A Deep Dive into the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon
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Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks again Grant. Great stuff.
Lovely shots Grant!
- Thread starter
- #44
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.
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:
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"...
Claude Grahame-White - Wikipedia
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Next, more from Ex-"Millstones"...
Last edited:
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 42,934
- Mar 26, 2007
Very enjoyable read again. Thank you.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks Grant!
Good shots Grant!
- Thread starter
- #49
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Last edited:
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 42,934
- Mar 26, 2007
A good read as ever. Thanks again.
Lovely shots Grant!
- Thread starter
- #54
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
More to come from the Historic Hangars.
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Good shots Grant!
- Thread starter
- #57
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...
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the next installation, we take a look at some genuine Battle of Britain combatants...
Snautzer01
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