First Flight of the Spitfire
Discussion
dr_gn said:
jonnyb said:
Any one know what happened to K5054?
Damaged in a crash I think, then probably scrapped.Eric Mc said:
There is another replica in the Tangmere Aviation Museum.
Thanks for the heads up on that Eric, may have to add Tangmere to a weekend visitwww.tangmere-museum.org.uk/museum-aircraft/prototy...
I'm keen to visit Tangmere too. I think they've got the Neville Duke Hunter that I'm sure I saw in the RAF St Athan historic collection in the 70's, and the Sea Vixen that used to sit outside near the old Christchurch airport site. The fact that they have a Phantom as well is a massive bonus.
Eric, do you know if it would have been at St Athan in the 70's? I swear I saw it there during at least one of the many "Battle of Britain At Home" days they had every September. They also had lots of cool Axis stuff, including the two seat FW 190 that's now at Hendon, and a twin engined Japanese bomber.
There was a hanger full of historic aircraft, and I seem to recall that many of them were run on the ground, some even flew. They were, I believe, restored and maintained by apprentices on site. When the station started 'shrinking' the collection was broken up and I believe (hope) that it all ended up going to good homes at 'proper' museums.
This is getting to be a bit of a de-rail, but I loved St Athan's open days, as there were always at least half a dozen Vulcans, it being their service/overhaul base. There were invariably a couple in each flying display too, often 'sneaking' into the display from behind the crowd, which was allowed back in those carefree days before the 'Elf'n'Safety Stasi got all excited. It was great to see my cousin in her smart white cap too, as she was based there with the RAF Police for a time.
Edit:
With alittle lot of googling I've answered my own question. The Jap 'bomber' was a Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah, now at Cosford, the 190 is the one at Hendon, and this pair... http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1192214/ ...are both now at Tangmere. There's a lot out there on the internet, you just have to come at it from a different direction sometimes. This page... http://ciapoldiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/100... ...seems to have a definitive list of everything that St Athan once held.
There was a hanger full of historic aircraft, and I seem to recall that many of them were run on the ground, some even flew. They were, I believe, restored and maintained by apprentices on site. When the station started 'shrinking' the collection was broken up and I believe (hope) that it all ended up going to good homes at 'proper' museums.
This is getting to be a bit of a de-rail, but I loved St Athan's open days, as there were always at least half a dozen Vulcans, it being their service/overhaul base. There were invariably a couple in each flying display too, often 'sneaking' into the display from behind the crowd, which was allowed back in those carefree days before the 'Elf'n'Safety Stasi got all excited. It was great to see my cousin in her smart white cap too, as she was based there with the RAF Police for a time.
Edit:
With a
I visited the St Athan Museum back in 1988. It was only a few years later that the collection was dispersed. They had some very rare and unique aircraft so it was important that these airframes were preserved - which they were.
I first saw WB188 in 1976 at the Greenham Common airshow. That year they held a special "25th Anniversary" celebration of the Hunter and they lined up 26 examples in the static park- with WB188 at the start of the line up.
I first saw WB188 in 1976 at the Greenham Common airshow. That year they held a special "25th Anniversary" celebration of the Hunter and they lined up 26 examples in the static park- with WB188 at the start of the line up.
ecsrobin said:
yellowjack said:
If you want to see the Spitfire's predecessor, the Schneider Trophy winning S6B, a visit to the Solent Sky Museum in Southamton is well worth it. Solent Sky has evolved from the 'RJ Mitchell Memorial Museum', via 'Southampton Hall of Aviation' and has a fair bit of Spitfire history. It also houses a Short Sandringham (Sunderland) flying boat, and when I last visited (admittedly a while ago now) you could walk through the aircraft.
yellowjack said:
If you want to see the Spitfire's predecessor, the Schneider Trophy winning S6B, a visit to the Solent Sky Museum in Southamton is well worth it.
That's an S6A, the winning S6B is in the Science Museum (if you can see it at all in the terrible lighting in the aviation hall).yellowjack said:
Possibly. Hence my hasty edit, above. I imagine it'll be an exterior only fibreglass replica, much like the Gloster E.28/39 on the Whittle roundabout in Farnborough. The practice of leaving historically valuable airframes out in all weathers as gate guardians and such like seems, thankfully, to have died out. At least in the UK. Valuable aircraft are better off kept indoors, or better still, returned to the sky. There is nothing that a 'real' aeroplane on a pole can tell you that a quality replica cannot.
If you want to see the Spitfire's predecessor, the Schneider Trophy winning S6B, a visit to the Solent Sky Museum in Southamton is well worth it. Solent Sky has evolved from the 'RJ Mitchell Memorial Museum', via 'Southampton Hall of Aviation' and has a fair bit of Spitfire history. It also houses a Short Sandringham (Sunderland) flying boat, and when I last visited (admittedly a while ago now) you could walk through the aircraft.
Ironically, the Whittle replica sits in the centre of Ively Roundabout in Farnborough. There is no aeroplane in the centre of the Whittle Roundabout.If you want to see the Spitfire's predecessor, the Schneider Trophy winning S6B, a visit to the Solent Sky Museum in Southamton is well worth it. Solent Sky has evolved from the 'RJ Mitchell Memorial Museum', via 'Southampton Hall of Aviation' and has a fair bit of Spitfire history. It also houses a Short Sandringham (Sunderland) flying boat, and when I last visited (admittedly a while ago now) you could walk through the aircraft.
Ah well. Two mistakes picked up in consecutive posts by different contributors.
In my defence, the Solent Sky site says that the S6's were modified to S6B standard, but designated S6A. My bad, it was late, and I selectively read the text, completely ignoring the bold "S6A" above the photograph
As for Eric's contribution, in my defence, who really knows the names of all the local roundabouts. I (fairly, and understandably, I reckon) presumed that it was the 'Whittle' roundabout, because there's a fibreglass aeroplane in the middle, atop a column upon which are inscribed the words "Sir Frank Whittle". Reasonable error to make, given the circumstances
The roundabout at the junction of the A30 and A325 is named for the pub that was once there (the name currently escapes me). The building still stands, but is now "American Golf, Camberley" and was previously "The Mongolian" bar and grill. Nobody born this side of the 1990's could possibly know the name of the original pub, therefore when it is mentioned on local traffic news by it's original name, I often wonder just how many people have a clue what the presenter is talking about.
In my defence, the Solent Sky site says that the S6's were modified to S6B standard, but designated S6A. My bad, it was late, and I selectively read the text, completely ignoring the bold "S6A" above the photograph
As for Eric's contribution, in my defence, who really knows the names of all the local roundabouts. I (fairly, and understandably, I reckon) presumed that it was the 'Whittle' roundabout, because there's a fibreglass aeroplane in the middle, atop a column upon which are inscribed the words "Sir Frank Whittle". Reasonable error to make, given the circumstances
The roundabout at the junction of the A30 and A325 is named for the pub that was once there (the name currently escapes me). The building still stands, but is now "American Golf, Camberley" and was previously "The Mongolian" bar and grill. Nobody born this side of the 1990's could possibly know the name of the original pub, therefore when it is mentioned on local traffic news by it's original name, I often wonder just how many people have a clue what the presenter is talking about.
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff