After a few miles (and a nap
for some of us), we arrived at the RAF Museum
at Cosford.
The museum opened on May 1st 1979, and
in the beginning it was a collection of
historic ground instructional airframes.
Over time more aircraft were added from
different parts of the country, like the
RAF's Reserve Collections of Historic Aircraft.
In 1980 the museum agreed to a partnership
with BA to house the British Airways Museum
Collection at Cosford. The latest addition
was when the Visitor’s Centre opened
June 21st 1998. This centre houses the
entrance to the facility, a shop, a restaurant,
offices and a conference suite. But the
expansion doesn't seem to stop at this.
Inside the Visitor’s Centre there
is model showing a new, large building
covering the area between Hangars 2 and
3 and Hangar 1. Is this new building for
housing the large aircraft outside the
hangars, like the two V-planes - the Victor
and the Vulcan?
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In
the hall of the Visitor's Centre leading
out to the hangars was this 12-cylindered Rolls-Royce
Kestrel XVI on display. This 640/670 hp
piston engine was used in Hawker Fury
II and Hart. |
Stepping
out of the Visitor’s Centre you find
this 1970 Handley Page Jetstream. This was
the predecessor to the BAe Jetstream. Notice
that this Jetstream has a different powerplant
from today's versions
(Turbomeca Astazou, not the Garrett-AirResearch
TPE331 as today).
More
about this aircraft on the RAF Museum at Cosford
website |
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British
Aircraft Corporation TSR 2 (Tactical Strike and
Reconnaissance Mach 2) - this is the best bomber
aircraft ever built never to be flown in active
service. The Labour Party won the general election
in October 1964 and their reduction of the military
spending, led to the project’s cancellation
in April the following year.
More
about the TSR2 on the RAF Museum at
Cosford website |
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Bristol
Britannia Series 312 c/n 13237
There are only three left of these Bristol Britannias.
One is preserved by the Britannia Aircraft Preservation
Trust at Kemble, one by the Duxford Aviation
Society at Duxford in addtion to G-AOVF at Cosford.
The aircraft at Cosford was built at Filton.
It was originally supposed to be a Series 300LR
and registered G-AOFF. Below is an brief individual
history of G-AOVF extracted from "Airlines & Airliners",
Issue No. 4, December 1996 and the Oldprops
website.
| Date |
Description |
| December
18th 1957 |
First flight |
| January
2nd 1958 |
Delivered
to BOAC and registered G-AOVF |
| March
4th 1964 |
Sold
to British Eagle International Airlines
and named "Friendship" |
| November
27th 1968 |
Repossessed by BOAC |
| January
22nd 1970 |
Sold to Monarch
Airlines |
| April 21st 1970 |
Leased
and later sold to Donaldson International
and named
"Nike" |
| October
31st 1972 |
Sold to IAS and
named "African Queen" |
| From
1972 |
Leased
to African Safari Airways |
| April
1976 |
Leased
to Invicta |
| November
2nd 1978 |
First returned to
IAS before being sold to Invicta |
| August
3rd 1979 |
Leased
to Redcoat Air Cargo |
| January
6th 1981 |
Leased
to IAC Airlines as 9Q-CAZ |
| June
1981 |
Retired at Manston |
| May
31st 1984 |
Flew
into Cosford from Southend |
What
the website of RAF Museum at Cosford
say you'll find here |
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