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Aviation History
1975
1975 - 2212.PDF
572 FLIGHT Internot/ona/, 16 October (975 ilR'' Shuttleworth's autumn collection Sunday October 26 will be the last opportunity until next spring for visi tors to see the Shuttleworth Collec tion's aircraft in the air. This has been a particularly active year for various restoration projects. The Spitfire Vc (restored by volunteers at Duxford) was completed earlier in the year and has flown from Old Warden on several flying days. The unique Hurricane I, a Canadian-built Sea variant, is undergoing restoration by another group at Staverton, which also replaced the fabric of the Collec tion's Gladiator. The Hurricane is ex pected to take several years to com plete, since it has not flown for 30 years, and will be virtually re-built. Pride of place amongst the current projects goes to the DH.88 Comet racer, G-ACSS, which has been on static display for some years but has not flown since 1938. Fears that the airframe was in a very poor con dition have been allayed somewhat following a strip examination, but most working parts are missing. The drilling of holes in the mainspar in 1951, so that the Comet could be hung up for display at the Festival of Britain, did not help the situation. David Ogilvy, general manager of the Collection, claims that the Comet is probably the biggest restoration task ever undertaken in the history of aviation. Response from the aircraft and allied industries has been very en couraging; the Army Parachute Assoc iation has given four time-expired Gipsy Queen II engines, from which it should be possible to produce two serviceable powerplants. Hants and Sussex has undertaken to do the overhaul free of charge and Hawker Siddeley Dynamics is work ing on the propellers at Hatfield, with Hawker Siddeley Aviation taking care of stress work. Engine bearers are in the hands of the British Airways Preservation Group at Heathrow. No completion date for this large under taking can be forecast at this stage, but a lot of people will be disappointed if the Comet is not making frequent demonstrations during 1984, the fiftieth anniversary of the England- Australia race in which it achieved its greatest fame. Other restoration projects are being undertaken away from Old Warden. A reproduction Sopwith Triplane is being built in Yorkshire by Northern Aeroplane Workshops. An original Clerget rotary engine will be built up from two specimens which have been on static display at Old Warden. A Cirrus Hermes engine is being rebuilt by a group at Bristol for the 1929 Parnall Elf which is undergoing restor ation at the Collection's own work shops. So much work is being undertaken currently at Old Warden that restor ation of the 1938 Hawker Hind, which was retrieved three years ago after a 6,000-mile overland journey from Afghanistan, has had to be halted temporarily. The Collection requires an additional engineer of suitable ex perience on a full- or part-time basis. Aircraft dating from before the First World War to the 1930s will be in the air on the last flying day of 1975, although the Collection remains open throughout the year. Visiting air craft, which are welcome on flying days and at all times, must obtain prior permission on Northill 288. The gates open at HOOhr and flying starts at 1400hr. Top of page, the Bristol Boxkite replica turns above a mixed collection of more modern visitors. The DH.88 Comet is stripped for restoration at Old Warden, right. Thirty-one years ago the same aircraft departs from Mildenhall for its victory in the London- Australia race, above
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