launch 2757 since 2003. This was built by Vosper in 1957 and powered by two 1700 hp Rolls-Royce Sea Griffon engines, RTTL.2757 entered RAF service in 1958, remaining with the RAF Marine Branch until 1977, when it was allocated for display at Hendon. Note their deteriorating wooden hulls and ongoing restoration, a consequence of spending their life outdoors.




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Now, we visit one of the oldest and most significant structures on the museum site, the former London Aerodrome, Hendon's watch office block. Built in 1915 as an extension to Claude Grahame-White's aircraft construction enterprise, the building incorporated his office, boardroom and accounts department. From the former, Grahame-White could view the activities on the aerodrome closely, which by that time was primarily personnel training for military service with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service through private flying schools - we'll sneak a peek at the office next. A bit of early history of the aerodrome while we have a moment.

Following a few balloon flights in the late 19th century, the first flights by an aeroplane from the Hendon site we know today was conducted by French aviator Louis Paulhan in 1910, who, alongside Claude Grahame-White who took off from Park Royal, were taking part in the race to fly between London and Manchester sponsored by the Daily Mail newspaper, back when that entity actually did something positive for society. Hendon began its lengthy career as an aerodrome later that year, the land being purchased by Grahame-White for the construction of a flying school and aeroplane manufacturing facility. Soon, the Grahame-White School was joined by other training outfits, such as the Bleriot School, established by the by then historic French aviator who a year earlier had flown solo across the English Channel, the Hall School, the Ruffy-Baumann School and the Beatty School, established by US aviator George Beatty and aircraft constructor Fredrick Handley Page, whose company a year earlier had become the UK's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing firm. During the Great War the Grahame-White office block was constructed among a long line of hangars that had sat parallel to what became known as Aerodrome Road. The office block following its stunning recreation and reopening on the museum site.




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Jumping ahead in time, following closure of RAF Hendon in 1987, the buildings fell into disrepair on a remote site owned by the Ministry of Defence, but the museum heads eyed them anxiously, fearing their destruction, bearing in mind their significance to the airfield's history. In 2003 as a part of the redevelopment of the museum in the centenary year of powered flight (with Heritage Lottery funding), those prize structures were thrown a lifeline and they were earmarked for preservation, on the condition they be removed from their original MoD owned site, which was up for sale. This of course was done and in 2010, the office block was dismantled brick by brick and removed to its current location and condition after extensive restoration. The main electrical junction block for the aircraft factory inside the building.




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So, who was Claude Grahame-White? Well, Wikipedia tells his story lengthier and better than I can here, there's even a picture of the interior of the Grahame-White Hangar at Hendon, which we venture into next:









Claude Grahame-White - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





His office has been faithfully recreated from photographs.




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Now we look at one of the pioneers of aircraft preservation in the UK, who, along with his better known contemporary Richard Shuttleworth, was responsible for the collectionof a large number of Great War and earlier flying machines, a portion of which are now in the RAFM collection, Mr Richard G. J. Nash. Historians on the subject don't know who out of the two Richards began collecting aeroplanes first, but Nash began sometime after the Great War, becoming wealthy from the construction of automobiles at Brooklands in Surrey. It's also not known exactly what he had collected before WW2, when he was evicted from his premises in June 1940, but his collection included a Wright Flyer, two Sopwith Babies, a Fokker Dr I, a Deperdussin, a Blackburn Monoplane and an Antoinette. After the end of WW2, his collection was a bit smaller owing to air raids and so forth on the storage sheds he kept his aeroplanes in - the Luftwaffe must have known he was up to something - the formerly mentioned types have long since disappeared. Items from the two war damaged Sopwiths ended up with the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton and went into its recreation of the type, as a Blackburn built Baby.




DSC_0416

By 1951 however, Nash's collection was at RAF Hendon and the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) began to take an interest in the surviving aircraft, representing a significant number, despite the wartime deprivations and included some of the aeroplanes we are about to see, this beautiful Bleriot XXVII and this Avro 504K, and others lodged within the Grahame-White hangar. Realising the significance of the collection, the RAeS had the airframes moved from Hendon to the British European Airways hangars at Heathrow Airport, where restoration was undertaken on some of the aircraft, but ultimately, acquisition by the Ministry of Defence in 1963 saw the lot moved to RAF Henlow, where the genesis of the RAFM collection began. Two survivors that have escaped the RAFM's clutches include a Maurice Farman F.40 and Hanriot HD.1, both of which are now in New Zealand in the hands of Peter Jackson's The Vintage Aviator firm awaiting restoration.




RAFM 36

Next, more to come from the Grahame-White Factory hangar and the Nash Collection.

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## Gnomey (Dec 19, 2021)

Lovely shots Grant!

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## Crimea_River (Dec 19, 2021)

Thanks Grant. I guess I was luck to be able to go inside the Sunderland when I was there in 2015. I was intrigued by the depth charge deployment rails: For Terry AKA Airframes :).

I have a few more interior pics if you want me to post them.


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## nuuumannn (Dec 19, 2021)

Crimea_River said:


> I guess I was luck to be able to go inside the Sunderland when I was there in 2015.



I got quite a few in the old days of 35mm film, but feel free to post if you wish.


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## Wurger (Dec 20, 2021)




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## Crimea_River (Dec 20, 2021)

I'll not pollute your wonderful thread with my stuff then Grant.


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## nuuumannn (Dec 21, 2021)

Thank you Andy, I don't mind, this thread is to be enjoyed by everyone.

So, examining one of the more unique aeroplanes of the previously mentioned Nash collection, this Bleriot XXVII is the only one of its kind built, but there has been some misidentification of the origins of this enigmatic machine, with research done by RAFM staff that reveals that it is one of two different aeroplanes to have received the same XXVII designation built by Bleriot. Thought to be the aeroplane that was exhibited in the Paris Aero Salon in 1911, which also took part in the 1911 Gordon Bennett Trophy, this machine in fact is not the same aeroplane, despite the similar designation and might have been built for an airman by the name of Rene Barrier, who wished to take it to the USA. It was discovered in June 1936 by Richard Nash inside a crate at Le Havre, possibly for importation before the Great War, but details are not known. Nash took it to Brooklands and promptly crashed it a few days after its discovery, after which it was repaired and loaned to the Science Museum, South Kensington, along with some of Nash's other aeroplanes, including his Sopwith Camel and Fokker D VII, both of which we'll see later in this thread, following which, in 1939 it was returned to Nash's workshops at Brooklands, where it spent the duration of the war. With its joyous _Jaune_ colour scheme combined with its dainty looks, this is my favourite of the RAFM's aeroplanes.





RAFM 38

After WW2, the Bleriot survived the destruction of some of Nash's rarer machines and in 1950 and 1951 it was displayed at the RAF air displays at Farnborough and Hendon respectively. In 1953, along with the rest of the Nash collection it went to the Royal Aeronautical Society, who stored it at Hendon for awhile before being sent to Heathrow with the rest of the Nash collection. In 1963 it went to RAF Lyneham for restoration as the fabric covering was deteriorating and the engine had seized, after which, a year later it was sent to Henlow for storage to join other significant aeroplanes being gathered for eventual display in the RAF Museum, although it didn't arrive at Hendon until 1978, when it was displayed missing its wings in a display on aircraft construction. The rest of it was at the RAFM Store at Cardington. Following a complete restoration at the RAFM's new conservation facility at Cosford, it was returned to Hendon complete and was placed in the newly erected Grahame-White hangar on site in time for the 2003 Centenary of Flight alterations to the museum. Note the hood over the engine, carefully and stylishly shaped as a means of keeping castor oil flung from the engine away from the pilot.




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This is when I encountered the aeroplane as during this time, we in the archive - I was a research curator - were used as spare manpower for shifting aeroplanes around the hangars. The museum was undergoing quite a big rearrangement and we were called to the display halls on almost a daily basis to assist in moving the aircraft. Faintly evident on the right hand wing can be seen that the fabric covering is layered diagonally, despite the illusion given of it conforming with the placement of the rib structure beneath. This diagonal pattern was adopted by Bleriot in his aircraft construction after studying Wilbur Wright's 1907 Flyer that he took to France in August 1908 and gave public demonstrations. On witnessing Wright flying his machine, apparently Bleriot stood there wide-eyed and speechless, after which he is reputed to have said, on studying the aeroplane more closely, "to hell with the aileron", and proceeded to adopt wing warping for lateral control. Distinctive in this view are its elegant rudder and horizontal stabiliser faired into the rear fuselage.




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Another Nash collection stalwart, this Avro 504K is a composite construction of two different aeroplanes, with bits from other Avros used in its reconstruction. It has the fuselage of Avro 504K G-EBJE, which was built at Croydon and was at one stage operated by F.G. Miles, of Philips & Powis Ltd, which was later renamed after the firm's owner, and the wings of Avro 504K G-EBKN, which was built by Short Bros at Belfast as E449 and also made its way to Miles at Shoreham, where the mating of the two elements from each Avro went into the one. On the way, this latter aeroplane served with the RAF and then went to the Aircraft Disposal Company, or Airdisco, where it was the subject of modification by resident engineer Frank Halford, who fitted a Renault V8 engine to it, in which form it became an Avro 548a, of which three more were converted. incidentally, while with Airdisco, Halford sawed a Renault V8 in half and created a four-cylinder light aircraft engine, which he named the Cirrus, which was manufactured under licence by Blackburn and adopted, along with Halford himself, by de Havilland as the basis of the Gipsy inline engine family. Naturally, the Avro was acquired by Richard Nash sometime before WW2 and went through the same series of movements as the Bleriot above, although in 1972 it went straight into the RAFM at Hendon for display on the museum's opening.




RAFM 39

This is a reproduction Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2b built specifically for the museum and originated from a BE.2a fuselage built as a display piece within a wartime workshop diorama. It was constructed at Henlow out of original bits from BE.2s, but it was decided to make a full reproduction of the type, which back then in the early 1980s was extinct in its country of origin - there was/is one in Canada. Constructed at Cardington from original factory drawings in the late 1980s, it was given the identity of BE.2b No.687 as flown by William Rhodes-Moorhouse, who flew it during a low-level attack on the Kortrijk railway yard in April 1915, during which he was wounded from the bomb blasts, fragments from which hit him, but he successfully nursed his aeroplane back to Merville and died from his wounds days later. Rhodes-Moorhouse was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross, becoming the first airman recipient of the award. Intriguingly for me at least, Rhodes-Moorhouse, although born in Yorkshire had a New Zealand grandmother of Maori descent, so accurately or inaccurately, in some circles he's celebrated as being "One Of Us".




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Now, another Nash collection favourite, the Caudron G.3 3066; another machine whose exact origins have been lost in time. Nash was not a good collector of historic data on his aeroplanes, but this machine came from Belgium and was registered as O-BELA in the 1920s, before becoming OO-ELA in 1930, after which it was eyed by Chief Flying Instructor of the Brooklands School of Flying Ken Waller, whilst being displayed at the International Air Rally at Le Zoute. Waller approached its pilot, M. Jean Leduc and dropped the famous Indian Jones line "it belongs in a museum!" although with a little less force and more humour, to which Leduc eventually replied with, "yup, you can fly it to England"! Waller then did exactly that, precariously making the flight between Brussels, Ostend, Calais, Dunkirk across the Channel to Folkstone and Lympne, total flying time of 1 hour and 40 minutes. Whilst in Waller's hands the machine received the registration of G-AETA and spent much time at air displays around the traps, during which time it came into Richard Nash's hands, the latter of course being homed at Waller's home airfield at Brooklands. As per the other Nash aeroplanes it wound its way via the same route to display in Hendon with the museum's opening in 1972. I remember this aeroplane as when we had to move it, it was exceptionally heavy at the tail booms, requiring special care during moving since it has no fuselage as such and because the main wheels were bungee sprung on a pivot to enable manoeuvring on the ground, it was very awkward to move about. Its original six cylinder Anzani rotary has been replaced by a ten cylinder fixed Anzani radial.




RAFM 45

This Vickers FB.5 Gunbus is a reproduction built by members of the Royal Aeronautical Society to celebrate the first production type built by Vickers and the first warplane expressly designed for the carriage of a machine gun. Constructed in 1965 and completed a year later by apprentices at the British Aircraft Corporation at Brooklands, Weybridge, the spiritual home of Vickers Armstrong's aviation business, the Gunbus was first flown in June 1966 to the delight of attendees at the RAeS Garden Party at the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, a home of historic aviation collecting after WW2 whose story is to come eventually. Presented at many different flying events throughout the next two years, in 1968 it was formerly handed over to the RAF for eventual display in the RAFM, which, on its opening in 1972 took pride of place as the only Vickers Gunbus in existence, even if it is a replica.




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Lastly for today, another extinct Great War type brought back to life in more recent times, the Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b. Incorporating an original Fee fuselage section of a machine built by Richard Garrett and Sons of Leiston in 1917, the military history of the aeroplane this belonged to is unknown and the cockpit section remarkably survived with Garrett & Sons and was donated to the RAFM in 1976. Placed in store at Cardington before a decision was made to bring the type back to life by building a full scale recreation of a Fee in 1986. Construction took much time and it wasn't until 2008 that work on the aeroplane was completed by Retrotec Ltd at Westfield wearing the identity of A6526, which served as a night bomber with 102 Sqn in 1918, during which time in October it was hit by AA and was damaged, being struck off charge on the 16th of the month.




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Delivered to the RAFM in May 2009, this is one of three FE.2b reconstructions in the world, this one incorporating the most original components of Fees in its recreation. The other two are in New Zealand as flying replicas built by The Vintage Aviator Ltd, of whom we'll hear more about soon. The Fee is a big aeroplane and it is difficult to appreciate the size of the type from the ground, classified originally as a "Fighter", a term that didn't have the same meaning post war; aeroplanes classified as such were akin to Giulio Douhet's "Battleplane", and were armed with machine guns to destroy other aeroplanes, but also carried out reconnaissance and other duties, including light bombing. The commonly known definition of a fighter today was referred to in British circles as a "Scout" during the war. The Beardmore 160 hp engine is original and came from New Zealand (possibly the Museum of Transport and Technology? Although I'm not sure about that), but I was once told that the RAFM had interest in a Beardmore engine that was located in Uruguay, but this was snapped up by The Vintage Aviator and was installed in one of its flying replicas, the first of which first flew in 2009 registered appropriately as ZK-FEE, the second as ZK-FEB didn't appear for another few years later. Here is a link to The Vintage Aviator's webpage on their recreation of this remarkable machine:






Building the FE.2b | The Vintage Aviator


The technology in this design is truly amazing, many parts I have never seen before on an early aircraft were incorporated into this one.




www.thevintageaviator.co.nz





The RAFM's example's original fuselage as seen from below, appropriately armed with a 230 lb bomb on the centreline, with 20 lb Bomb Carriers under the wings carrying four 20 lb bombs each.




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That's it for today, more from the Grahame-White Hangar and the Great War to come.

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## rochie (Dec 22, 2021)

Graham White Hanger is my favourite at Hendon

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## Wurger (Dec 22, 2021)




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## Graeme (Dec 22, 2021)

nuuumannn said:


> The results were alarming. Visitor numbers remained relatively static over the period in which the research was carried out, around 100,000 per year, but expectations were generally not being met. At over 70 percent of all attendees, the largest visitor demographic was families with children, often who had little or no understanding of the RAF or of aviation in general. In saying that however, many in this demographic did have a family member or friends who had or currently served in the RAF.



Interesting survey results.
Have admission numbers now increased?

I saw this, from 1974 - 600,000 that year...


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## Gnomey (Dec 22, 2021)

Lovely shots Grant!

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## nuuumannn (Dec 22, 2021)

Graeme said:


> I saw this, from 1974 - 600,000 that year...



Hi Graeme, the article states 600,000_ in the first year of opening_, which was 1972. That's kind of understanding, the RAF Museum was a big deal when it opened. Obviously attendance figures were larger in its first year as the public wanted to see the place, but before COVID, figures settled to averaging around 100,000 a year. I couldn't say what they are right now, the surveys were done beginning in 2012, but during my visit when I interviewed the director, she stated they hadn't changed over the period in between.

I remember Christopher Wren's cartoons from Air International, which I used to collect before Key Publishing bought it and turned it into a generic and rather uninspiring thing.


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## nuuumannn (Jan 4, 2022)

Right, back into this in-depth look at Hendon. We stay within the Grahame-White Hangar and turn to a display case in the centre of the floor containing intriguing bits and pieces associated with the Great War. One of my favourite things on display is this rather odd looking contraption, designed to be slung under Zeppelin interceptors and unleashed at them like the aerial equivalent of the medieval mace. It was one method that the British investigated for use against Zeppelins, which, at the outbreak of the War were considered a far greater threat to the British Isles than they actually turned out to be. At the time the Admiralty was tasked with the air defence of the UK and in response to the impending threat of what was assumed to be masses of Zeppelins sailing ominously over British cities and wiping them out, a campaign was launched to attack and destroy the airships on the ground using both land based and ship based aeroplanes. This is one of the Great War's successful but least understood aerial campaigns. British attacks on airship sheds in late 1914 were conducted piecemeal, but with success, using Sopwith Tabloids, Avro 504s and other types based in mainland Europe that were not really designed for such a role. In recognition of these far sighted strategic attacks the RAFM had a reproduction Sopwith Tabloid on display in the Grahame-White Hangar in the markings of No.168 flown by Flt Lt Reggie Marix, who on 8 October 1914 dropped bombs on the airship shed at Dusseldorf, destroying it and the Imperial Army Zeppelin Z IX contained within it. Disappointingly, the Tabloid has been removed from display.




