The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent.

[Airframes]

The Muckleburgh Collection continued - 9.


Continuing with the last of the tanks, and the start of the armoured cars and other armour.
Shown here are the Stuart, Chaffee, Sherman and a Sexton SPG with 25 pdr gun, along with the interior of a BTR 40 and a White scout car.

I'll try to post more later tonight or, if not, then sometime tomorrow.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

The Muckleburgh Collection continued - 10.


More of the armoured car collection.
I think I must go back to the Collection on one of their display days, to get better photos for, as can be seen, all of these vehicles were crammed in tight !

The first pic is the White scout car again, finished in British North African campaign colours - note the I.D. roundel on the bonnet, or hood to those on the west side of the "Pond". Just visible behind it is a big, ugly, square lump of armour on wheels called a Humber "Pig", a four-wheel APC as used in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles". This type of vehicle very quickly replaced the six-wheel, turret equipped "Saracen" on the streets in the Province, as the media (and public) were hotly protesting, that the "Brits" had deployed tanks !

Second two pics are an unusual beast, and I had to read the display info board to find out what it was. It's a "Unimog" APC of the Irish Army.

The final selection of pics are all vehicles very familiar to me, with a Jeep and the aforementioned Alvis "Saracen" APC, with an interior view of the latter. I mentioned to Karl that, with a few mods for comfort, the "Saracen" would make a great off-road camper van, although Karl did point out that fuel would be a tad costly !!
Also shown are the Ferret Mk.2 scout car, with Karl giving some idea of its small size, and close cousins of the "Saracen" in the shape of the "Saladin" heavy armoured car and, just visible on the right, the "Stalwart" amphibious ammunition transport, again a fun vehicle to drive, both on land and water.
Back in the mid 1990's Stalwarts and Ferrets could be picked up quite cheaply, with working examples of the Ferret costing between £1,500 to £3,500, depending on condition, the higher priced vehicles being virtually new, ex "War Reserve" stock.
Even Chieftain MBT's could be found for £4,500 upwards, less than the cost of an average new car !

Back tomorrow with some AA guns and much more.................

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Amazing collection. One has to wonder how they get these vehicles in and out, they are so tightly and beautifully parked particularly for such heavy machinery.

 

[Airframes]

I thought the same Vic. They must have some very experienced and skilled drivers.

 

[Airframes]

The Muckleburgh Collection continued - 11.

Moving through to the adjoining hall, and some of the Collection's AA guns and missiles, including the legendary "88", complete with transport bogies.

Into the cafe, and even this area has a number of exhibits.
The weapons in the wall case are, from top to bottom :- Bren LMG, FN FAL, MG 34, MP 40 and M-16, with a Sterling SMG at left, and Sten SMG at right.
A target drone hangs from the ceiling and, in one corner, Karl meets his prospective assistant chef !

More tomorrow, with the ship models ..................

 

[SaparotRob]

That was unbearable.

 

[Airframes]

And I'm told that the tiger had a skydiving mishap, hence it's appearance ................

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Is Karl thinking about bear steaks for dinner.

 

[Airframes]

He can't bear the thought of all the work !
I asked him if the bear was wild, he replied "Wild? It was bloody livid !!"

 

[Airframes]

The Muckleburgh Collection continued - 12.


As I'm still awake, and might not have much time tomorrow (later today !), I thought I'd post the final two selections now.

Here's a small selection of some of the incredible, scratch-built ship models on display, all to the same scale. Apologies for some of the angles and resolution, as "shooting" through glass, and reflections from lighting, made things rather tricky.

The aircraft carrier is HMS Furious, and I was a bit puzzled by what I thought was a warp in the deck on the model, but apparently this was a design feature when the vessel was converted from a WW 1 cruiser, and intended to slow down, on landing, the earlier biplanes used pre- WW2.

