Warbird Information Exchange

Hi,

I have a make a visit of the RAF Museum on the 6th May. A very good museum but some aircraft haven't have a great light to make nice pictures.
Some pictures:



















SPang

Was the Sunderland open? Been there 3 times and it's always closed.

Mudge the persistent

Hello Mudge,

Tha Sunderland is closed but when i go for the first time to the museum, it is open and i make some pictures:




SPang

Mudge,

I had a nice walkthrough of the Sunderland (Sandringham?) at the Southampton Hall of Aviation a few years back. Not a very busy place, so you might have better luck there. Sat in the pilot's seat and everything.

Brandon

Thanks for sharing the pictures. It's nice to see that they have the Sunderland indoors now.

This first time I visited the museum was back in the mid 70's. Back then I believe the plane parked out front was a Shorts Serling. Also Hendon was a little town north of London. The next time I visited the museum was in the late 80's, and the Sunderland was now out front. Also, London had grown so much that the museum was now in the middle of an industrial area. I believe the police training facility was close by as well. Hopefully I will one day get to visit again and see the new facility.

Do you know, I can't ever remember the Sunderland being outside.....
Mind you I couldn't tell you how many times I've been there during the past 30 odd years.....must be close to 50, and they all merge into one, apart from maybe the first few after it first opened.

Shorts Serling? I think you are thinking of the Blackburn Beverley that had been outside from when the museum opened in 1973 up until when it was boken up about 15 or so years ago.



Are you sure you didn't visit RAF Hendon before the war.....

Hendon hasn't been a little town north of London since the 1920's....

With the exception of the housing estate and various other buildings built on the old airfield, the area around the RAFM hasn't really changed that much since when the museum opened.....

And yes the Metropolitan Police Training School is still on the south side of Aerodrome Road.

Well, when I visited in the mid 70's I was only 11 or 12 at the time. I just remember the plane sitting outside looked odd...like the bottom half of the fuselage was missing or something. And looking at Sterling it reminded me of that.

When we went to visit it, we were on vacation for a week in London. We had been living in Iran for three and a half years and were heading back to the US. According to my father, we were lucky to get out of Iran when we did (the Shah had already fled the country). He tells me that he bribed an airport official that called a Lufthansa 747 back from taking off, rolled a stairway up to it and we boarded the plan and took off. When we landed at Heathrow, my folks decided to stay for 2 weeks before making our way back to the US.

We took a long (long to a 11-12 year old) train ride to Hendon, and walking from the train station to the museum it seemed like Hendon was a small village at the time.

I was stationed at RAF Croughton from 86 through 89, and while I was there visited Duxford and Hendon again. I was really suprised how much it had changed in the 10 odd years since I had been there last. I took a lot of pictures then, but most at the green tint to them because I didn't have the proper filter at the time to filter the florescent lights. I still have all of them in a photo album, and I think there might be one or two of the Sunderland sitting out front.

Hi,

Thanks for posting,

some very awesome photo's there. I am curious, I thought...now proven VERY incorrect, that there were no Handly Page Wellington Bombers in existance, or perhaps a few recovered wrecks. Nice photo....where did they come up with that one ?

Paul

Excellent pictures you have there buddy!

_________________
Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Hi,

Thanks to all.

Pic of the Wellington:


I don't make each aircraft that you find on the museum like Ju-88, Bf-109 E, He-111, Me-110 G4, Tornado, Buccaneer, B-24, B-17, Vulcan...

SPang

Was the B-24 moved to Hendon? It looks like the tail just above the Wellington, is it?

I looks like a lot of work has been done to the museum sense I was there in 2001. I hope to get back someday. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Tim

_________________
www.tailhookstudio.com

Hi,

The B-24 which is coming from Cosford at the end of 2005.


SPang