RAFM 50

This device is a Ranken Dart and was designed specifically for the destruction of German airships. Designed by Lt Cdr Francis Ranken, the dart was hand deployed and comprised a 13-inch long cylinder containing explosive powder and capped with a solid penetrating tip. At its opposite end forward of the cruciform tail were three spring loaded arms that flipped out on the device's penetration of the airship's hull, which would pull an igniter within the device to ignite the powder within it. Stored in boxes of 24 rounds and deployed aboard Royal Flying Corps interceptors, the darts were disliked by their pilots, on whom their accuracy depended. No Zeppelin was ever destroyed by Ranken Darts and there was a considerable hazard of their being used over built-up areas and the risk of injury to civilians. Behind the Ranken Dart at top right can be seen an example of a "flechette", another hand delivered weapon aimed at soldiers in the trenches, these were designed to cause severe injury among enemy troops.




RAFM 51

These are parts scavenged from the wreck of the naval Zeppelin L 33, a R Class "Super Zeppelin" that was brought down on the evening of 24 September 1916 following attack by New Zealander Flt sub Lt Alfred de Bathe Brandon for 39 (Home Defence) Sqn, RFC. Whilst not the first Zeppelin to be shot down over British soil - that was the Schutte-Lanz SL 11 by Lt William Leefe-Robinson 21 nights earlier, L 33 was the first Zeppelin to land relatively intact and thus was the subject of intensive scrutiny by the Admiralty in particular who was keen to learn of its secrets for its own airship building programme. When a Zeppelin crashed in Britain, word got round fairly swiftly as there were volunteer watchers in and around cities and towns that kept an eye on the skies when there were warnings of air raids. Because L 33 landed relatively intact in a farmer's field between the villages of Great Burstead and Little Wigborough, Essex, a crowd had gathered and souvenir hunters had already began to denude the wreck of prizes before the local Constabulary had put a cordon in place. This meant that there are segments of L 33 in various locations around the UK in both private and official hands.




RAFM 52

Out of interest's sake, this is what awaited the occupants of the New Hall cottages the next day. The airship landed with little damage but its crew ignited the gas cells aboard by firing a flare into the ship, which did little more than destroy the gas cells and outer covering, leaving the ship's details relatively unscathed. Commanded by Kapitanleutnant Alois Böcker, L 33 was subject to attack by Brandon in his Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c using Ranken Darts and machine gun fire, but Brandon's gun jammed and he called off the attack. What Brandon was not aware of was that his gunfire damaged a fuel tank, which meant the airship did not have the range to make it back to Germany, and thus Böcker and crew opted to land in Britain, with flammable fuel sloshing around inside the airship - a volatile situation that could have resulted in disaster. One thing they did witness whilst struggling with their sinking airship was a bright flash in the sky as that same night the Zeppelin L 32, L 33's sister ship was shot down in flames by 2/Lt Freddie Sowrey, which would have left an indelible impression on them as they watched the fiery spectacle descend to the ground. On landing their stricken ship, Böcker and his 21 man crew, one suffering from a broken ankle as he was alighting from the 'ship knocked on the door of the cottage in the background. The occupants, the Lewis family and servants having been awoken by the noise of the airship's arrival refused to answer the door, after which the dejected Germans made their way down a darkened lane, only to be encountered by local Special Constable Edgar Nicholas on his bicycle, who arrested them on the spot! The image came from the RAFM's photograph collection.




L33 wreck

This is an incendiary bomb dropped by a Zeppelin. The panic caused by this new type of warfare where civilians were deliberately targeted - the Germans expressed the psychological value of airship raids at the time, they certainly could not attack particular factories and facilities with any degree of accuracy although they tried - was considerable and personal accounts in diaries and recollections of the time reflect the horror of witnessing buildings exploding and people being killed during these raids. Their results did nothing to alter the course of the ensuing conflict, and pale into insignificance in comparison to bombing raids during World War Two. A total of 196 tons of bombs were dropped on Britain over 51 raids by airships between January 1915 and August 1918, causing the deaths of 557 people and injuring another 1,358. It's worth noting that the effort that Britain expended in countering the raids was ground breaking, not just in the strategic attacks against airship facilities in Europe, but also in the development of aerial interception and a sophisticated air defence system, which by the end of the Great War and during World War Two, the UK led the world. It's interesting to note our location - the London Aerodrome at Hendon was where the UK's air interception efforts began, with a navy owned unarmed Caudron G.3, its pilot and a single searchlight; the first instalments of Britain's air defence during the war. The pilot, Flt Lt Eric Bentley Beaumann became an expert in night flying and in 1915 was sent to Edinburgh to become Commander of Aeroplanes at the newly opened Royal Naval Air Station, East Fortune, where he organised the air defence of the city by locating Avro interceptors and searchlights, but I digress.




RAFM 54

This next item is a significant surviving artifact, it is the vertical fin of the Sopwith Camel flown by Canadian born ace William "Billy" Barker VC. The aeroplane, Serial no. B6313 was the most successful fighter in RAF history, Barker having shot down 46 aircraft and balloons from September 1917 to September 1918 in it, for a total of 404 operational flying hours. Here is some info on Barker's aeroplane from his Wikipedia page:









William George Barker - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





"It was dismantled in October 1918, Barker keeping the clock as a memento, although he was asked to return it the following day. During this time Barker trialed a series of modifications to B6313, to improve its combat performance. The Clerget rotary engine's cooling efficiency was poorer in the hotter Italian climate, so several supplementary cooling slots were cut into the cowling. The poor upward visibility of the Camel resulted in Barker cutting away progressively larger portions of the center-section fabric. He also had a rifle-type, notch and bead gun-sight arrangement replace the standard gun sight fitting."

Information on Barker being awarded the Victoria Cross;

"While returning his Snipe to an aircraft depot, he crossed enemy lines at 21,000 feet above the Forêt de Mormal. He attacked an enemy Rumpler two-seater which broke up, its crew escaping by parachute (the aircraft was of _FAA 227_, Observer Lt. Oskar Wattenburg killed). By his own admission, he was careless and was bounced by a formation of Fokker D.VIIs of _Jagdgruppe 12_, consisting of _Jasta 24_ and _Jasta 44_, in a descending battle against 15 or more enemy machines. The dogfight took place immediately above the lines of the Canadian Corps. Severely wounded and bleeding profusely, Barker force-landed inside Allied lines, his life being saved by the men of an RAF Kite Balloon Section who transported him to a field dressing station."

"Barker is officially credited with one captured, two (and seven shared) balloons destroyed, 33 (and two shared) aircraft destroyed, and five aircraft "out of control", the highest "destroyed" ratio for any RAF, RFC, or RNAS pilot during the conflict. The Overseas Military Forces of Canada recognized Barker as "holding the record for fighting decorations" awarded in the First World War."




DSC_0036

Now, a couple of Britain's premier fighters of the Great War, firstly, a Sopwith Triplane. Unusually, this aeroplane is not a former Nash collection machine, being originally acquired by the Imperial War Museum following its wartime service, which saw it completed in late 1917 with a secondary training role in the RNAS. Triplane N5912 was one of only three examples made under contract by Oakley & Company at Ilford, Essex in their factory that was a former skating rink. The three Triplanes that were completed by Oakley took an inordinate amount of time owing to the fact that the company had never built aeroplanes before. After the war ended the IWM purchased it, along with several other airframes, including the Short 184 No.8359 flown by Sqn Cdr Fredrick Rutland during the Battle of Jutland that survives at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton and a captured LVG C VI, which is currently undergoing restoration at Cosford. Kept in storage in the basement of the Science Museum, South Kensington then moved into the No.1 Airship Shed at RAF Cardington, these historic airframes suffered damage over several years, before the Triplane was acquired by the AHB and restored to flying condition in 1936. Stored during the war, in RAF possession the aircraft was seen at events across the country and was overhauled with new wooden components at RAF Henlow following being placed in the RAF Museum when it formally opened in 1972.




RAFM 48

Finally for today, the formidable Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a, one of the best Allied fighters of the war. Built by Wolseley Motors at Adderley, Birmingham, F938 reached squadron service in time for the Armistice to be declared but remained in Germany with 84 Sqn until July 1919. After returning to the UK it was bought by Maj. John Savage, along with two other SE.5as, both of which survive to this day, one that flies with the Shuttleworth collection and the other on static display in the Science Museum. There is some debate over the exact civilian identities assigned to this and the Science Museum example, being either G-EBIB or 'EBIC and to this day the details are blurred with multiple sources quoting each as wearing the different registrations. Following use by the Savage Skywriting Company Ltd based at Hendon, in either 1936 or 1937 the aircraft was acquired by Richard Nash, where after its history echoes that of other Nash Collection aircraft before going on display at the RAF Museum on its opening in 1972, decorated as it appeared after construction.




RAFM 49

Next, more Furious Fighters from the Grahame-White Factory Hangar...

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## Wurger (Jan 5, 2022)




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## Capt. Vick (Jan 5, 2022)

Outstanding!

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## Crimea_River (Jan 5, 2022)

Another excellent installment Grant, thanks.

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## Gnomey (Jan 5, 2022)

Great shots Grant!

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## nuuumannn (Jan 5, 2022)

So, a bit of information on the confusion surrounding the exact identities of the Savage Skywriting SE.5as. The Science Museum has decorated its SE.5a in its original Savage scheme and assigned it the registration G-EBIB, which one source, the Putnam book on British civil aircraft serials states was assigned to Construction No.688, Serial F938, which is the RAFM's aircraft and that the RAFM's aircraft is actually C/N 687, S/N 937 registered as G-EBIC, because in service with Savage, both aircraft exchanged components. Another source, an article in a 1996 issue of Air Enthusiast rejects the exchange of components and change in civil regos but supports the number allocation, but contradicts itself in a table that states the RAFM should hold the C/N 688, S/N F938 as it is depicted. The problem is that the Science Museum's aircraft wears G-EBIB, but with the serial number F939! Nevertheless, Hendon's is restored as F938 and it's unlikely that either museum will change their choice of identities of their respective SE.5as in the near future.




DSC_0290

The Shuttleworth Collection's former Savage Skywriting SE.5a has an unrelated identity.




SE.5a-2

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## Wurger (Jan 6, 2022)




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## rochie (Jan 6, 2022)

great info Grant

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## nuuumannn (Jan 6, 2022)

We stay with the subject of fighters and start with the famous Bristol F.2b, perhaps the most famous "Fighter" of the Great War - the term originally had a different meaning to what we today refer to as a fighter, even if the Brisfit was indeed a fighter in the modern sense. Originally aircraft such as the Vickers FB.5 Gunbus and RAF FE.2b were described as "fighters"; multiplace aircraft being capable of a multitude of roles, such as reconnaissance, light bombing and escorting, whereas the concept of a single-seat machine actively look for enemy aircraft to shoot down, first put into practise by the French _Escadrilles de Chasse_ in 1915 - it's in the name they called such aircraft, _le Chasseur_, were referred to by the British as Scouts.

This particular Brisfit has no identifiable wartime pedigree and before 1919 its trail is cold. That year, again exactly when is not known, a Mr Boddington of Weston-on-the-Green, Oxfordshire bought around six Brisfit fuselages and wings that were seemingly never covered with fabric and used them in his barn to prop up the ceiling (!). Discovered in the early 1960s, four of these were sent to RAF Henlow, where bits were being acquired for a proposed RAF museum. One of these frames was refurbished and put on display in a workshop diorama in the historic hangars at the RAFM when it opened but in 1979 it was removed from display and sent to the RAFM Store at Cardington, where a decision was made to create a complete Bristol F.2b. Much work was done over a considerable amount of time with assistance from Tim Moore of Skysport Engineering using original Brisfit components in the museum's collection and the wings collected from Mr Boddington's barn. I once spoke to Tim Moore about a related matter and he stated that in his opinion the Brisfit at Hendon was the most authentic surviving Great War aeroplane that uses the most original components in its rebuild in Britain.

The decision to keep half the aeroplane uncovered, revealing that intricate internal structure is the right one, in my opinion.




RAFM 70

One of the Boddington F.2b airframes was with Skysport during the restoration of the museum's F.2b and in a trade authorised by the museum it was swapped with bits from a Boulton Paul Type C turret as fitted to the Lockheed Hudson that were located in Australia, so it went there in 1988. Sometime later, presumably after the roaring success of his Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the fuselage was bought by Great War enthusiast Peter Jackson and went to New Zealand, where, for a few years it was on display at the Aviation Heritage Centre at Omaka in the Knights Of The Sky exhibition. This photo of it was taken with a wee pocket camera in 2007; it's no longer on display at the AHC.




Bristol display

Our next subject is without a doubt the most famous British Great War aeroplane, the Camel, an aeroplane so famous the Arabs named a desert dwelling animal after it (!) This one is a Nash collection machine whose identity was not initially established owing to a quirk in bureaucracy that occurred in the bustle of wartime accounting; the same serial number assigned to two different aircraft. This is likely to be Boulton & Paul built Camel F6314, one of 1,575 Camels built by that firm (note the "&", which was later discarded), but for some mysterious reason, aircraft repaired in repair depots, known as Repair Parks in France were assigned separate serials and F6314 was also assigned to Camel B9235, coincidentally also built by Boulton & Paul. The RAFM Camel is likely to be the original F6314 because traces of this marking was found on its original fabric by its owner before Nash acquired it. In 1923 the engineless and instrument-less machine was acquired by Airdisco (as mentioned in an earlier post) by former Camel pilot Grenville O'Manton, who restored it to flying condition and fitted a 45 hp Anzani rotary to it, which made it severely underpowered and dangerous to fly, so O'Manton sold it not long afterwards. Nash acquired the Aeroplane in 1936 and made the sensible decision not to fly it as its structure was rotting from the inside out. Displayed at the Science Museum in 1939, along with other Nash collection aircraft it went to his hangar at Brooklands and from there on its history matches the rest of his aeroplanes now at Hendon.




RAFM 61

One of two Bad Guys in the Grahame-White Hangar, this Fokker D VII is a Nash collection aeroplane whose story matches the others, refurbished for public display after hiding at Brooklands during the war and acquired by the Royal Aeronautical Society before being donated to the RAF for display in its new museum, and like so many of its contemporaries its wartime military history is unknown. Built by Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke GmbH (OAW) at Schneidemuhl, Pomerania sometime in 1918, it was discovered at Ostend in November, following which it saw military service as a part of war reparations with the Belgian air force, the type remaining in service as a fighter trainer until the early 1930s. Three D VIIs were sold to civilians, of which this is one, believed to be OO-UPP; the other two to an Armand Bollins who converted them into two-seaters. All three had roles in a film called Le Equippage in late 1934, during which one of them was lost in an accident. Allegedly, Nash discovered UPP and the other D VII stored in Paris in 1937, before which 'UPP had been kept in airworthy condition and had appeared at flying displays. When inspecting the aircraft Nash found a badly dented 1899 one Pfennig coin stuck to the bottom of the control column and several patched bullet holes in the radiator and exhaust. In 1992, after display at Hendon for many years, including in the "Wings of the Eagle" exhibition in 1976, the RAeS sold its aircraft, basically the Nash collection to the AHB and following that paper exercise, it went to Cardington for an extensive renovation to as authentic 1918 condition as possible, including an accurately researched representation of the exterior "Lozenge" scheme German aeroplanes were decorated with at the time.




RAFM 64

This next aircraft is our second Bad Guy and is one of two reproductions built especially for the museum by the Vintage Aviator Ltd, Peter Jackson's aeroplane making concern in Wellington, New Zealand. Constructed in 2011, the aircraft was known as "Armina" within the TVAL workshops, as the company's personnel like to give their aeroplanes nicknames and was registered as ZK-TVD in November of that year. Completed in the markings of an Albatros D V flown by Vizefeldwebel Karl Freidrich Kurt Jentsch of Jasta 61 and Jasta 2 on the Western Front from June 1918, Jentsch had seven confirmed victories and survived the war, ZK-TVD has a Mercedes D III engine from the RAFM collection fitted, so it has some authenticity to it. In accordance with RAFM, the aeroplane attended flying displays in New Zealand, although I never saw it before it arrived in the UK, in August 2012 it arrived crated at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, Befordshire, where it appeared during at least one flying event, it was also seen at Duxford that year before being delivered by road to the RAFM. From what I've heard, the museum staff are astonished at the level of authenticity of the two TVAL machines in the collection.




RAFM 71

This next aeroplane is the other TVAL machine, a Royal Aircraft Factory RE.8. Constructed in 2011 at the same time as the Albatros, the RE.8 has been constructed using original components from the museum's collection as patterns, including a rudder, wing and fuselage sections. These were discovered in a garage in Coventry in 1966 and were recovered by the Northern Aircraft Preservation Society and donated to the RAF that year. During its construction, the RE.8 was nicknamed "Rachel" and was depicted in the markings of A3930 of IX Sqn, RFC in 1917 in Flanders, its aircraft carrying out reconnaissance of German trenches prior to and during the disaster that was the Passchendaele Campaign in October that year. Registered as ZK-TVC in December 2011, in January 2012, it had an important visitor, RAFM Director Peter Dye, who along with RAFM Aircraft Curator Ian Thirsk were visiting New Zealand to view the museum's completed aircraft, as its first ever passenger. Its history follows that of the Albatros previously mentioned and went via the Shuttleworth airfield at Biggleswade to Hendon.




RAFM 69

The raised walkway is annoying from a photography perspective, but it enables a good view of the cockpit.