The final shot is not an oil platform, it's ESV "Iolair", an Emergency Support Vessel used in the Forties oil field by BP to support and repair the rigs and other supporting vessels, and can sail under its own power. The "legs" are on semi-submersible pontoons, which are fitted with hydro jets allowing the vessel to maintain a geo stationary position.
I was rather surprised, but pleased, to see this model, as a friend was Chief Engineer on "Iolair" until a few years ago (now on a pipe layer off the coast of Mexico), and he took me on board to show me around, when the vessel came into dry dock in Birkenhead back in about 1998.
It's a massive vessel, and a very long way down from the bridge and upper decks to the depths of the pontoons !

A few more pics yet to come in the final selection from The Muckleburgh Collection.

 

[Airframes]

The Muckleburgh Collection continued - 13

The final post for this tour during the "Travels" shows first another aerial view of the camp when active, with the airstrip clearly visible at the left. The small red and white arrow indicates the location today of the Collection.
The remaining shots show some of the big guns outside, along with a 12pdr naval gun, and a ZPU quad 14.6mm AA mount, and a rather sorry looking Harrier GR3.
The radar array is a "left over" from the sites days as a RAF radar base.
Although the V1 is a replica (with rather "droopy" wings), the section of the launching ramp is real, and came from Peenemunde.

I hope you enjoyed the "tour" of Old Buckenham and The Muckleburgh Collection and, with luck, I may be back before next summer, with further adventures of "The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent", health and weather permitting.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks Terry, a great little show.

 

[Capt. Vick]

That aircraft carrier model. The deck looks "warped". Is that a feature on the actual ship or the model showing its age?

 

[rochie]

That aircraft carrier model. The deck looks "warped". Is that a feature on the actual ship or the model showing its age?

it was on the real ship Jim, originally to slow landing aircraft.

 

[rochie]

from wiki

Furious was laid up after the war, but was converted to an aircraft carrier with a continuous flight deck between June 1921 and September 1925. Her design was based on experience gained with the first two British carriers, Argus and Eagle,[19] although this was very limited as Argus was less than three years old[20] and Eagle had carried out only 143 deck landings during her preliminary sea trials in 1920.[21]

The ship's superstructure, masts, funnel and landing deck were removed and she was given a 576-by-92-foot (175.6 by 28.0 m) flight deck that extended over three-quarters of her length. This flight deck was not level; it sloped upwards about three-quarters of the way from the stern to help slow down landing aircraft, which had no brakes at that time. The fore-and-aft 320-foot (97.5 m) arresting gear was not intended to stop landing aircraft—the landing speeds of the time were low enough that this was unnecessary given a good headwind—but rather to prevent aircraft from veering off to one side and potentially falling off the flight deck.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Karl, that clearly explains things. I did mention this in the text accompanying the photos.

 

[special ed]

A minor request Terry. If the Tin Tent should again travel to Parham Field next year, would it be possible to make some more complete shots of the B-17G "Lady Velma" model which is in a display case? A model club member, Allen Perret, unfortunately now deceased, had begun a flying model of that model because his father, Warren Perret, was the bombardier. I have the two shots you posted from your previous trip. My request is because I have the plans, parts and pieces which Allen started and I told his younger brother and family of my intent to finish and fly the model. As I recall from your descriptions of the Parham museum, the exhibits were very crowded, restricting good photography. Anything of markings of the rear half would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Airframes]

I'll probably go back to Framlingham (Parham) again next year Ed, so I'll see what I can do.
From memory, access to the right hand side of the glass case was very restricted, maybe impossible, but I'll try to get more pics.

But for now, the aft section markings are as follows :-

Codes FL-C in black on rear fuselage, Sqn code (FL) forward of waist gun, aircraft code (C) aft of waist gun on starboard side.
Black rectangle of 2nd Air Divn on fin, with white letter J, Group letter.
Serial number below this in black.
Smaller A/C letter C in black below serial.
Yellow rudder.

Fairly sure the A/C had the Cheyenne tail gun position.