RAFM 68

Our last airframe in the Grahame-White Hangar is one of the most significant as although it is a reproduction, it incorporates a great deal of original componentry and framework and it is of a lesser recognised type, the Sopwith 5F1 Dolphin. Built from a sizeable collection of original Dolphin components - and I'll attempt to identify them in this post, the RAFM's Dolphin is a remarkable piece of restoration work which took an inordinately long time, beginning around 1968 and finally being completed in February 2012 when it was first rolled out of the Sir Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at Cosford for a photo shoot on the 13th. The first bits of Dolphin the RAF acquired for its museum collection arrived at Henlow in June 1967 and comprised nose and forward fuselage cowlings, a main fuel tank, header tank and gravity feed upper wing tank, a set of radiators, three wheels, one of which fitted with a section of axle, centre section struts, a vertical fin and other miscellaneous bits. These came from a Mr J.S. Liming of St Leonards, East Sussex. It is believed they were from Dolphin D5329 built by the parent firm and is believed to have been delivered in October 1918. Much research into the Dolphin components and the rest of the RAFM's extensive collection of Great War bits was done by the Late Jack Bruce, who, as those of you with an interest in Great War aircraft are aware produced many authoritative texts on the subject, including the Wind Sock monographs, as well as the Putnam work on aircraft of the RFC. His personal collection of papers and research - a vast amount of stuff is held within the RAFM archive. In 1968 work began on the Dolphin replica at Henlow, but by 1974 it had moved to the RAFM's new storage facility at RAF Cardington.

From the front the Dolphin looks pugnacious. I couldn't resist doing a walkaround while I was there.




DSC_1004

In 1977 the museum acquired a six foot length of Dolphin fuselage framework that came with a data plate marked with the serial C3988 and it is this aircraft that the museum decided to decorate its completed Dolphin as. Constructed by the parent firm at Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, the aircraft was delivered in January 1918 and was tested with No.7 Aircraft Acceptance Park at the RFC airfield at Kenley, south of London by February that year. In 1997 a set of original hori-stabs and elevators were donated by the Shuttleworth Trust, which oddly have different identities; the hori-stabs from Dolphin C4033 and the elevators from D3725. That year a momentous occasion took place with the completion and rigging of the fuselage. In 2000, while the new conservation facility was being built at Cosford following the closure of RAF Cardington, the Dolphin went to RAF Wyton but within the year was on the road to Cosford, where restoration was finally completed in 2012. It is fitted with an original 220 hp Hispano-Suiza V-8 engine from the museum collection that was originally bought from the USA in 1969. Note in this view the reverse stagger on the two-bay wings and armament of two obliquely firing 0.303-in Lewis MGs and two forward firing 0.303-in Vickers MGs, a heavy armament for a Great War fighter, all giving the Dolphin a distinctive look.




RAFM 66 

That's it from Hendon for now, as we bid farewell to the Grahame-White Hangar.

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## Airframes (Jan 7, 2022)

Excellent !


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## Wurger (Jan 7, 2022)




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## Crimea_River (Jan 7, 2022)

Thanks again Grant. Great stuff.

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## Gnomey (Jan 7, 2022)

Lovely shots Grant!


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## nuuumannn (Jan 24, 2022)

We continue by taking a look at the Grahame-White Factory Hangar, which was originally built in 1912 and was attached to the office block, as it is today. Unusually for the time the various flying schools at Hendon had their own manufacture capability building their own designs and Grahame-White's firm did so; a list of types built by the Grahame-White Aviation Company on Claude's own Wiki page (far-sighted man, he was!), none of which were particularly memorable, but some of which entered military service in the forthcoming war.









Claude Grahame-White - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





One of his designers was a young John Dudley North, who left the firm during the war and eventually became chief designer for Boulton & Paul Ltd, his most famous creation being the Defiant turret fighter. With the outbreak of the Great War, Grahame-White received orders to manufacture aircraft for military use, the first order being 12 Morane-Saulnier Type H monoplanes for the RFC, with another 24 later ordered. Following the Admiralty's take-over of the airfield, the firm received an order for 24 BE.2cs, which were delivered between July 1915 and January 1916 at a rate of four per month, with a further 12 delivered between April and July that year. This was not a favourable production rate according to the Admiralty, who complained by letter to the firm about the slow delivery of the firm's aircraft. Grahame-White was keen on continuing this work during the war, but was faced with declining orders, which restricted expansion - the Admiralty promising orders if space was available, but Grahame-White explained that he could not afford to construct extensions to his factory unless he had orders. Quite the conundrum. Following expansion however, further orders came, including one for 100 Grahame-White Type XV training biplanes in two batches of fifty, one each for the RFC and RNAS. Work eventually saw orders for 750 Airco DH.6s and 900 Avro 504Ks, quite a big production run in the end.

The factory hangar today. A wee nugget of information about its refurbishment, it was built using as authentic methods and materials as possible, modern fire and safety measures notwithstanding and linseed oil based putty was used in the windows as it was at the time, but it was found that birds pecked away at the sills, weakening the security of the panes, so a modern, less palatable alternative was installed.





RAFM 73

Following the war, work dried up and the firm found itself manufacturing car bodies and furniture, before closing in 1922, with stretches of the airfield being used for animal grazing to raise money! Following acquisition of the airfield for military use by the Air Ministry that year, legal action was launched against Grahame-White by the government for monies owed, but he counter-sued, the case dragging on for the next two years. Under military tutelage the factory hangars were used for aircraft and equipment storage, with this continuing post-World War Two, when with the abandonment of the site by flying units in 1957 the hangar fell into disuse and dereliction. With the opening of the RAFM in 1972 and the reconstruction that enabled this to happen, the hangar was isolated on Ministry of Defence land and deteriorated considerably during this time, the museum custodians warily eyeing the significant buildings in their overgrown field with a plan to rescue them when funds came available. In 2003 with the centenary of powered flight, the museum underwent expansion for the first time since the opening of the Bomber Command Hall in 1983 and derelict airfield buildings on the museum site, some of which were historically significant, were demolished to make way for new construction. With assistance from the London Borough of Barnet Council and funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund the hangar was dismantled and erected on the museum site, leaving the firm's office remaining among the long grass, but its time came when the MoD sold the remaining land for development.

The Grahame-White Factory Hangar soon after opening in 2003 and its distinctive titling, which was original, with the museum's Hanriot HD-1 in the foreground. This aircraft is now in New Zealand with The Vintage Aviator Ltd.




Grahame-White Company Limited

Next, we walk among smartly restored surviving airfield buildings, including a new standalone cafe in Building 52 named Claude's and Building 69, the former parachute packing facility repurposed as the volunteer hub on site, we make our way to Hangar 6, the big Nissen Hut shaped former Milestones of Flight Hangar built in 2003 to commemorate the centenary of powered flight. This exhibition space, named "Millstones of Flight" by staff saw electronic plasma display boards installed for the first time and a gathering of significant airframes from the museum's collection, from a Bleriot XI to a prototype Eurofighter Typhoon, which we'll see later. Aircraft of interest included a de Havilland Mosquito, still at Hendon and Kawasaki Ki-100, which has been returned from its original display at Cosford, as well as a Miles Mohawk monoplane built by F.G. Miles especially for Charles Lindberg that is in storage at Stafford now. In keeping with telling the story of the RAF, this hangar now holds the RAF in an Age of Uncertainty, 1980 - Present exhibition, containing modern types, with interactive displays. There has been criticisim of the lack of aircraft on display in here considering the diversity and number of aircraft when it was Milestones -there being only six aircraft and two nose section inside now. Milestones, with the Bf 109G-2 Black Six at front and centre, now at Cosford. The number of aircraft within is evident.




Millstones Hall

We start with Tornado GR.1b ZA457. Constructed by British Aerospace at Warton in 1983 as a GR.1, being sent to the Tornado Operational Evaluation Unit at Boscombe Down, where it was for the next three years before entering RAF squadron service with IX Sqn in 1986. For the next four years it shuttled between IX and 617 Dambusters Sqn, with stints with XV and 17 Sqn (the use of Roman numerals with these units is commonly how they are referred) and time at RAF Bruggen, West Germany. In January 1991 the aircraft was one of those flown to Dahran, Saudi Arabia as a part of the RAF's build up in advance of Operation Granby, the British military action during the 1991 Gulf War, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in late 1990. Decorated in Desert Pink camouflage and sporting the nickname "Bob", named after a female colleague of the titular character from the TV comedy series Blackadder, as were the RAF's other Tornadoes, ZA457 carried out low and medium altitude strikes on Iraqi targets, including Mudaysis air base using the JP233 airfield denial weapon and Qal'at Salih air base using laser guided bombs (LGB). The aircraft was marked with 39 mission symbols during its Granby service. Following return to the UK after the war the aircraft returned to 617 Sqn, where in 1994 it was modified to GR.1b standard for the maritime strike role capable of carrying the BAe Sea Eagle anti-ship missile. These aircraft were nicknamed the Grib in service (geddit?) and were adorned on their fins with wartime Operation Chastise 617 Sqn Lancaster squadron codes, ZA457 wearing "AJ-J" worn by Lancaster ED906 flown by Flt Lt David Maltby, whose Upkeep mine detonated and breached the Möhne Dam on the night of 16/17 May 1943. ZA457 with David Maltby's Lancaster squadron codes visible, marking its territory on the hangar floor.




RAFM 87

Four years later, ZA457 went to war against Iraq again during the four-day Operation Desert Fox, with 12 Sqn flying Tornadoes from Ali Al Salem air base, Kuwait against various Iraqi installations in line with the aims of the US led action, flying 28 sorties in total. Despite allocation to 12 Sqn, the aircraft retained its Dambusters squadron codes. In 2001 the GR.1b had been replaced in RAF service with the Tornado GR.4 and the following March, ZA457 was withdrawn from service, being placed in storage at RAF Marham, its significance was recognised a year later and it was gifted to the RAFM and delivered by road to Hendon in July 2003 wearing its former 617 Sqn markings and two LGB mission symbols below the cockpit.




RAFM 77

Flying above ZA457 is Jaguar GR.1 XX824 on loan from the Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering at RAF Cosford - the museum site is still an active RAF base tasked with aircraft engineering training and houses the No.1 School of Technical Training (SoTT), which this aircraft was allocated to. Built by the British aircraft Corporation at Warton in 1975, the aircraft entered RAF service with 14 Sqn at RAF Bruggen, West Germany where it was armed with the WE.177 tactical nuclear weapon, one of which we'll see later. Remaining in Germany for the next ten years and cycling between 14 and 17 Sqn, our Jag was converted to GR.1A standard in 1983 with an improved inertial navigation system, aerial countermeasures and the ability to carry air-to-air missiles for self defence. In 1985 it returned to the UK, being replaced by the Tornado, see above, having served at the frontline of NATO's defence against the Soviet Union in mainland Europe for only ten years. Following retirement the aircraft went to RAF Shawbury for long term storage with 34 other Jags. Five years later it was removed and sent to RAF Halton to serve as an instructional airframe with the previously mentioned No.1 SoTT, the unit moving to Cosford in 1993. From there it was rescued from the tortuous existence of being hacked about by trainee engineers and was sent for display at Hendon in 2018.




RAFM 79

Next is the rather innocuous looking WE.177 tactical nuclear weapon carried by the RAF's Bruggen based Jaguars and Tornadoes. This was the UK's primary air delivered tactical nuclear weapon, seeing both RAF and navy service, being carried by a variety of aircraft, including the Avro Vulcan, Blackburn Buccaneer, de Havilland Sea Vixen and the BAe Sea Harrier, aside from the previously mentioned Jaguars and Tornadoes. to save me quoting from obvious sources, here's text from the Wiki page on the weapon:

"The underlying design was based on the US W59, which the UK had gained as part of their involvement in the GAM-87 Skybolt program. The RAF was not happy with the primary stage of the W59, which was potentially subject to accidental detonation when subject to mechanical shocks. Air Ministry Operational Requirement OR.1177 was issued for a new design using a less sensitive explosive, which was undertaken at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment as "Cleo". When Skybolt was cancelled, the UK gained access to the UGM-27 Polaris missile and its W58 warhead, but they continued development of Cleo as a tactical weapon to replace Red Beard. A later requirement for a much smaller tactical and anti-submarine weapon for Navy use was filled by using the new primary as a boosted fission weapon.

Three versions were produced, A, B and C. The first to be produced was the 450 kilotonnes of TNT (1,900 TJ) WE.177B, which entered service with the RAF at RAF Cottesmore in September 1966. Further deliveries were delayed by the need to complete the warheads for the Polaris A3T. The Navy did not begin to receive its ~10 kt (42 TJ) WE.177As until 1969. The 190 kt (800 TJ) C models for the RAF followed. All versions could be delivered by fixed-wing aircraft and could be parachute retarded. The WE.177A, in anti-submarine mode, could also be carried by helicopters.

The Navy weapons were retired by 1992, and all other weapons with the RAF were retired by 1998. When it was finally withdrawn in 1998, the WE.177 had been in service longer than any other British nuclear weapon. The WE.177 was the last nuclear bomb in service with the Royal Air Force, and the last tactical nuclear weapon deployed by the UK."

From here:









WE.177 - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org








RAFM 76

Finally for today, another Operation Granby veteran, Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XW547 looking weather worn and used in its Desert Pink scheme with wartime nose art, as a combat aircraft should after exhaustive action. Completed to an order for Buccaneer S.2Bs for the RAF rather than as a second hand ex-navy Bucc S.2, XW547 was built by Hawker Siddeley, nee Blackburn at Brough, Yorkshire in 1972, being sent to XV Sqn at RAF Laarbruch, West Germany in the low-level strike role replacing Canberras and awaiting the arrival of the Panavia Tornado to enter service. for the next four years it cycled through a few RAF squadrons in Germany then to 12 Sqn at RAF Honington before being sent to 237 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) at the same airfield, where it was regularly flown by navy personnel still operating the Buccaneer aboard the carrier HMS Ark Royal, including carrying out catapult launches at the Royal Aircraft Establishment airfield at Thurleigh. In March 1983 it carried out a rather lengthy flight with two other Buccaneers to Ascension Island in company with a Victor tanker and Nimrod SAR aircraft for company. This was following the Falklands War a year earlier, just in case. It's first "wartime" deployment came later that year during Operation Pulsator, where Buccaneers were sent to Akrotiri, Cyprus to fly at high speed over the city of Beirut to warn locals threatening locally based British Army personnel as part of the Multi-National Force in the area, the aircraft in its low level element during sorties on 11th and 13th September that year over the turbulent city.

XW547's weathered appearance is apparent, as is its Granby nose art of "Guiness Girl Pauline" and the name "The Macallan" after the single malt Speyside whiskey, as Buccaneers were named after Scottish whiskeys, reflecting their home base of RAF Lossiemouth, and an impressive tally of mission symbols.




RAFM 78

In 1985, 237 OCU moved to Lossiemouth and during the next few years the aircraft returned to frontline service with 12 Sqn, the famous Buccaneer unit that had the Fox as its emblem worn proudly on the aircraft's intakes, representing the only frontline unit to operate the fleet-of-foot Fairey Fox 1920s day bomber. In February 1991 it made the long flight to Muharraq air base, Bahrein as part of Operation Granby, receiving the Desert Pink scheme it still wears, flying 11 sorties between 2 and 11 February, amassing 100 hours 15 minutes flying time. Its first sortie was the morning of the 2nd in company with another Buccaneer and four Tornado GR.1s carrying LGBs, which the Buccaneers were supporting with the Pave Spike targetting pod for an attack on the bridge crossing the Euphrates River at Al Samawah. This was duly dispatched by the Tornadoes' LGBs. XW547 wears 11 mission symbols, all in black representing Pave Spike missions bar one, in red, indicating a strike role carrying LGBs. In March, the Buccaneers returned to Lossiemouth from the Gulf, but its victory lap was short lived as by July the aircraft had been retired from service and was allocated for display at the Aerospace Museum, Cosford, where it arrived in January 1993. In this view from the balcony above, the aircraft's "Sky Pirates" nose art of a Jolly Roger flag is evident, applied for obvious reasons. The sparsity of displays in the hangar is noticeable in this view.




RAFM 91

Next, more from Ex-"Millstones"...

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## Wurger (Jan 24, 2022)




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## Snautzer01 (Jan 24, 2022)

Very enjoyable read again. Thank you.

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## Crimea_River (Jan 24, 2022)

Thanks Grant!


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## Gnomey (Jan 25, 2022)

Good shots Grant!


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## nuuumannn (Mar 31, 2022)

Right, since one of our members is visiting Hendon, I thought I'd take some time away from essay writing and do another segment of this.

We start with BAe Harrier GR.9A ZG477. Constructed in 1990 by BAe Dunsfold, famous as the location of the Top Gear test track (not the Grand Tour one, that's at Wroughton in Wiltshire, which houses items from the Science Museum Reserve Collection), ZG477 was one of 34 new-build GR.7 airframes. Entering RAF service in August 1990, the Harrier was assigned to 4 Sqn at RAF Gutersloh, West Germany, but a year later was grounded following issues with the GR.7's avionic systems. Between 1992 and 1999 it bounced between 3 and 4 Sqn undergoing a detachment to Incirlik, Turkey in 1993 following the Kurdish uprising against Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein. This was as part of the RAF Operation Warden in enacting a no-fly zone over Northern Iraq. The Harrier squadrons, 1, 3 and 4 remained on station for two years until withdrawn in 1995.

In 1999, ZG477 was sent on detachment to Gioia Dell Colle, Italy as a contingent of Operation Allied Force, the action taken to destabilise Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's actions against the Albanian peoples of Kosovo. The operation continued from March 1999 through to June, when the bombing operation ceased and the Harriers went home, but that wasn't the last time ZG477 went into combat. In between the Ministry of Defence began to centralise Harrier operations with Joint Force Harrier, which saw RAF STOVL aircraft operate detachments aboard RN carriers again, the last time was the Falklands War in 1982. In 2003, ZG477 received an engine upgrade from the Pegasus 106 to the 107, which gave it around 15 percent more thrust at high ambient temperatures.




RAFM 83

A year later, ZG477 was converted to GR.9A standard, which was a mid-life weapons and avionics upgrade to the GR.7A standard, all aircraft were standardised with the Pegasus 107, as well as an advanced terrain referenced inertial nav-attack system as a part of its Integrated Weapons Programme (IWP) upgrade. The composite rear fuselages were strengthened as well. The upgrade saw the adoption of modern weapon systems, such as the MBDA Brimstone anti-tank missile and slightly older systems, such as the AGM-65 Maverick TV guided missile. In keeping with the aircraft's joint service operations, at the end of 2007, ZG477 joined the navy and went into service with the Naval Strike Wing, which was renamed 800 Naval Air Squadron in 2010 following the departure of the Sea Harrier FA.2 from RN service. 800 Sqn had previously been conjoined with 801 Sqn to create the Naval Strike Wing.

Eight months later, ZG477 went to war in Afghanistan for ten months as part of Operation Herrick, the RAF's strike operation against Taliban positions. Based at Kandahar Airport, or "Candy Bar" as it was nicknamed, the aircraft flew sorties around the Helmand Province in support of Coalition troops, deploying Paveway IV LGBs and CRV-7 unguided rocket pods, of which it carries under its wings today. The Harriers were deployed both by day and night using advanced optical sensors carried as part of the GR.9A upgrade. With the deployment to Afghanistan ending in mid-2009, ZG477 returned home, but its service career was destined not to last much longer, as the announcement was made that in December 2010, the RAF was going to retire its Harriers. Joining No.1 (F) Sqn on return from Afghanistan, ZG477 was one of the last Harriers in RAF service in December 2010 and formed what became known as Jedi Flight in November, comprising four Harriers from RAF Cottesmore that were embarked aboard the carrier Ark Royal as the last RAF Harrier detachment at sea. As "Jedi 1", ZG477 was the "Boss'" aircraft and had a flamboyant 1 Sqn commemorative tail markings applied, which it wears to this day. On 15 December, it flew as part of "Kestrel Formation", a 16-aircraft Flight that toured ex-Harrier bases and by day's end, the long reign of the Harrier in RAF service was over. The aircraft was delivered to RAFM Cosford in 2011 after lingering at Cottesmore in ground running condition.




RAFM 81

The next oddity in this hangar is a USAF General Atomics MQ-1B Predator. Exactly why this is in the museum I don't know, but I'm certain there is more appropriate RAF aircraft that could have been placed in here. The RAF has since received the MQ-9A Reaper, the Predator's replacement, but the service never operated the Predator. On loan from the National Museum of the USAF, this particular aircraft first flew in April 2005 and was assigned to the 15th Reconnaissance Squadron at Indian Springs, Nevada. Between 2005 and 2011 it was based at Tallil and Balad air Bases, Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2008 it was transferred to the 3rd Special Operations Squadron and in late 2011 it was redeployed to Ali al Salem Air Base, Kuwait as part of Operation New Dawn flying sorties over Iraq.




RAFM 82

It was then sent to Ambouli International Airport, Djibouti in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, operations combating extremists and pirate activity over the Horn of Africa. Returning to the USA from Africa in 2012, it suffered a landing mishap, resulting in damage to its undercarriage, but was subsequently repaired late that year. It went to Creech Air Force Base, whose tail code it wears and was subsequently retired in 2015 with the type's replacement in service with the MQ-9 Reaper. This one was one of 75 weaponised Predators built and although its weapon pylons have been removed, the attachment points can be seen under its wings.




RAFM 84

On to our last airframe in the former Milestones building, we go upstairs to stand face-to-face with the first completed prototype of the Eurofighter Consortium's Typhoon multirole fighter, the EF 2000 DA.2 (Development Aircraft) ZH588. Constructed in August 1993, this aircraft predated the German built DA.1, but it was that one that made the typre's first flight in March 1994, DA.2 following in April that year. Based at BAE Systems, Warton, it was one of seven test aircraft, one of which subsequently crashed, leaving six to complete the extensive testing of the type. In June 1995 it went on static display at the Paris Airshow, the public's first look at the type, and subsequently was seen at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford in July and then the SBAC show at Farnborough a year later in September 1996. In June 1995 it achieved a significant milestone as the first of the type to exceed Mach 2 in level flight. Over the subsequent years it underwent various service trials, including in-flight refuelling by hooking up with RAF VC-10 and Tristar tankers.




RAFM 90

On completion in 1993 it was fitted with Rolls-Royce RB199 engines as fitted to the Panavia Tornado, but in 1998 it was fitted with the type specific EJ200 engines that are fitted to production Typhoons and by the time it reappeared for testing it had been repainted in an all-over black scheme. Oddly, it was repainted black (!) in 2000 with the installation of some 490 external sensors around the airframe, the scheme it appears in to this day. Allocated to the Weapon System Development Programme the aircraft underwent carriage and deployment testing for a range of ordnance to be carried by Typhoons in service. That year it also appeared at Farnborough in formation with the RAF formation display team, the Red Arrows. Over the next ten years the aircraft trialled various sub-systems associated with the Typhoon, but was retired in 2007 at RAF Coningsby, one of the RAF's current Typhoon fighter stations. Later that year it was dismantled to trial the type's carriage aboard the RAF's new C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft. A month later in January 2008 it was donated to the RAF Museum and suspended on display within Milestones hall at Hendon, where it remains. Note in this view the Eurofighter Consortium's roundel segmented clockwise representing the RAF, Ejercito del Aire, Aeronautica Militare Italiana and Luftwaffe, aft of the low viz RAF roundel.




RAFM 88

So, that's it from Milestones; there's Chinook and C-130 nose sections at the far end of the hall, but I stayed away from these owing to their child-friendly nature. The airframes are an ex-US Army CH-47D and a USAF WC-130E, neither of which have any RAF connections, but add interest to the public experience.

Next time, we enter what has become known as the Historic Halls that encase the Great War era Belfast Truss wooden hangars that form the epi-centre of the RAF Museum.

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## Micdrow (Mar 31, 2022)

Awesome info and many thanks Grant


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## Snautzer01 (Mar 31, 2022)

A good read as ever. Thanks again.


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## Wurger (Mar 31, 2022)




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## Gnomey (Mar 31, 2022)

Lovely shots Grant!


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## nuuumannn (Apr 11, 2022)

Moving on, we are now about to enter the original RAF Museum as it was opened in 1972, which I talk about in my opening post. The building is a concrete monstrosity encasing Great War era wooden hangars that contains offices and archive storage, aside from the display halls, and whatever else was required to run a big national museum. The building is big and there are corridors snaking off the main display halls with offices and rooms tucked away all over the place throughout, and it is remarkable that it has withstood modernisation for so long. Staff will argue that it desperately needs refurbishment and they are probably right - it was difficult for the architects to foresee so far ahead in anticipating the needs of such a big establishment. The archive spaces in particular are desperate for renovation and back in 2003 the keeper of the collection was speaking with management about refurbishing the spaces. Many departments are moving to renovated ex-RAF buildings that still exist, simply for lack of expansion space within the main building.

This photo was taken during a visit in 2009 and shows the location of the plastic fantastic gate guards, of which we'll discuss later, in the grass space between the Battle of Britain Hall and the car park that sat between Milestones and the Historic Hangars. The Milestones building can be seen at the right hand edge of the image. This area has since been renovated and the car park no longer exists. The airfield configuration has been created in the space with the runways and peri-track layout marked out, with a swale dug out approximately where I was standing when I took this picture. A swale is a low point of marshy water in the landscape with the intent of diverting flood waters. This was installed at Hendon to prevent the ingress of water into the former Battle of Britain hall, which did have a tendency to admit water during heavy rainfall.




Hendon Gate Guards

You'll also notice the absence of the big numbers that I mentioned in the first post, these were installed as the museum had received criticism that in its original layout, the entrance and site layout was not immediately apparent and a disturbing thing was discovered when surveys were taken. Once people had left the main hangars, some did not go to the other buildings and in particular the the Battle of Britain hall was regularly missed out by punters. When Milestones was opened, the main entrance was shifted from the historic hangars to that building, but it didn't stop people from going to the main hangars to get in and a staff member was placed in the foyer to divert the public to the right place. It all got a bit confusing for the public and a common complaint was a lack of signage and orientation around the site. Now, the main entrance is off the car park into the former BoB hall, where we began this thread, which is marked with a big "H1" and the subsequent order of the buildings to visit being marked accordingly so as to orientate the public.

The Historic Hangars façade today.




RAFM 01

This picture is taken in the foyer of the Historic Hangars under the stairwell up to the offices and shows a Turbo-Union RB199 engine, one of two that powers the Panavia Tornado. Note the clam shell thrust reversers on the exhaust nozzle.

A bit of technical information here:

"The overall design concept for the international collaborative program, 3 shafts and a bypass ratio (BPR) of about 1.2, was decided by Rolls-Royce. The bypass ratio was chosen for long-range, low fuel consumption particularly when throttled back. The selected BPR also gave a higher reheat boost than with smaller values used on similar engines such as 0.4. The design of the individual modules was shared between Rolls-Royce, MTU and Fiat according to their existing expertise. For example, Rolls-Royce designed the fan using scaled-down Pegasus knowledge. They also did the combustor, high pressure (HP) turbine and reheat. The reheat used cold air combustion techniques, described by Sotheran and which were derived from their experience with ramjets and plenum chamber burning (PCB) in Pegasus front nozzles. Fiat had built turbines for the Viper so did the low pressure(LP) turbine as well as the final nozzle. MTU did the intermediate pressure(IP) and high pressure (HP) compressor, IP turbine and thrust reverser.

A three-spool arrangement reduces the pressure ratio on each compressor so no variable stators were needed. To meet the short afterburner requirement an arrangement known as mix-then-burn, as used in current engines, was not possible because it was too long and heavy. The RB199 used a much shorter arrangement known as mix/burn."

From here: Turbo-Union RB199 - Wikipedia




RAFM 93

The first aircraft of many in these buildings is Hunting Percival Jet Provost T.5A XW323, which was constructed by the British aircraft Corporation in late 1970 and entered RAF service at the RAF College, Cranwell in December. Remember I mentioned the Royal connection to the RAF and people loved this stuff? This aircraft was flown by HRH Charles, The Prince of Wales during his four-month training course and was one of two JPs that were allocated for his use, the other was XW322. When he was flying these aircraft they received the code "Golden Eagle One" or "Two", XW323 being Two. During his course at Cranwell, Prince Charles joined the first graduate entry at RAF Cranwell, which consisted of post-grads who had already experienced preliminary flight training before graduating onto the JP. By the end of the course, Charles had flown just over 92 hours on the JP, of which 23 and a half were solo.




RAFM 94

Between its entry into service and its retirement in 1992, the aircraft spent most of its career at Cranwell, in the 1980s it was the display aircraft during the airshow seasons and was chosen as a low-houred example flown by resident flying instructor F/O Sean Chiddention (no, it's not a typo - I checked), who flew the aircraft for the 1987 and 1988 display season. The aircraft was painted up in the colours of the 1960s Cranwell based flying display team "The Poachers" and in that time Chiddention flew it 147 times over 43 public displays. Its final flight took place at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in October 1992 with 5113 hours on the clock. From there it was delivered to Hendon by road in December that year.




RAFM 95

A perennial crowd favourite and one of the RAF's most beloved aircraft, the English Electric Lightning. This is F.6 XS925 and it was built by BAC at Preston, Lancs in 1967. Ferried by Wg Cdr Roland Beamont, famously associated with the Lightning, the Canberra and the TSR.2, the aircraft went to 5 Sqn at RAF Binbrook, the so-called Home of the Lightning. At the time, the aircraft was natural metal and had its fin and dorsal spine painted in white, with a red band on its nose. In 1968 during a Battle of Britain display at Binbrook - the RAF used to hold Battle of Britain Display airshows at air bases around the country in September each year commemorating its "finest hour" - the Lightning suffered a landing accident while engaging with the arrestor barrier and it was sent back to BAC for repair. In 1977 the aircraft went to 11 Sqn, which was temporarily detached to RAF Leconfield while the runway was resurfaced at Binbrook, remaining a vital part of Britain's Cold War air defence component. In 1984 it was sprayed in its current low-visibility overall grey scheme and spent the rest of its flying career at Binbrook with 11 Sqn. It was one of the last Lightnings in RAF service and was sent to Hendon by road in April 1988. A few days later on the 30th, 11 Sqn was disbanded and the Lightning was officially retired from RAF service after 28 years. It's been in this location since it was unveiled here by museum director Dr Michael Fopp - a great guy and knowledgeable chap who sat in the director's chair for years and was the boss when I was there. Its prominent nose-mounted pitot tube has been removed, probably to stop spearing people as they walked past.




RAFM 97

An extraordinary aircraft with exceptional performance, by the time it was retired the Lightning had not changed much in capability since the 1960s and had been swiftly overtaken as a frontline interceptor. By the late 1980s, its weaponry and avionics had long since been surpassed in capability even within the RAF with the introduction of the McDonnell Douglas Phantom II in service. Key to its interceptor role was its Ferranti AI.23 AIRPASS radar system, or Airborne Intercept Radar and Pilot's Attack Sight System, which was the first air-to-air system to incorporate a Heads-Up Display (HUD) and HOTAS controls. It's interesting to note that the basic HUD design that Scottish company Ferranti pioneered was exported to the United States and was licence built in that country. I bet not many of you knew that. Anyway, AIRPASS also introduced HOTAS, (Hands-On-Throttle And Stick) in which all weaponry selection controls are located on the power lever and joystick, so the pilot needn't lose precious moments during an intercept by moving his hands about the cockpit. Here is some techie stuff about the radar itself, from the usual source:

"AIRPASS was based on a magnetron source which provided pulses of about 100 kW peak. Pulses were about one microsecond in duration and sent 1000 times a second. To make the system as compact as possible, Ferranti invested in a numerical control system to mill the waveguides from single blocks of aluminium. The signal was sent and received from feedhorns that were split vertically to produce two outputs, one on either side of the reflector centerline. The reflector was shaped as two partial paraboloids, so that the two signals re-combined in space in front of the aircraft. The entire assembly was mounted on a servo system that allowed the antenna assembly to be pointed in two dimensions.

On reception of a pulse, the signal was sent into a klystron local oscillator and then into two conventional superheterodyne receivers with an intermediate frequency of 30 MHz. The monopulse technique requires the signals from the two channels to be compared in strength, so the output of the amplifiers must be precisely matched. This was accomplished with a highly advanced automatic gain control system with 100 dB range that adjusted the pulse-to-pulse outputs. To this point the system was entirely analogue, using miniaturized vacuum tubes cooled by forced air.

Behind the analog section was the analog computer portion of the system. This took the outputs from the radar system, calculated the proper intercept course based on the selected weapon, and presented the results in the reflector gunsight mechanism. The system also read data from various aircraft systems like the altimeter and air speed indicator and combined this into the same display."

AIRPASS - Wikipedia




RAFM 98

By the time of its retirement the Lightning's armament had not changed much since its introduction. Its Red Top infra-red air-to-air missiles, although potent with a high reliability rate in trials - having never been tested in combat - by the 1980s it was old technology ripe for replacement. Developed by Hawker Siddeley as a successor to the Fire Streak AAM, the Red Top began as a development of the former but became a far more capable weapon with almost twice the range and a more sensitive limited-all-aspect seeker head. Entering service aboard Lightnings and Royal Navy de Havilland Sea Vixen interceptors in 1964, the Red Top remained the weapon of choice of the Lightning, in conjunction with the earlier Fire Streak that should have been retired with the implementation of Red Top, the type remained in service until the Lightning's retirement in 1988. One problem with the Red Top was that it is a big missile and was draggy on the Lightning's frame at low level, resulting in lower speed during intercepts.




RAFM 96

More to come from the Historic Hangars.

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## Wurger (Apr 12, 2022)




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## Gnomey (Apr 12, 2022)

Good shots Grant!


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## nuuumannn (May 24, 2022)

Righto then, time for more from the RAF Museum. We begin with a touch of exoticism that relates to a thread on the forum at the moment, that of combined propulsion, with the Napier double Scorpion bipropellant rocket motor. Developed as a family of rocket motors with HTP (High Test Peroxide, hydrogen peroxide H2O2) as an oxidiser and kerosene as fuel, Napier's Scorpions came in three varieties that were based on the number of thrust chambers each had. The individual Scorpion NSc.1 thrust chamber produced a thrust of 8,000 lbs, with the Double Scorpion being developed simultaneous to the single chamber variant, achieving double the output, naturally. A description of the workings of the motor:

"Fuel and oxidiser were pumped by a single shaft turbo-pump driven by super-heated steam, generated by catalysing HTP. Engine starting was achieved by an electric pump supplying HTP to the turbo-pump decomposition chamber. Once started, a bleed off the turbo-pump oxidiser outlet fed the turbo-pump decomposition chamber to maintain flow of fuel and oxidiser. Due to the single-shaft turbo-pump operating both fuel and oxidiser pumps, flow of fuel and oxidiser were automatically maintained at the correct ratio. The Kerosene fuel is ignited thermally by the super-heated steam from HTP, decomposed by passing over a catalyst in a decomposition chamber, which is injected simultaneously into the combustion chamber.

First run on 19 May 1956, the N.Sc.1 Scorpion was also fired in the air on the following day, mounted in the bomb-bay of an English Electric Canberra B.2."

From here: Napier Scorpion - Wikipedia

The Double Scorpion was also trialed aboard Canberras and on 28 August 1957 B.2 WK163, the Armstrong Siddeley Viper test aircraft reached an altitude of 70,310 feet with a Double Scorpion mounted in its bomb bay, achieving a world altitude record.

It's worth noting at this stage the use of HTP, or T-stoff to the Germans. As we know, the Walther Werke at Hamburg pioneered the use of this rather volatile liquid as a form of rocket propulsion, most notably in the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket powered fighter. After the war, Walther's research and scientists went to Britain in a mini version of Werner von Braun and his engineers heading to the USA, and work was begun in investigating the potential of T-stoff as a rocket propellant for future British rocketry projects. At the Rocket Research Establishment at RAF Westcott, Bucks a series of HTP fuelled engines were developed and given the Greek alphabet as code names, which were built by different companies and with different power outputs, such as the Armstrong Siddeley Gamma motors that powered the Black Knight sounding rocket. It's interesting to note that initially the British retained the use of T-stoff as a descriptive term for HTP and its motors' fuel conduit lines were labelled and colour coded as such. The work done at Westcott to other manufacturers such as de Havilland and Napier producing HTP powered motors, and so the Scorpion was born at Luton. Note in the picture the colour coding of the rigid conduits of red and yellow, the former kerosene and the latter HTP.




RAFM 100 

Appropriately, the Double Scorpion is placed next to the museum's Canberra, PR.3 reconnaissance variant WE139. This particular aircraft won what has been billed as the "Last Great Air Race", the 1953 London to Christchurch International Air Race. Conceived in New Zealand by the Canterbury International Air Race Council as a means of commemorating Christchurch Airport's international status, the air race began at London Heathrow and initially there were 18 aircraft from six different countries that had entered, although by race day, 8 October 1953 only eight aircraft from four countries departed.

The object of the race was in the words of the official brochure for the race "to further the interests of international goodwill and understanding, by bringing all countries into closer relationship through friendly competition." We could definitely do with one of these right now, I reckon... Other objectives were to enable Britain to show its aeronautical prowess to the world and for New Zealanders' horizons to be broadened.

The race was divided into two sections, the Speed Section and the Handicap Section, of which the winner of the Speed Section was to receive the Harewood Gold Cup (Christchurch airport was formerly RNZAF Base Harewood), the trophy being made from New Zealand gold and pounamu (jade or greenstone as it's called here, coz we're simple, it's green and its stone) and native Rata wood. The winner of the Handicap Section received 10,000 pounds prize money. 

On the side of the Canberra's nose is a marking depicting the route taken by the aircraft, London to Basra (Shaibah, to which the jet established a world speed record), then to Ratmalana, Ceylon, then the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean onto Perth, Western Australia before departing for Christchurch. The Canberra flew a distance of 12,720 miles, achieving that in 23 hours and 51 minutes. Its pilot was Flt Lt Roland 'Monty' Burton and the navigator was Flt Lt Don Gannon, whose names appear on the marking.




RAFM 102 

The other race entrants were a motley lot, including the official, two RAAF Canberra B.20s, two RAF Canberra PR.3s and a PR.7 and a Vickers Valiant, Royal Danish Air Force F-84G Thunderjet and RNZAF Handley Page Hastings, through the adventurous, a British European Airways Vickers Viscount, a KLM Douglas DC-6, which was flying a load of migrants to New Zealand from the Netherlands, to the ambitious, two de Havilland Mosquitoes, a de Havilland Hornet, a P-51 Mustang and an F-82 Twin-Mustang, to name a few of the privately flown types.

Of those, three RAF and two RAAF Canberras, the RNZAF Hastings, the BEA Viscount and the KLM DC-6 were the only participants that took off from Heathrow. Of these, all but the RNZAF Hastings reached Christchurch, this suffered engine issues at Ceylon and retired from the race. Winner of the Handicap Section was the Viscount, completing the race in 44 hours, 29 minutes, with the DC-6 second. After the race, the five Canberras that took part flew around RNZAF bases and gave public demonstrations, then they left for Melbourne, Australia, where the RAAF Canberras were built, and did the same.

WE139 faithfully served with the RAF until 1969, with 39 and 69 Sqns, being retired in 1969, making its last flight to RAF Henlow, where it was placed in store. Henlow was of course the storehouse for the museum's exhibits before a site was found and once Hendon had been completed the aircraft was delivered by road in 1971, being on display on the museum's official opening a year later. It has sat in the Historic Hangars since then.




RAFM 101 

Next, another post-war British classic, a Gloster Meteor, or to be precise, Armstrong Whitworth built Meteor F.8 WH301. The F.8 variant was the most prolific of the Meat Box variants, with 1,183 built and represented the premier day fighter of the marque. By the time it first entered service it was rendered passe by the likes of the MiG-15 and F-86 Sabre. This one led a relatively typical, hum drum service career. Built in late 1951 WH301 first went to the Day Fighter's Leader School at RAF West Raynham for four years before going to 609 (West Riding) Sqn, Royal Auxiliary Air Force based at RAF Church Fenton, Yorks. For the next three years it served with the RAF Flying College at RAF Manby, then went to 85 Sqn at RAF Binbrook in 1965. While it was at Manby it suffered two Cat 3R accidents, which warranted overhaul and repair by MUs. It made its final flight in November 1965 at RAF Kemble, where it was dismantled and sent by road to Henlow two years later. Remaining in store at Henlow, it wasn't transferred to Hendon until 1978 and has been, like the Canberra on constant display in the hangars since then. WH301 from the rear showing its 609 (West Riding) Sqn roundel bars. A Rolls-Royce Derwent, the aircraft's engine type is visible in the image.




RAFM 103

Directly opposite the Meat Box, an example of its comrade-in-arms, the de Havilland Vampire. Britain's second jet fighter, the Vampire was of mixed construction and while comprising all metal wings, rear fuselage and tail booms, the forward fuselage pod was made of wood in the same fashion as the de Havilland Mosquito. Although a very early example of a jet fighter, the Vampire was known as being very manoeuvrable and was an excellent close-in dog fighter, one of the finest of its generation. Its wartime heritage did mean that it was relatively unsophisticated, but it served for a long time, well after it had been overtaken in technology and performance, providing many smaller air forces around the world with their first experiences with jet propulsion. 

Like the Meat Box we've just seen, this particular aircraft, F.3 VT812 led a common existence, being built by English Electric at Preston in late 1947. It began its service career with 32 Sqn at RAF Nicosia, Cyprus in 1948 before returning to the UK two years later. Over the following few years it served with 601 (County of London), 602 (City of Glasgow) and 604 (County of Glamorgan) Sqns, RAuxAF. It made its last flight in November 1953 with 602 Sqn to Hawarden, where it went into storage. Two years later it became a ground instructional airframe at RAF Cardington before being transferred to RAF Colerne as part of the station museum. When that station closed in 1976 it was moved to Cosford for display, before being brought to Hendon in July 1978. It has since undergone a major overhaul, as it was suffering corrosion, with its wooden pod being completely refurbished by Sky Sport Engineering. It wears the markings of 601 Sqn.




RAFM 108 

Finally for today, one of the great World War Two fighters and a rare survivor, Hawker Tempest V NV778. The Tempest's lineage is well known and has its roots with the Hawker Fury biplane fighter of the early to mid 1930s, through the Hurricane, Tornado and Typhoon; the Hawker piston-engined fighter stable is one of the great marques in history. Built at Langley, Berks in late 1944, there's no record of NV778 serving with an RAF squadron as a fighter, being used as a test aircraft before being converted into a target tug. On rollout NV778 went to its engine manufacturer Napier at Luton with the Controller, Research and Development or CRD engine development establishment in January 1945 but no sooner had it arrived at Luton it suffered an accident, being returned to Napier in August. Four months later it went to its manufacturer and in February 1946 was promptly involved in another accident. By the next August it had been repaired and was collected on the 19th to be sent to RAF Kemble, where it sat with a host of other Tempests for storage with 5 MU. Its target tug colours are certainly distinctive in this front view.




RAFM 105 

After four years in store at Kemble, in March 1950 NV778 went back tom its manufacturer at Langley for target tug conversion, one of 80 such conversions done on Tempests owing to the requirement for a faster tug than what could be provided by the Miles Martinet at the time. This work took eight months to complete and included the fitting of a Sabre IID engine. On 9 November 1950, the aircraft was test flown by Hawker test pilot Neville Duke, who had won his spurs in the war with a final tally of 27 victories, and who was to go on to be momentarily the world's fastest man, achieving a world speed record of 727.63 mph in modified bright red Hawker Hunter WB188. This aircraft is a part of the RAF Museum collection and is on display at the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum surrounded by the usual museum display detritus on the site of the former RAF Tangmere, West Sussex.




DSC_1024

Back to the Tempest, after a period swanning about at a couple of different MUs it arrived at RAF Pembry, Wales with 233 OCU, the unit receiving a total of 16 Tempests by March 1953. After two years of towing banners and being shot at, the Pembry Tempests were retired and in July 1955, NV778 went to Aston Down for withdrawal from service. It was allocated to the Ministry of Supply for disposal, with many of the former target tug Tempest being sent to Shoeburyness for weapons trials, a nasty fate that NV778 escaped. Sometime in 1957 it ended up derelict and in bits at North Weald, where over the next year it was reconstructed using parts from Shoeburyness Tempests until it was complete again. 

In 1963 it went to become a gate guard at RAF Leeming, where it sat for two years before being sent to Henlow for storage. While there it was repainted in typical day fighter colours as it would have appeared on rollout from the factory, and went on display at various events and airshows until being sent to RAF Bicester for refurbishment in 1972. It was shifted to Hendon and went on display in the newly opened RAF Museum, where it remained until 1991, when it went to the RAF Museum store at Cardington for restoration. It remained away from display, ending up at the RAF Museum's new conservation centre at Cosford before being taken back to Hendon for suspension in the new Milestones of Flight Hall in May 2003.




RAFM 107 

In the next installation, we take a look at some genuine Battle of Britain combatants...

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## Wurger (May 24, 2022)




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## Graeme (May 24, 2022)

nuuumannn said:


> two RAAF Canberra B.20s


 
Their outcome...

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## Snautzer01 (May 24, 2022)

nuuumannn
Again a very good read. Thank you

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## special ed (May 24, 2022)

nuuumannn said:


> Righto then, time for more from the RAF Museum. We begin with a touch of exoticism that relates to a thread on the forum at the moment, that of combined propulsion, with the Napier double Scorpion bipropellant rocket motor. Developed as a family of rocket motors with HTP (High Test Peroxide, hydrogen peroxide H2O2) as an oxidiser and kerosene as fuel, Napier's Scorpions came in three varieties that were based on the number of thrust chambers each had. The individual Scorpion NSc.1 thrust chamber produced a thrust of 8,000 lbs, with the Double Scorpion being developed simultaneous to the single chamber variant, achieving double the output, naturally. A description of the workings of the motor:
> 
> "Fuel and oxidiser were pumped by a single shaft turbo-pump driven by super-heated steam, generated by catalysing HTP. Engine starting was achieved by an electric pump supplying HTP to the turbo-pump decomposition chamber. Once started, a bleed off the turbo-pump oxidiser outlet fed the turbo-pump decomposition chamber to maintain flow of fuel and oxidiser. Due to the single-shaft turbo-pump operating both fuel and oxidiser pumps, flow of fuel and oxidiser were automatically maintained at the correct ratio. The Kerosene fuel is ignited thermally by the super-heated steam from HTP, decomposed by passing over a catalyst in a decomposition chamber, which is injected simultaneously into the combustion chamber.
> 
> ...


What is the history & details of the privately entered D.H. Hornet & F-82?


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## Crimea_River (May 24, 2022)

Informative read and great pics again Grant, thanks.


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## Gnomey (May 24, 2022)

Lovely shots Grant!


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## nuuumannn (May 25, 2022)

special ed said:


> What is the history & details of the privately entered D.H. Hornet & F-82?



Hi Ed, I can't tell you anything about the individual aircraft, but I can give you a bit about the pilots, which might help. The Hornet was a Mk.III and it was to be flown by American Capt Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin, who you probably know a lot more about than I do. How he came to getting his hands on a Hornet I don't know, but by 1953 the RAF was winding down its Hornet operations and the type had already been seen at British air races by then. It appears from the info I have on the Hornet, two books, that none received civil registrations except one in Canada, so it might have been still in RAF service, but not allocated to a squadron. By 1953 the F.IIIs were the last Hornets in RAF service and most were over in the Far East.

As for the F-82, it was to be flown by Maj H I Hill and J L Dyer, but again, I have no information on the aircraft. By October 1953 the type had been withdrawn from frontline service though.


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## special ed (May 26, 2022)

Thanks for the research. I didn't think any Hornets became civilian owned. The F-82, if civilian, is new to me also. If they both were civilian owned, I wonder what happened to them. New things to search. Thanks again.


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## nuuumannn (May 26, 2022)

special ed said:


> Thanks for the research. I didn't think any Hornets became civilian owned.



No worries Ed. The Hornet, it appears was regularly entered into air races whilst with the RAF and the usage of such is a little blurred, especially in this case. What was a former USAF/Israeli Air Force pilot doing flying an RAF fighter in an international air race with already official RAF representation? There's precious little info out there, but as mentioned, the RAF was gradually withdrawing the Hornet from frontline service before 1953...

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## nuuumannn (Jun 5, 2022)

We are now going to examine four of the RAFM's 'Classic Hits'; four Battle of Britain veterans each with their own stories to tell, so let's get to it. It's worth mentioning that the aircraft we are looking at were all a part of the Air Historic Branch collection and in 1998, at the stroke of an administrative pen formerly became a part of the RAFM collection.

We begin with Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4/B Wk Nr 4101. Completed by Erla Machinenwerk, Leipzig in September 1940 and ferried from Leipzig-Mokau to Jena-Rötzen, then from Jena-Rötzen to Köln-Ostheim on 4 September, flight time 50 minutes. Its radio call sign (Stammkenzeichen identifyer) was GH+DX. The next day it was sent to Pihen les Guines at the very northern tip of France in the Pas de Calais area, where I/JG 51 was based at the time. Modified to carry a single 250 kg bomb, it served with 6/JG 52 at one stage, but then went to Wissant with 2/JG 51, with whom it carried out its last sortie with the Luftwaffe. On 27 November 1940, 21 year old Lt Wolfgang Teumer flew it from Peuplingues in the Pas de Calais area on a Jabo sortie over Kent, but was intercepted and was one of six Bf 109s shot down that afternoon. The honours went to Flt Lt George Christie flying a Spitfire of 66 Sqn based at Biggin Hill. DoRIS at the RAFM has the original combat report, as it does most surviving RAF combat reports and it details the pursuit;

"11 Spitfires left Biggin Hill to patrol base at 15,000 feet at 1515 hours with 74 Squadron, 66 leading. Flt Lt Christie DFC (Green section) left squadron on sighting aircraft diving down over Chatham; he caught it up and found it to be an Me109 which flew away. He chased it, caught up, passing to the east of Margate. At about 600 feet he made 4 or 5 attacks. First - astern, 2 - deflection from port side, 3 - starboard side, and then another astern.

Aircraft then turned towards shore so he ceased fire and flew covering his enemy in a very open vic position flying to Manston where EA landed with wheels up. The ground defences fired at EA when he was obviously landing, and when Flt Lt Christie was circling drome fired at him when he had his wheels down preparatory to landing, and put a bullet through his wing. He landed at base at 1715 after landing at Manston alongside the Bf109. Cloud 1 /10 at 1,500 feet."

Teumer became a POW and had the following to say about the incident;

"I flew the aircraft right down and tried to get away from the enemy aircraft, then over the county of Kent I was hit... I got involved in aerial combat over London. A British machine got right behind me and I was hit in the radiator."

He was released in 1946. At the time, Teumer's Bf 109 was carrying a 250 kg bomb, which was jettisoned over the Thames Estuary before he was shot down.





RAFM 109

Following its shootdown, the aircraft was taken to an aircraft dump at Faygate, between Horsham and Crawley, West Sussex, but was recognised for its complete state and someone decided it should be rescued for evaluation, the repair work done by Rolls-Royce at Hucknall. Subsequent investigation found that the complete aircraft, after refurbishment at RR comprised of bits from a number of different Bf 109s, including the fin and tail unit from Bf 109E Wk Nr 6313 of 4/LG 2, the top cowl is marked "1653", the cover in front of the windshield comes from Wk Nr 4010, the starboard wing from Nachbau BFW built Bf 109E Wk Nr 1418. The port wing is from a Fieseler built aircraft, but no Wk Nr is visible. Propeller blades and two spare DB engines were acquired from RAE Farnborough. At this time, the aircraft was sprayed in RAF Dark Green/Dark Earth upper disruptive camouflage with Yellow undersides and given the serial DG200.

At this time it was flown by RR test pilot Harvey Hayworth, who was over six feet tall at the time and to accommodate this, its canopy roof was removed and it was flown as a convertible (!). There are images of it in flight in this configuration. When this took place the canopy was mislaid and never seen again, which warranted replacement, a later model Bf 109 heavy framed canopy was fitted at one stage, and post-war, it was fitted with the late model G-6/K variant type canopy, better known as the Galland hood. In February 1942, sans hood it was delivered to de Havilland for evaluation of its C/S prop, but in March 1942 it went to Boscombe Down, then to 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight at Duxford, following which it became a frequent sight at air bases across the country throughout 1942 into 1943. During this time it was fitted with a DB engine from a Bf 110C-2. Its movements go dark throughout the rest of the war as it became less relevant, but by 1947 it had been allocated to the Air Historic Branch at RAF Stanmore Park and was dismantled and stored in a crate.




RAFM 110

Over the next ten to 20 years it took part in various displays, including one at Horse Guards Parade in central London and was subsequently moved about various RAF bases, until it found itself at St Athan, Wales. At this time it had the Galland hood fitted, which it retained for the better part of the 50s and 60s, until it was fitted with the canopy from Bf 109G-2 Wk Nr 10639, better known as Black 6, which is now reunited with its canopy and is on display at RAFM Cosford. While at St Athan it was repainted in its current colour scheme and was put on public display at Hendon in 1976 in the "Wings of the Eagle" exhibition of Axis aircraft within the AHB collection held by the RAFM, returning to St Athan after the exhibition's closure. By this stage it had been fitted with a replica hood made for the feature film Battle of Britain and Black 6 got its hood back. Less than two years later it was on permanent display at Hendon within the newly opened Battle of Britain Hall. While this was being refurbished to become the main entrance to the museum, the aircraft was moved to its current location in the centre of the Historic Hangars at the entrance to the Bomber Command Hall. It was placed next to its fellow BoB Hall survivors.




RAFM 112

Next, the Bf 109E's famous adversary during the summer of 1940, a contemporary example of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I. This aircraft is X4590 completed by Supermarine in June 1940, although peculiarly it was discovered as late as 1995 that its port wing is dated 11 March 1938 with a stamp from Pobjoy Aircraft Ltd on it. In September 1940 it was taken on charge by the RAF and was allocated to 609 (West Riding) Sqn, Aux AF (if you are wondering why I'm excluding the "Royal" from the Aux AF title, it's because the auxiliary units didn't receive their royal charter until after the war's end). Its first operational sortie took place on 10 October 1940 with Plt Off S.J. Hill at the controls, who was the aircraft's regular pilot over the next 20 days. On the 21st, Hill claimed a share of a Ju 88 that was taking part in a raid against the Gloster aircraft works at Brockworth, which was building Hurricanes at the time. Caught at extreme low level after strafing Old Sarum airfield, the Ju 88 was pursued until it crashed and exploded at Manor Farm Field, Blackbush, Milford-on-Sea. Its four crew were killed. This aircraft, Ju 88A-5 Wk Nr 8116 of 1/KG 51 was 609 Sqn's 100th kill.

Four days after the pursuit, X4590 was damaged when its pilot, Plt Off J Curchin landed with its undercarriage up. Three weeks later it was returned to frontline service with 609 Sqn, being flown by a couple of different pilots, although on 28 November, Plt Off Hill was back in the cockpit. In February 1941 the aircraft went to 66 Sqn at Exeter, the unit having swapped its Spitfire IIs with 609 Sqn Mk.Is, peculiarly. Perhaps someone here can elaborate why? In April 1941 it went to 57 OTU at Harwarden and by July it had been allocated to 303 Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw Sqn based at Speke, Liverpool, at the time the famous Polish squadron was tasked with defending the Mersey area. This didn't last long, as a few days later the aircraft was declared obsolete and was disposed of from frontline service, heading north to Scottish Aviation at Prestwick for work. For the rest of the war it inhabited a couple of OTUs and MUs, suffering a few accidents at the hands of clumsy pilots and in August 1944 was earmarked for preservation with 52 OTU at Cardiff. Interestingly, the RAFM's other Mk.I Spitfire K9942, Hurricane I P2617, which we'll see soon, Boulton Paul Defiant N1671 on display at RAFM Cosford, Spitfire Ia R6915 at the IWM Lambeth and the Science Museum's Spitfire I P9444 and Hurricane I L1592 were all with 52 OTU at this time.




RAFM 113

In the late 1940s it was a part of the AHB collection at RAF Stanmore Park, where it joined the Bf 109 previously mentioned, and both went on display at the Horse Guards Parade display alongside each other in 1954, which was an echo of things to come, as the duo were destined to spend the next 70 years in each other's company. In 1961 it was appropriately decorated in 609 Sqn wartime colours as PR*F and over the next ten years moved around the country to air events and store houses until reaching Henlow in 1972 as a part of the RAF Museum's collection. Despite this it wasn't to go on display at Hendon until 1978 and the opening of the Battle of Britain Hall, where it was placed in a revetment display next to Hurricane I P2617, displayed across the room from Bf 109E Wk Nr 4101 again. Before this time, the aircraft had a short stint on gate guard duty at RAF Finningley for two years, but when that base closed in 1976, it went to RAF Cosford and was placed on display at the Aerospace Museum there. Now, of course, with the refurbishment of the Battle of Britain Hall, it finds itself next to its old foe-in-arms, Wk Nr 4101 in the Historic Halls at Hendon.




RAFM 114

Now, the most intriguing member of our Battle of Britain quadrangle, Fiat CR.42 MM5701. The exact dates of construction and service of this particular airframe are unknown, but what is known was that the first production machines were completed in the Spring of 1939 and entered service with the 53rd Stormo, at Mirafiori, Torino. By the time that Italy had declared war on Britain on 10 June 1940, MM5701 was serving with 95 Squadriglia of the 18th Interceptor Fighter Gruppo, 56 Stormo based at Novi Ligure Airfield, near Pozzolo Formigale in Italy's north west. Following the declaration of war, the unit's CR.42s were regularly mixing it with French fighters. In September 1940, The Corpo Aereo Italiano was formed, comprising some 200 RA fighters and bombers, and in early October, 56 Stormo and its CR.42s transferred to Maldeghein, today Maldeghem, Belgium to begin offensive operations against Britain. At the time, sharing the base with Luftwaffe units, the men of which were none too pleased by the presence of their erstwhile Allies, gave 56 Stormo the Luftwaffe designation 18/JG 56. The CAI's first operation took place on 24 October; a month later its largest daylight bombing operation, comprising ten Fiat BR.20s and 40 escorting CR.42s, including MM5701, against the port of Harwich. It was to be an inauspicious day for the Italians, as three Br.20s and two CR.42s were shot down by the RAF for the loss of no RAF fighters at all. A third CR.42 suffered engine issues and landed on the shingle beach at Orfordness, Suffolk - this was MM5701.

Piloted by 23 year old Sergente Pilota Pietro Salvadori, while on-route to Britain MM5701 suffered an oil line failure, which caused its engine to run hot. Salvadori struggled to keep up with the formation and realising that his aircraft was in no fit state to fight, decided to land in England. Apparently, on capture he expressed his pride in doing so on the hard surface, the aircraft suffering minor damage only, but also expressed how he was relieved to be out of the war. He did not like being in Belgium, he hated the weather, the food and the Germans! After the war, Salvadori re-entered the reborn Aeronautica Militare Italiana as a fighter pilot, flying F-84G Thunderjets, but sadly he was killed in an accident in 1953.




RAFM 116

Following its recovery from Orfordness, the stricken Fiat was taken by road to Martlesham Heath, where it was prepared for flight. On the 27th it was flown to Farnborough with an escort of a Hurricane as it was still in Italian markings. While at Farnborough with the RAE it was repainted with British roundels and assigned the serial BT474. In April 1941 it was delivered to 1426 Flight, Air Fighting Development Unit at RAF Duxford, where it was placed into mock combat with RAF and RN FAA aircraft, including against a Hurricane, Spitfire, Martlet, Fulmar and Albacore. By October 1942 1426 Flt had finished with the aircraft and it was allocated for disposal, with the AHB requesting its saving for preservation as the first Italian aircraft captured by Britain of the war. It and fellow wartime acquisition Bf 109 Wk Nr 4101, by this time DG200, also with 1426 Flt were spared for preservation and packed into storage crates. At this time its movements match those of the previous two aircraft mentioned in this post, it went to 52 MU at Cardiff in November 1944 and by the late 1940s was in store with the AHB at Stanmore Park.




RAFM 118

Moving about through the '50s and '60s, by 1964 it had been reassembled at Biggin Hill for display purposes, still wearing its RAF roundel and serial. In 1968 it went to St Athan and five years later after display at various airshows and events underwent a static restoration, being returned into its 95 Squadriglia, 18 Gruppo, 56 Stormo unit markings, although there have been criticisms of the depiction of its RA colour scheme applied at this time. In 1978, the aircraft was shifted to Hendon to go on display next to its former friends and foes from 52 MU in the Battle of Britain Hall. It joins them in the Historic Hangars to this day as a unique survivor from the time.




RAFM 119

Our last entry for this rather lengthy post is Hawker Hurricane I P2617. Completed by Gloster at Brockworth in January 1940, P2617 rolled off the production line with a Rotol constant speed propeller and all-metal wings, both of which were introduced onto the Hurricane production line in mid to late 1939. After the usual round of testing for service, the aircraft entered the RAF with 615 (County of Surrey) Sqn, Aux AF. Following this unit allocation it was swiftly sent to France, to Vitry en-Artois Airfield in the Pas de Calais area of northern France as a part of the British Expeditionary Force. At the time, 615 and 609 (County of Durham) Sqn Aux AF were pooling aircraft and P2617 was listed on that unit's books while it was in France, too. Moving to Aberville in late April 1940, the two units and their Hurricanes went into action on the first day of the German invasion on 10 May. Ten days later the units were given the order to abandon France, although on the 20th P2617 flew two sorties before flying to Croydon. At the time, 607 Sqn had claimed 72 enemy aircraft, with 56 damaged.

By the end of May the aircraft had been involved in an accident and was undergoing repair. Details on its history at this time are sparse, but it turns up at RAF Tangmere in September 1940, before going north to Prestwick, Scotland with No.1 (Canadian) Sqn, later 401 Sqn. On 20 November 1940 it suffered oil pressure failure, which necessitated a wheels up landing, repair from which by Gloster kept it on the ground until the end of March 1941. Following this accident, over the next few months, P2617 suffered two more accidents, the first in August and the second in September, neither of which attributable to pilot action, both involving mechanical failure. By this time the aircraft was operating in a training role as the Hurricane I's days as a frontline fighter were over.




RAFM 120

After passing through various flying training units and ground MUs, the aircraft was allocated for disposal and preservation by the AHB in April 1944, being sent to join our other wartime museum airframes at 52 MU at Cardiff in August that year. As with the other three aircraft it was packed away in a container and arrived at the AHB store at RAF Stanmore Park in the years following the end of the war. In 1951 however, P2617 and fellow Mk.I L1592, now on display at the Science Museum was unpacked and restored to running order for action in the feature film Angels One Five, alongside five borrowed Portuguese Air Force Hurricanes. It might have flown, but this can't be formally confirmed, although it is known to have taxied in the film. Five years later it was filmed in the Douglas Bader biopic Reach For The Sky, but in a static role only. In 1960 it had a prominent role in the presentation and laying up of 607 Sqn's Colours at Durham Cathedral, honouring its wartime squadron service. Once more, in 1967 it took part on a movie set as a taxiable airframe only, in the feature film Battle of Britain. Following its silver screen adventures, the aircraft was sent to 71 MU at Bicester, where it was overhauled for display in the new RAF Museum at Hendon, being placed within the Camm Hall area containing other aircraft from the Hawker stable on the museum's opening in 1972. It joined the previous three aircraft it shares floor space with in the museum's Battle of Britain Hall in 1978. Note that it wears a three-tone underside scheme, of White, Silver and Black.




RAFM 121

After that rather lengthy lot, that's it for today.

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## Wurger (Jun 5, 2022)




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## Airframes (Jun 5, 2022)

Great post and pics Grant.
Concerning the "swapping" of Mk.I and Mk.II Spits, it was fairly common practice for a Squadron that would be "rested" at that time ( i.e. probably posted to 13 Group), to "take over" the relieving Squadron's aircraft if these were older/more hours etc, leaving "newer" aircraft with the "new" Squadron. Therefore, if the "rested" Squadron had Mk.II's, and the relieving Squadron Mk.Is, the relieving Squadron would inherit the Mk.IIs.
This sometimes resulted in the relieving Squadron flying with the code letters of the "rested" squadron for a few days, sometimes longer, until the ground crews had time to re-paint the aircraft. For example, 56 Squadron flew the Hurricanes of (forgotten which) Squadron for at least a week during the BoB. This has often caused some confusion with historians, modellers etc over the years, when viewing period photos, as can be imagined !!

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## Capt. Vick (Jun 5, 2022)

Those RAF boys were so good they even shot down 3 Br.20's out of a total of 2 Br.20's on a raid!

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## Crimea_River (Jun 5, 2022)

50% overclaiming!

Great post once again Grant.


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## Gnomey (Jun 5, 2022)

Excellent stuff Grant!


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## nuuumannn (Jun 5, 2022)

Airframes said:


> Great post and pics Grant.



Thanks Terry, and thanks for enlightening me about swapping aircraft between squadrons, it seemed interesting that the squadron got less capable aircraft than the ones it was originally equipped with, which didn't make sense at first.



Capt. Vick said:


> Those RAF boys were so good they even shot down 3 Br.20's out of a total of 2 Br.20's on a raid!



You know it! They were the best!

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## nuuumannn (Jun 28, 2022)

On with the show now I've finished my exams for the semester. A couple of RAF air defence fighters of a different era to the Battle of Britain, the 70s through to the 90s and a McDonnell Phantom FGR.2 and Panavia Tornado F.3.

Constructed in 1968 as a F-4M-35-MC variant, XV424 was delivered to the UK on 12 February 1969, having been flown to RAF Aldergrove across the Atlantic from the USA, officially joining the RAF the next day. In April 1969 the aircraft was allocated to 6 Sqn at RAF Coningsby, the RAF's first Phantom FGR.2 unit as a part of No.38 Group, Air Support Command as a strike/close support unit, with the squadron being declared operation in May 1969 with ten Phantoms. No.6 Sqn was the RAF's "tankbuster" unit, with the flying can opener as its emblem, which gained fame in the North African desert flying cannon armed Hawker Hurricanes. The unit operates the Typhoon now - the fast jet variant, not the... Anyway, XV424 saw service with a variety of RAF Phantom units throughout the rest of the 1970s, from 54 Sqn, back to 6 Sqn, 29 Sqn, 41 Sqn, Treble One Sqn and the Phantom operational conversion unit 228 OCU. Between the different units it operated as a fighter in the air defence rtole, as well as a strike recon aircraft. In March 1973 and May 1974 it suffered Cat 3R accidents, both repairable on site, the first following a bird strike during a low level sortie over Scotland. In August through September 1974 it was sent with 6 and 54 Sqn Phantoms to Cyprus, where is stood on alert during the Turkish invasion of the island. In April 1979 it became the first Phantom to receive the RAF's low-viz air defence grey paint scheme, but it wasn't to last. The aircraft is seen at Hendon in 56 Sqn air defence markings fitted with a typical warload of Sparrow radar guided medium range AAMs in their belly positions, Sidewinder short-range infra-red AAMs on wing pylons, with a SUU-23A gun pod on its centreline pylon. This had an M-61 Vulcan 20-mm rotary cannon in a self contained unit and really put the brakes on the Phantom when it was fired.




RAFM 123

In mid 1979, despite being the first RAF Phantom decorated in the new low-viz grey, the aircraft was chosen to be repainted in a commemorative scheme designed by aviation artist Wilf Hardy to honour 60 years since John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic crossing by air in a Vickers Vimy (now at the Science Museum, South Kensington) and the 30th anniversary of NATO. The scheme was a gloss Light Aircraft Grey all over, with red white and blue fuselage stripe that ran from a stylised Union Jack on the fin. Both XV424 and XV486 were so decorated, the former to make the commemorative flight and the latter the back-up aircraft. In these markings, on 21 June XV424 made a five hour, 40 minute flight from Goose Bay, New Foundland to Ireland (where?), piloted by Sqn Ldr A.J.N "Tony" Alcock, nephew of John Alcock, Flt Lt W.N. "Norman" Browne, who was a Buccaneer nav at the time and was bought in for the occasion. On board the Phantom on the flight was Alcock and Brown's (the Vimy crew) mascot, a small soft-toy cat named "Twinkletoes". In flight refuelling was provided by Victor K.2 tankers, through five refuelling stops. Four days later, the same crew and aircraft displayed at the International Air Tattoo at Greenham Common, which was, among other things commemorating 25 years of the Lockheed C-130 and saw examples from air forces around the world, including Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand attend. Cockpit shot as there is a viewing platform next to the aircraft.




RAFM 124

Backseater's hole.




RAFM 125

For the next few weeks the Phantom was with 228 OCU and was the RAF's solo display aircraft because of its flashy paint scheme, but it wasn't to last long, as by the end of November the aircraft had been returned to the low viz grey. Over the next 12 years the aircraft rotated between squadrons and received the F-4 fatigue life extension mods that enabled them to continue in service for the next few years, at RAF St Athan in 1987. Just over a year before its retirement from RAF service it received the 56 Sqn markings it wears today, with its red fin, a toned down version of the squadron's heyday with the Lightning, when its were the most brightly coloured of RAF fighters. It flew its last flight on 25 July 1992 and had been delivered by road to Hendon from Wattisham in November that year. It's interesting to note that at the RAFM Cosford there is a Phantom nose section, that of FG.1 XV591 decorated in the transatlantic commemorative colours, although it never wore those marking, which in hindsight is odd when one of the two aircraft that did is on display at Hendon. XV424 from the rear, showing off its big bore RR Spey exhausts, speed brakes extended, arrestor hook and folded wings, hangovers from its naval origins, the latter making storage in a museum context a little bit easier.




RAFM 162

Replacing the Mighty Phantom in RAF service was the Tornado F.3, the Air Defence Variant of the airframe that came to receive some derision from outside RAF circles because of its inadequate performance at altitude, leading one commentator to describe it as "The Boulton Paul Defiant of the Jet Age"! Damning with faint damning... The reality was that although it certainly lacked thrust at altitude and was no good in a turn at height because of its small wing area, being based on a mud mover airframe the F.3 could hold its own in a dog fight at med to low altitude with almost anything and it was a very strong, solidly built airframe. Its advantages were in its sophistication in the air defence role. It was a pure "Missileer" type interceptor with a true BVR capability and had a very decent radar/missile combination, Ferranti Foxhunter and Skyflash AAMs, with Sidewinders and a single 27-mm Mauser cannon for defence. In the early models, the F.2s earned the nickname "the Blue Circle Tornadoes" after the lump of concrete ballast in the nose, a snide commentary on British secret code names and the cement firm of the same name, because the radar was delayed. Nevertheless, the F.3 served with distinction, if not the fanfare or celebration that its predecessors the Phantom and Lightning did and a total of 194 were built, with exports to Saudi Arabia and Italy.




RAFM 127

This is F.3 ZE887, which was built in 1988, with its first flight in September that year from British Aerospace Warton. Its first official duties were serving with the A&AEE as a trials aircraft with BAe, not entering RAF service until May 1989. Its initial posting was with the F.3 OCU, No.229 at Coningsby for six months before being received with 43 Sqn, its nominal unit for much of its RAF career. It also saw transfer to RAF Leuchars, Fife, 43 Sqn's nominal home in August 1990. By late that year Saddam Hussein had decided to invade Kuwait and in 1991, ZE887 went to war in the Gulf in Operation Granby at the Saudi base of Dahran, where 29 and 43 Sqn pooled F.3s were known as The Desert Eagles. Between 17 January and 28 February, when ZE887 was active, it carried out intercept sorties but made no contact with Iraqi aircraft, returning to the UK in mid March. From April 1991 through late 1992 it served with 11 Sqn at Coningsby and was sent to the USA to take part in Red Flag 93/1 at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Throughout the next 13 years the aircraft served with the nominal ADV units, 5, 11, 43 and Treble One Sqns, appearing in commemorative 90 years of 11 Sqn markings in 2005. In 2007 it partook in Exercise Indradhanush, which was a joint force exercise with the Indian Air Force, which that year was held in the UK at RAF Waddington, which for the first time saw IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKIs and Il-78 tanker transports making their way to Britain. ZE887's black fin with 43 Sqn crest, motto and GF codes.




RAFM 126

By that time, the RAF was reducing the number of F.3 units and 43 and 56 Sqns and 228 OCU were merged and were based at Leuchars, where ZE887 became the sqn CO's aircraft, wearing the "GF" tailcode. This comes from the squadron's Latin motto "Gloria Finis" and it is tradition for the CO's aircraft to bear this. The aircraft received the black fin and spine that it wears today. In July 2009, 43 Sqn was disbanded and ZE887 went to Treble One Sqn, also resident at Leuchars until its retirement a year later, making its last flight in March 2010. It was dismantled and had vital components including engines and ejection seats removed, before delivery to Hendon in September that year. It is still missing engines, although there's one alongside it and another on display in the lobby, as y'all might recall.




RAFM 161

Our last aircraft for this post is a very Royal one, Westland Wessex HCC.4 XV732, which served with the Queen's Flight throughout the entirety of its career. Built by Westland Helicopters at Yeovil, Somerset in early 1969, XV732 was the penultimate Wessex built, its sister HCC.4 on the production line, the last Wessex built, XV733 was also configured for service with the Queen's Flt, replacing Whirlwind HCC.12s. Internally the aircraft were configured for their VIP passengers' status with a plush interior and an external step for ease of ingress and egress. Making its first flight in March 1969, the aircraft went to RAF Benson and was taken on charge in June. It's first royal duty was transporting the Duke and Duchess of Kent from Maidstone to Coppins on the 27th of that month, with an unfortunate incident on board when an exterior window fell out of its orifice and landed in the Duke's lap in flight. Over the next few days it ferried the Prince of Wales around, Prince Charles already having made an appearance here having flown Jet Provost XW323 during his flying training at RAF Cranwell. Whilst with the Queen's Flt, the aircraft were also commandeered for ministerial travel and on 3 August 1969 conveyed Prime Minister Harold Wilson from Chequers, the PM's official residence outside of Number Ten, to Mildenhall, Suffolk. A few months later, HRH The Princess Anne was ferried to Gas Rig Amoco B in the North Sea for an official visit - the first time a Royal had set foot on an oil rig, nowt like a bit of life experience... The high gloss finish of XV732 is evident and the museum keeps it polished and clean to match its status it held in service.




RAFM 128

Over the next decade, the Royal Wessexes saw increased usage as royal duties increased. In this time, both the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales nominally flew themselves to their engagements from the cockpit to maintain proficiency. In August 1970, within days of each other, XV732 was called on to provide first response to stricken ships at sea. On the 13th, the aircraft was flown from Stornoway to the German fishing boat "Skagerrak", but the crewmember to be airlifted was dead on arrival and was not taken away. The RAF winch operator was given an award for bravery. Two days later it responded to a mayday call from the fishing boat Fairmorn, which was on fire and the helicopter located the vessel and radioed an escort for it, remaining nearby until help had arrived. In 1977, the Queen made her first flight in the aircraft during her jubilee year to the County Class guided missile cruiser HMS Fife, which was escorting HM Yacht Britannia to Ireland. In June 1984, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh flew to Normandy to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Overlord, only the second time the Queen had flown aboard the Wessex, the other royals had made full use of it by that time. In 1995 the Queen's Flt was disbanded at RAF Benson and the two Wessexes went to No.32 (The Royal) Sqn at RAF Northolt. Three years later, XV732 made its last royal carrying flight ferrying the Duke of Gloucester from Northolt to IWM Duxford, a nice wee royal visit to the air museum at the taxpayer's expense. Its final flight was on 31 March 1998, having flown 10,949.25 hours. After four years in long term storage, XV732 was delivered for display at Hendon in March 2002. Its sister royal Wessex XV733 went to the Helicopter Museum at Weston-Super-Mare a year earlier.




RAFM 132

Next time, more rotorcraft.

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## Wurger (Jun 29, 2022)




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## Gnomey (Jun 30, 2022)

Good shots Grant!


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## nuuumannn (Sep 4, 2022)

I should continue with this... Next up is the big Bristol Type 192 Belvedere heavy lift tandem rotor helicopter. This rather peculiar looking beastie was designed by odd ball aircraft concept specialist Raoul Hafner, he of the Rotachute jeep with an unpowered autogyro style rotor, who had become Bristol's rotorcraft division chief designer. Powered by two Napier Gazelle turboshaft engines, the Belvedere was a transport helicopter designed for the RAF, which operated it for nine years only and of which only 26 were built. Only two complete examples survive, with a third undergoing restoration and a nose section surviving.

Built by the Bristol Helicopter Division at Old Mixon, Weston-Super-Mare, later a branch of Westland Aircraft Ltd, Belvedere HC.1 XG474 was completed in April 1962 and was immediately crated along with five others for transit to Singapore. On arrival in Singapore it went to RAF Seletar. On 8 June it joined 66 Sqn, which had become the Belvedere Trials Unit, originally formed at RAF Odiham equipped with eight Belvederes the previous September. Ten days later the aircraft had its first flight, which went off without a hitch. Unusual that it was not flown before it departed the manufacturer in distant Britain. A couple of months later the entire Belvedere fleet was grounded pending investigation into the fatal loss of one in Germany on 30 July. Details are sketchy, but apparently XG465 suffered an engine failure in flight and one of its rotor blades made contact with the fuselage. All six aboard were killed. In December 1962, XG474 was one of three Belvederes sent to the island of Labuan, Brunei following the Brunei Revolt, an insurrection against the British supporting monarchy, the insurgents, the North Kalimantan National Army demanding that Brunei align itself with the Federation of Malaysia. In defence against the rebels were British commandoes, who were led by Capt Jeremy Moore, who later led British land forces during the Falklands War. By the 17th, rebel resistance to the government had been quashed and a long period of mopping up began that extended until May, with the Belvederes providing medical and refugee evacuation and general transport duties. While on Borneo, in January 1963 the Belvederes were called on to provide flood relief as rainfall on Borneo had been exceptionally heavy, causing severe flooding. In April 1963, XG474 was rendered unserviceable because of cracks in its intermediate gearbox mounting structure, which kept it on the ground until June. This was the first of numerous issues the aircraft suffered with its engines, requiring an engine change in July. The Belvedere's a peculiar looking thing, that downward sloping stabiliser being an instant recognition feature.




RAFM 133

In August 1963, XG474 was sent to Sarawak, Borneo, which led to it aiding in the air lift effort in support of the confrontation with Indonesia. Remaining in theatre until December, when it returned to Singapore aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Albion. It remained in South East Asia only for a few months, as it was sent to the Middle East aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Centaur in May 1964. Its destination was RAF Khormaksar, Aden in Yemen, where it joined 26 Sqn and began operations in the Radfan region. This was in support of RAF operations against the National Liberation Front and the Front of the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen, who fought for an independent Yemen from British controlled South Arabia. This became known as the Aden Emergency, the British continuing with its avoidance of calling localised conflicts "wars", by giving them nouns like "Emergency", "Conflict", "Confrontation" etc. During that time, the aircraft was kept busy in supply operations, although the Belvedere fleet was grounded once more in November owing to another fatal accident, this time on 30 October 1964. XG463's front engine exploded in flight, causing the loss of the aircraft and its three crew. In April 1965, XG454 was sent in support of operations at Bayhan al Qisab in Western Yemen at the request of the local Sharif. The desert operations were harsh on the helicopter and it required a dual engine change that month. Trouble continued with the avpin starter, which resulted in its engine change in July 1963, the fluid causing repeated small fires aboard the helicopter (!). In May XG474 was sent back to Singapore aboard the Albion, rejoining 66 Sqn, but remained grounded at Seletar owing to vibration issues. Over the next few years its career settled into a routine of operations around the area, including detachments to RAAF Butterworth, Malaysia for extended periods. By 1969 however, Belvedere operations were coming to a close and 66 Sqn was disbanded on 20 March. In June 1969 at the behest of the unit's squadron leader, P.L. Gray, XG474 was earmarked for preservation and returned to the UK, departing in June aboard the Albion. On arrival it went straight into store at RAF Henlow, which was a repository for things for the proposed RAF Museum. In 1971 it was moved to the historic hangars at Hendon, which a year later opened as the RAF Museum. It's been there ever since.




RAFM 138

Another one of Hafner's products, the unassuming Bristol 171 Sycamore HR.12 WV783. Built in 1950 at Filton, WV783 was the third example of the HR.12 model, which was the last three of the first production batch of fifteen Sycamores built. Intended as a search and rescue airframe for RAF Coastal Command, the aircraft was fitted with an experimental winch and a large cut out fuselage door on the starboard side for easier ingress during air lift operations. As previous Sycamores had sliding doors in this place, WV783's was left open, but could be covered by a canvas flap that fitted in place when it wasn't in use. On 17 November 1950 the helicopter received the civil registration G-ALSP and was registered to the Bristol Aircraft Company, in whose hands it served as a demonstrator. Two years later in March 1952 its registration was cancelled and it became WV783 with the RAF. Details of its service are sparse, but it went to the Air Sea Warfare Development Unit (ASWDU) at RAF St Mawgan, Cornwall at the end of March 1952. This unit investigated the development and testing of maritime equipment, including aircraft, munitions and electronics and was equipped with an assortment of aircraft types, including initially Avro Lancaster maritime reconnaissance variants and Avro Shackletons, which it settled on for electronics trials. During the unit's lifetime it was moved several times between St Mawgan and RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, its activities being kept away from prying eyes. What our little Sycamore did with the ASWDU is not publicised, but it spent three years with the unit. In 1955 it moved to the RAF Central Flying School's Helicopter Training Unit for a more humdrum existence at RAF South Cerney, Glos, which begun instruction on rotorcraft that year equipped with Westland Dragonflies and Sycamores. In 1961 the unit and its whirlybirds moved to RAF Ternhill in August 1961. Withdrawn from active flying sometime in the intervening years, in 1964 it received the maintenance serial number 7841M in April, which meant it was reduced to a ground based training aid. What became of the helicopter in the interim is not available at this time, but it eventually went to the RAF Museum in 1995. It is the second Sycamore in the collection, the first was HC.13 XJ918, which is a veteran of campaigns in South East Asia, such as Operation Firedog during the Malayan Emergency and "Confrontation" with Indonesia, becoming one of the last Sycamores to fly with the RAF when it was withdrawn in 1969. XJ918 is on display at Cosford, where it served as a ground instructional airframe for years. WV783 hemmed in between a Whirlwind and an Avro Rota at Hendon and wearing the emblem of the Central Flying School on its forward door; its canvas covered rescue exit door is evident aft of the forward door.




RAFM 129

Next, the peculiar Avro C.30A Rota K4232. As we know, Spanish inventor Juan de la Cierva had invented the autogyro and had encamped in the UK at Southamption with his company the Cierva Autogyro Company Ltd, which was financed by Scottish industrialist James 'Jimmy' Weir, of Weir Pumps Ltd, Cathcart, Glasgow. At the time, Cierva didn't undertake construction of the autogyros himself, contracting out the patented concept to other manufacturers who put their own spin on the design, including Avro and de Havilland, and of course Jimmy Weir, whose firm also built its own autogyros, one of which, the W-2, Weir used as a day-to-day runabout. The W-2 is the only surviving Weir autogyro and is on display at the Scottish Museum of Flight at East Fortune, East Lothian. Anyway, K4232 was built by Avro in Manchester as one of ten Avro 671s, in February 1934. One of nine delivered to the RAF School of Army-Co-operation at Old Sarum, Wilts, the aircraft arrived without operating and maintenance manuals and so, in keeping with legislation, were placed into storage at Hanworth and Hamble. Pilot training begun on the type in September and there K4232 stayed for two years until February 1936 when it was sent to 2 Army Co-operation Sqn at RAF Hawkinge, which was equipped with Hawker Audax aircraft at the time. In August it was sent to the Aeroplane and Armaments Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath for type trials. By this time, the establishment had operated examples of autogyros since 1932 and the first Rota, K4230 had arrived a year previously, during which suspicions arose about the rigidity of the type's rotor blades. K4232 remained at Martlesham until October 1937, when it was sent back to Old Sarum. In 1938 the RAF's small fleet of C.30s was withdrawn from flying duties and delivered to 26 MU at Cowley, K4232 having flown 88 hours. All but four were sold to civilian operators, but K4232 remained in store and was struck off charge on 6 March 1939. At some time it was delivered to RAF Cardington, Bedfordshire, where in May, on the eve of war, it and two other C.30As, K4233 and K4235 and spares were sold to vintage aircraft collector Richard Shuttleworth and delivered to nearby Old Warden Airfield, the aircraft having been offered on the civil market for £100 each, which was a lot back then. Its stay at Old Warden was destined to be brief, as within a few months, the Air Ministry wanted the autogyros back and they were requisitioned, as opposed to being impressed into service, for the sum of £60 under the Compensation (Defence) Act, which was duly paid to Shuttleworth for each aircraft.




RAFM 130

On 1 July 1940, K4232 went to No.5 Radio Maintenance Unit at RAF Duxford, not all that far from Old Warden, to do what exactly I'm not sure, but the unit was renamed No.5 Repair and Servicing Section in September that year. In February 1941, the aircraft, along with other ex-RAF and civilian C.30As took on a more purposeful role at Duxford, as they were transferred, on paper at least to the Calibration Flight, No.74 (Signals) Wing. This saw the aircraft act as low and slow flying targets for the Chain Home radar sites dotted around the country, operating from airfields near where the massive aerials were located. During this work, fighter coverage was provided, with Hawker Hurricanes and often Gloster Gladiators and Blackburn Skuas in case of enemy intervention. In this time, each aircraft operating with its assigned radar station had a nominal team of a pilot, an airframe fitter and rigger for maintenance support at the nearest aerodrome. In March 1942, the unit, now known as 1448 (Radar Calibration) Flight moved to RAF Halton, where it remained for the next year until August 1944. In that time, K4232 suffered an accident that required major off site repair, and its unit became a fully fledged RAF squadron, No.529 Sqn equipped with 13 C.30As, 12 de Havilland Hornet Moths and one Tiger Moth. On 15 May 1945, with hostilities in Europe over, the autogyros and aeroplanes flew in a beeline to Kemble, where they were placed in storage, C.30A HM580 making the last ever RAF autogyro flight. This aircraft is on public display at the IWM Duxford, from where it served during the war. Meanwhile, in 1946, Cierva's original autogyro company at Southampton bought five former 529 Sqn C.30As of the 15 that had been stored at Kemble since the war's end and in July, K4232 was sold to Swedish entrepreneur and autogyro pilot Rolf van Bahrs' for his firm Helikopterflyg, a long time autogyro operator, and was registered as SE-AZB. Van Bahrs' operation had seven autogyros at the time, three of them ex-RAF machines. Consequently they served active careers in Sweden but their exact activities are not widely publicised, at least not in English. In 1977, after ten years at Linkoping with airframe manufacturer SAAB, the RAF Museum got wind of K4232's existence and negotiated its return to the UK, being bought for US $15,000. A year later, in June 1978 the aircraft arrived at the RAFM Store at Cardington for restoration, being placed on display at Hendon in 1981. Fast forward to 1996 and an agreement was made with the Juan de la Cierva Foundation in Spain for K4232 to go to Spain for a one-year loan period to act as a pattern for an accurate reproduction to be built by the Ejercito del Aire. Collected by Spanish air force C-130 from RAF Northolt, in Spain it was dismantled and carefully measured for the construction of an exact flying reproduction. This is on display at the excellent Museo del Aire at Quatro Vientos, Madrid. Following this temporary sojourn to sunnier climes, K4232 was returned to the UK and and arrived back at Hendon in January 1998.




RAFM 134

The final aircraft for today is the Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly Mk.I KL110. We have seen the first rotorcraft operated by the RAF, now we will examine the first helicopter. Developed from the groundbreaking experimental Vought Sikorsky VS-300 designed by Igor Sikorski, the XR-4 owes much to its predecessor, which set the precedent for helicopter configuration with its powered single main rotor counter torqued by a small tail rotor perpendicular to the direction of flight and powered by a drive shaft from the transmission gearbox. A total of 100 R-4Bs were built for the US armed forces and Coast Guard, with 45 of those going to the RAF through Lend Lease, KL110 was completed in December 1944 and delivered to the UK in February 1945, with the type being taken on RAF charge en-route in January while still in transit out in the Atlantic. Assembled by No.7 Aircraft Assembly Unit at Hooton Park, KL110 had its first flight on the 27th of that month. A few days later it promptly went into storage at Hawarden until reactivation on 25 October, when it arrived at RAF Andover as a part of 43 MU, which incorporated the Helicopter Training Flight, equipped with nine Hoverflies for army pilot training. A total of 29 army pilots were trained on the type before the flight was disbanded in January 1946, KL110 being transferred to the Transport Command Development Unit (TCDU) at RAF Brize Norton and arriving there on 6 February. It remained at Brize for the next year until being temporarily detached to the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment at Beaulieu Airfield, in July 1947 for a month to aid in training the King's Flight pilots. Later in August, it was transferred to the King's Flight at RAF Dyce, Aberdeen, where it took up the peculiar but seemingly necessary duty of mail delivery vehicle between Dyce and the King's Scottish residence at Balmoral Castle. This lasted for a month, before being sent back to the TCDU at Brize. For five months from December 1947 to May 1948, KL110 ended up in storage with 29 MU at RAF High Ercall for some reason, before returning to the King's Flight and becoming the Royal Mail delivery aircraft between Dyce and Balmoral again in July. It remained in this role until October, when it was returned to RAF Benson.




RAFM 135

Described as difficult to fly, the R-4B suffered excessive vibration, which the design of its rotor blades did not help. Constructed of a central steel spar as its core, wooden ribs formed the aerodynamic profile of the rotors, which were covered in fabric. Following the end of its mail run, KL110 and the remaining Hoverflies were stood down from RAF service in January 1949, after which the former was inducted into Royal Navy service with 705 Sqn at RNAS Gosport. Serving with the navy until struck off charge on 26 May 1951, KL110 was disposed of to the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield, along with the fuselage and sundry items from Hoverfly Mk.I KK995, which had suffered an accident in May 1948 but had not been repaired and was struck off charge later that year. At Cranfield, KL110 joined a motley collection of aircraft, which included a Messerschmitt Me 163, a Junkers Ju 188 and an example of its German helicopter counterpart the Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri and assorted other aeronautical oddities, which were assembled under what became known as The Library of Flight. With the disbandment of the Library of Flight, many of the aircraft were scrapped, although a few survived, including the Fl 282, which is at the Midland Air Museum at Coventry Airport and the Me 163, which is at the Scottish Museum of Flight. KL110 was one of the lucky ones and was disposed of in May 1966 to the MoD, which was collecting airframes for its RAF Museum collection at RAF Henlow. Sent to 71 MU at RAF Bicester in 1968, KL110 was refurbished and given the identity of KK995 for static display purposes. Apparently, elements of the aircraft's fabric outer covering and componentry had been interchanged with KL110 whilst it was at Cranfield, which led Jack Bruce, the researcher for the forthcoming RAF Museum and later the author of dozens of Windsock Publications' monographs on Great War aircraft, to believing it was indeed KK995. Its original identity was later confirmed by former Cranfield staff, who subsequently identified that the remains of KK995 had been scrapped. For the next two years KL110 moved about a few different RAF bases, before finding its way to Hendon in 1970, from where it was moved into the RAF Museum for its official opening in 1972. In 2003 it was suspended from the ceiling of the newly opened Milestones of Flight building, where it remained until the museum's closure and refurbishment in 2012, when it was taken down and placed in the historic hangars. It is still decorated as KK955.




RAFM 137

More choppahs to come next time. Finally finished, this post has taken me three days to complete! See y'all soon.

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## Wurger (Sep 4, 2022)




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## Gnomey (Sep 8, 2022)

Nice shots Grant!


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## nuuumannn (Oct 20, 2022)

Ok then, a little more from Hendon for this month.

Our next aircraft is an oddity within the collection that is no longer on display at Hendon, but is worth recounting because it was for quite some time, despite being an awkward fit, in my opinion. This is EH Industries EH.101 G-OIOI, the eighth prototype of nine pre-production examples of the now AgustaWestland (without a space) AW.101 helicopter. Designed as a replacement for the Westland Sea King in RAF service, the EH.101's origins date back to cancelled Westland projects and the first of which, PP.1 first flew in October 1987. This example, PP.8 emerged as the Series 300 Heliliner civil passenger aircraft and first took to the air at Westland's Yeovil plant on 24 April 1990. An impressive helicopter in the flesh, the aircraft, colorfully decorated made an appearance at the Farnborough Airshow in September 1990, its public debut in an attempt to secure orders. Meanwhile, as a test aircraft it was employed in trials in navaid avionics, such as ADF, UHF and DME, as well as the aircraft's Automatic Flight Control Systems. A year later it made another public display at Heli-Tech '91 at Redhill. Two years later flight testing was stopped following the loss of the Italian prototype, serial PP.2 on 26 November 1987 following a rotor brake failure. Whilst under testing it received the military serial ZJ116 but I'm not sure it ever wore it. It is not visible on the airframe today. Over the next few years its trial schedule took it to Italy and Aberdeen Airport, the former RAF Dyce for reliability trials. Aberdeen Airport is home to Bristow Helicopters and its fleet of big choppers that provide support to the North Sea oil platforms, and in 2000 it was seconded to British International Helicopters, which is owned by the Bristow Group and operates aircraft from Newquay Airport in Cornwall, Coventry Airport and RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands. While with BHI, the aircraft was intended on providing a helicopter service between Cardiff and Heathrow, but this did not come to fruition. Unfortunately for Westland, this effort did not translate into an order for the type. A year later, in October 2001 it made its last flight as its flying hours were running out. Almost exactly a year later, the non-flying airframe was taken on loading trials at RAF Brize Norton for the RAF and USAF to measure the type's interoperability with the C-17 Globemaster III, with preparation for loading taking around two hours, although it took only 15 minutes to load onto a C-17. By the end of the month the aircraft had been disposed of by Westland to the RAF Museum and it arrived at Hendon in November 2002, after an intensive but brief flying career - and a failed attempt at a civil passenger helicopter. Earlier this year it was dismantled and travelled by road to the Helicopter Museum at Weston-Super Mare, which is a more fitting place for it.




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Next, a more humdrum type, which has proven a worthy workhorse within the British military, the Westland Gazelle, this one is an HT.3, serial XW855. Now, to describe the history of this aircraft I'm going to use the RAF Museum's own text lifted from its website, since I don't have any information in greater detail, so, to quote;

"Built 1973 by Westland Helicopters Ltd of Weston-Super Mare in Somerset as a Gazelle HT Mk3, this aircraft is one of 32 Gazelles delivered to the Royal Air Force. Others served with the Army Air Corps and Fleet Air Arm. Originally used as a helicopter pilot trainer at RAF Ternhill in Shropshire, XW855 moved to No.32 Squadron at RAF Northolt in Greater London in 1976, where it was used as a short-range light communications/fast VIP transport, following modification to HCC4 VIP transport standard. The aircraft's final flight was 2 April 1996, after a total flying time of 3958 hours. Stored, latterly at RAF Shawbury in Salop and moved by road to RAF Museum Hendon in April 2003." From here: Westland Gazelle HT3 - RAF Museum

Thanks, DoRIS curators.




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Our unassuming little Gazelle sits almost overlooked at the very end of the gallery, before visitors enter the next section and are confronted with one of the most impressive aircraft in the RAFM collection, the sole surviving complete Supermarine Stranraer flying boat. In case you might be wondering what a Stranraer is, it's a harbour town on Scotland's west coast, from where you catch the ferry to Northern Ireland. This big flying boat evokes a more innocent era before the war, when biplane flying boats plowed the ocean skies before the thunderclouds of war began gathering, although the type entered RAF service in 1937, and was still frontline equipment when Britain went to war two years later. This particular machine was licence-built by Canadian Vickers at St Hubert, Montreal in Quebec as one of 40 built for the RCAF. Collected by the RCAF in November 1940, this particular aircraft, wearing Serial No.920 was one of three taken on strength of RCAF's Eastern Air Command in October and November. Intriguingly, the aircraft was sent to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia by train, to serve with No.5 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Sqn a few days before Christmas 1940. Following its acceptance flight on 11 January 1941, the aircraft spent the next nine months engaged in long ranging sea patrols, until the Eastern Air Command replaced its Stranraers with the decidedly more modern looking Catalina Mk.Is of which later RCAF examples were named Cansos after the Newfoundland town, in September. A month later 920 crossed Canada's vast expanse to Vancouver, British Columbia with Western Air Command, serving with No.13 Operational Training Squadron. Following a major overhaul with Boeing Canada in January 1942 the aircraft spent the next six months in a training role, until transferred to an operational squadron again, No.7 (BR) Sqn. which saw it fly more seagoing patrols, this time off the country's west coast from July 1942 until April 1944. That month, the aircraft was withdrawn from frontline service again and placed in reserve with No.3 Repair Depot. A month later it was sold to the Labrador Mining and Exploration Company Ltd, receiving the civil registration CF-BXO, which it held for the rest of its flying career. To display the aircraft inside the Hendon hangars, it sits on its beaching undercarriage axles, as with the wheels fitted it's too high for the ceiling. note the Coventry Ordnance Works gun designed for shooting submarines from patrol aircraft.




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'BXO was the first Stranraer that was converted for civilian operations and was flown under contract to mining firm Hollinger Mines by Canadian Pacific Air Lines operating from Lac-Rapide (Rapid Lake), Quebec. Over the next two years it ferried personnel and materials around the various bodies of water in that part of the country, during which time it suffered a few scrapes, losing a wing float at one stage and scraping its hull on submerged rocks after a forced landing following an engine failure in flight. In April 1947 the provincial airline Queen Charlotte Airlines Ltd (QCA) based in Vancouver bought the aircraft, in which role it was used as a flying bus to remote settlements along the west coast, between 1947 and 1952. Started in 1946 by Ashton James "Jim" Spilsbury, a colourful local businessman, QCA held a motley assortment of different aircraft types, which included Avro Ansons, de Havilland Dragon Rapides, DC-3s, Grumman Geese, Noorduyn Norsemen and Stranraers, and was known as Queer Collection of Aircraft! Within three years it was Canada's third largest airline. One of five 'Strannies' or 'Strainers' to fly with QCA, the type was known as the 'ninety mile an hour plane' because it took off, climbed, cruised and landed at the same speed taking around 90 metres to get airborne on its take-off run. In 1952 Boxo, as the aircraft was known by QCA staff was withdrawn from service, although records show it continued flying following its withdrawal on charter flights, although not as frequently as it had when officially in service. Sometime in 1953 it suffered a scrape during taxiing in shallow water and was hauled ashore, its engines were removed, and it sat forlornly outside at Sea Island Airport. Two years later, QCA was bought by Pacific Western Airlines and 'BXO and Stranraer 'BYM went into their new owner's colours. Nose and tail, note the double cargo doors, an addition from its extensive civil career in Canada. 




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Three years later, the aircraft was bought by Stranraer Aerial Enterprises Ltd and was to be converted into a water bomber, but its condition was so poor that the Canadian civil aviation authorities demanded it undergo overhaul before it flew again, and it was partially dismantled, and its wings removed. A lifeline of sorts came from Aerovive Ltd, who towed the aircraft on its beaching gear to Abbotsford Airport, where it underwent an extensive overhaul into flying condition making its first flight on 10 June 1962 from Abbottsford's runway using a specially converted gear to enable the flying boat, without wheels of its own to do this. It wasn't long before it was out of the water again, having hit submerged rocks again in September, but following repair resumed cargo and personnel flights around the west of the country. Over the next five years it ploughed its trade as an air ferry, before its Certificate of Airworthiness expired and it was advertised for sale. Bought by television personality Bob Fortune of Fortune Films Ltd with the intent of making a film about the Stranny in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, it wound up at Abbottsford Airport deteriorating outdoors again. In 1970, Fortune sold the aircraft to the RAF for its museum collection and in August that year it was flown to the UK aboard two Short Belfasts, from where it was delivered to RAF Henlow, to join other airframes to go into the museum. In late 1971 following restoration, the aircraft was taken by road to Hendon, its adventurous existence finally over, but its future finally secure. The bird cage in front is an Armstrong Whitworth manually operated turret, usually armed with a single Vickers K gun.




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Our final aircraft for this post is a warbird type that is receiving a bit of attention on the forum at present, the RAF Museum's Lockheed Hudson Mk.IIIa A16-199. Built by Lockheed at Burbank, California in late 1941 to a British contract for 300 aircraft to be delivered to the RAF, RAAF and RNZAF, the aircraft received the RAF serial FH174 and the US serial of 41-36975. On completion In February 1942, it was sent to Australia by sea, arriving in Melbourne at the end of March, where it was loaded aboard trucks and sent to RAAF Laverton where it was readied for service by No.1 Aircraft Depot, which was responsible for inducting new types into RAAF service during this period of rapid growth following the outbreak of war with Japan. After assembly and testing it was allocated to No.13 Sqn and was sent north to Hughes Airfield, near Noonamah in the Northern Territory, not far from Darwin. It is recorded as not serviceably until late July. Whilst at Hughes, the aircraft flew combat operations as the unit had been engaged against Japanese forces in what is now Indonesia, from late December 1941 onwards. Patrols lasted several hours and on 4 October '199 was on a patrol that was airborne for seven hours. On 25 September, the aircraft spotted the Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Voyager, which had run aground whilst delivering troops to Timor and had been subject to Japanese air attacks. While circling the ship, its anti-aircraft gunners opened fire, but no hits were scored on the Hudson. The ship was later abandoned owing to damage caused by Japanese bombers. After an active ten months combat operations, '199 was transferred to 2 Sqn, as 13 Sqn relocated to Canberra and relinquished its Hudsons for Beauforts. With 2 Sqn the raids continued, maritime patrols and armed reconnaissance and strike against enemy shipping and land positions, the effectiveness warranting recognition from none other than Doglas MacArthur, who cited the unit and '199's first squadron, No.13 Sqn for "Outstanding performance of duty in action during the period April 18th, 1942, to August 25th, 1942." In April 1944, A16-199 was the last Hudson with 2 Sqn as the unit also retired the type for the Bristol Beaufort. This ended '199's combat career and it was transferred to No.3 Communications Unit for radio work. By Nov 1945, with the war over, '199 was stored with No.2 AD at RAAF Richmond, north of Sydney. In the following July it was offered for disposal, one of nearly fifty ex-RAAF Hudsons sold for civil use. On display at Hendon with appropriate nose art, note the Boulton Paul turret on the other side of the aircraft's nose. This is possibly the turret that was exchanged for a Bristol fighter fuselage that ended up in New Zealand with Peter Jackson.




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In September 1947 the aircraft was sold to the McQuarrie Grove Flying School at Camden, New South Wales for the sum of £150 pounds, a bargain since the original price offered by the disposal agents was £500 (!) Three years later '199 went to John Fairfax and Sons media company, which still survives today as Fairfax Media, as VH-SMM, which, along with other ex-RAAF Hudsons was used to air drop newspapers in remote settlements as a means of rapid delivery. While with Fairfax, the aircraft received P&W R-1830 Twin Wasps to conform with the rest of the Fairfax fleet. In 1953 it was withdrawn and waited almost a year before it was put into the air again, this time with Adastra Airways Ltd, which was owned by Fairfax as an aerial survey aircraft. In the 1960s Adastra operated a number of Hudsons for this work, including VH-KOY (A16-112) that flies with the Temora Aviation Museum and the Hudsons that are now with the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, although one of these, A16-122 is on display inside the passenger terminal at Canberra Airport. For a short period, '199 was employed with East West Airlines Ltd, a scheduled passenger carrier, for survey work in 1957. At this time, it was based at Mascot in Sydney and received the registration VH-AGJ in 1966. In 1973 Adastra disposed of its Hudsons and 'AGJ was sold to a Mr Morris Whittingham who acted as an agent for Scottish entrepreneur William Roberts, who was gathering together a collection of vintage aircraft in remote Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross-shire, Scotland. This was the Strathallan Collection, which was one of the early flying warbird collections in the UK.

Costing A$17,930, remarkably, the Hudson was flown to the UK from Australia, after air tests, which was its last flight. Flying the aircraft was Lionel van Praag, this rather epic journey went from Mascot to Charleville, Mount Isa and Darwin for an overnight stop, then Kupang (formerly known as Koepang, which whilst in Japanese hands it had, with 13 and 2 Sqns dropped considerable ordnance on) and Surabaya, Indonesia, Singapore, Bangkok, then Calcutta and Delhi. Continuing on to Karachi, Dubai and Bahrein, then Damascus, Athens, Rome, Marseilles, finally arriving at Gatwick, before setting off for Prestwick then Auchterarder. The aircraft covered 12,000 miles over 73 flying hours, the airframe having logged a total of 8,494.45 flying hours in its career. Not flying while with Strathallan, two years after arrival it was painted in 13 Sqn, RAAF markings, but its non-military interior, equipped with passenger seats was not altered. All good things come to an end, and Strathallan wound up because of the rising costs of operating vintage aircraft - the collection had swelled to including a Lysander, Spitfires, Hurricane, Lancaster, Shackleton, the Hudson and various other types undergoing restoration at the time that still survive today, including a Fairey Battle and Fairchild Bolingbroke. The flying Blenheim at Duxford has Boli components acquired during the Strathallan auction. This took place in July 1981 and the RAFM successfully tendered for the aircraft at a price of £16,000. Dismantled and moved by a team from RAF Abingdon, the aircraft was first moved to St Athan in Wales, where repainting of the wings and touch-ups was done before being delivered by road to Hendon in 1981.




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Next, love is a pair of Bristols...

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## Snautzer01 (Oct 21, 2022)

A pleasure to read again. Thank you.

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## Wurger (Oct 21, 2022)



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## Gnomey (Oct 28, 2022)

Good shots Grant!

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