Category: raf cosford

Boulton Paul Sea Balliol

This Boulton Paul Sea Balliol was on display at RAF Cosford.

Boulton Paul Sea Balliol

The Boulton Paul Balliol and Sea Balliol are monoplane military advanced trainer aircraft built for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) by Boulton Paul Aircraft.

Boulton Paul Sea Balliol

Developed in the late 1940s, the Balliol was designed to replace the North American Harvard trainer. It used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Sea Balliol was a naval version for deck landing training.

This particular Balliol was one of a batch of 20 that were ordered by the Royal Navy in 1950. Consequently it is fitted with naval features such as an arrester hook that the RAF aircraft did not have. The engine fitted to the aircraft is a later variant of the famous Rolls Royce Merlin.

Balliols only lasted in service for a few years before being stored. This example was later reactived for trials work which allowed it to be preserved.

WL732 is the only original and complete Balliol preserved in the UK.

Percival Pembroke

The Percival Pembroke is a British high-wing twin-engined light transport aircraft built by the Percival Aircraft Company, later Hunting Percival.

The Pembroke was a development of the Percival Prince civil transport. It had a longer wing to permit a higher fully laden weight. The prototype flew on 21 November 1952. Production was complete in early 1958.

It entered service with the Royal Air Force as the Percival Pembroke C.1 in 1953 to replace the Avro Anson for light transport duties. As with other RAF transports, the passenger seats are rearward-facing for improved safety.

The RAF’s Pembrokes were modified to extend their lifespan in 1970. The last unit to use them was No. 60 Squadron RAF based at RAF Wildenrath in Germany, these were withdrawn from use in 1988 and were replaced by the Hawker Siddeley Andover.

BAC Jet Provost T.5A

The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and later produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).

This BAC Jet Provost T.5A is on display at RAF Cosford.

In addition to the multiple RAF orders, the Jet Provost, sometimes with light armament, was exported to many air forces worldwide. The design was also further developed into a more heavily armed ground attack variant under the name BAC Strikemaster.

 

Junkers Ju52/3M (CASA 352L) at RAF Cosford

The Ju52 was the last in a series of corrugated metal-skinned Junkers aircraft. The first aircraft, fitted with a single engine, flew in October 1930. The first three-engined version, the Ju52/3m, flew in April 1932. Orders for this robust aircraft, which could carry seventeen passengers or eighteen troops, soon started coming in and included an order for three from the pre-war British Airways, the Junkers Ju 52 at RAF Cosford is painted as Junkers Ju 52 (G-AFAP) of the pre-War British Airways Ltd.

By 1934, the newly-formed Luftwaffe was flying bomber-transport Ju52s and the type was soon in action with the Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion, which fought on the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War. In August 1936, Ju52s carried out what was then the biggest air-transportation operation ever mounted, carrying 14000 of General Franco’s troops from Morocco to Spain.

During the Second World War the Ju52 became the Luftwaffe’s standard workhorse and was known affectionately as ‘Tante Ju’ (Auntie Ju). Flown mainly as a transport, it also fulfilled air-ambulance and, more unusually, mine-clearance roles. For the latter it was fitted with a large metal hoop which could be energized by a motor to explode magnetic sea-mines.

After the Second World War it was built under licence for use by the Spanish Air Force.

In its time, the Junkers Ju52/3m was rivalled only by the Douglas Dakota as a transport aircraft. It was used by the airlines of thirty countries and several Air Forces. A few examples still fly today with pleasure flight operators.

When I was younger I always wanted to have the Airfix kit when I was doing some plastic kit modelling.

Never bought it, as I moved into gaming.

 

RAF Bristol Sycamore

The Bristol Type 171 Sycamore was an early helicopter developed and built by the helicopter division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It has the distinction of being the first British helicopter to receive a certificate of airworthiness, as well as being the first British-designed helicopter to be introduced by and to serve with the Royal Air Force (RAF).

This RAF Bristol Sycamore was on display at RAF Cosford.

RAF Bristol Sycamore

This was one of the last four Sycamores to be officially retired from RAF service in 1971.

Auster T7 Antarctic

The Auster AOP.6 was a British military air observation aircraft produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the numerous wartime Taylorcraft Auster aircraft then in-service. First flying in 1945, an initial production run of 296 were completed for the Royal Air Force in 1949.

The Auster T7 is a two-seat, dual-control aircraft designed for training of aircrew for the AOP6 artillery spotting and light communications aircraft, from which the T7 was developed.

In the training role the T7 replaced the Auster MkV, preparing crews for air observation post operations and as such was equipped to simulate night and instrument flying conditions. Many were transferred to the Army Air Corps during 1957/58 as the Army took overall responsibility for its aviation requirements.

The T7 prototype (a converted AOP6) first flew in 1947, production beginning in 1949. Seventy-seven T7s were built, while an additional ten AOP6 aircraft were later converted to T7 standard as the T10.

In 1955 two T.7 aircraft were modified for use on the 1956 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, being designated Auster Antarctic.

The aircraft had extra radio equipment, larger tail surfaces, the ability to be fitted with floats or skis as required and a bright yellow finish to increase visibility against the snow and ice.

BOAC de Havilland Comet 1XB at RAF Cosford

This BOAC de Havilland Comet 1XB was on display at RAF Cosford. These photographs go across three visits to RAF Cosford, in 2008, 2015 and 2017. As you scroll through the photographs you will see the planes underneath and next to the Comet change.

The first flight of the Comet, the world’s first jet powered airliner, took place on 27 July 1949. With a cruising speed of 725kph (450mph) and a range of 4024 km (2500 miles), the prototype established many records on long distance flights. With jet engines and a pressurised cabin, it offered unprecedented levels of comfort and speed for the 36-40 passengers.

Unfortunately several disasters were to befall the Comet; in 1952 and 1953 there were take-off accidents and a Comet broke up in a violent storm over India. On 10 January 1954, the first production Comet crashed into the Mediterranean whilst en route from Rome to London. This was closely followed by a similar incident involving a Comet en route from Rome to Johannesburg, resulting in withdrawal of the Certificate of Airworthiness. The cause was found to be fatigue failure of the pressure cabin.

After further development of the type, the Comet 4 was used as an RAF transport aircraft and formed the basis of the design which later became the Nimrod.

Vickers Varsity T Mk I

The Varsity was a versatile twin piston-engined aircraft brought into RAF service in 1951 for crew training as a replacement for the Wellington T10. This Vickers Varsity T Mk I was on display at RAF Cosford.

The aircraft had been designed three years earlier in response to an Air Ministry specification and had been put into production once proving trials and operational tests had been completed. To adapt the successful Valetta design for a general purpose crew trainer, the Varsity was given a nose-wheel undercarriage and an under fuselage pannier bomb-aimer’s station. The Museum also has an example of the Valetta which is awaiting major restoration.

The most outstanding quality of the Varsity was that it could provide excellent training for pilots, flight engineers, radio operators, navigators and bomb aimers simultaneously. The latter were seated in a very large ventral gondola which contained bomb aiming equipment and a small quantity of training bombs.

The prototype Varsity T MkI made its maiden flight on 17 July 1949. The RAF took its first deliveries in October 1951 which went to No.201 Squadron, Advanced Flying School at Swinderby, Lincolnshire. Production of the Varsity T MkI for the RAF ceased on 28 February 1954 after a total of 163 had been built.

WL679 was built by Vickers Armstrong at Bournemouth and released from their factory on 25 September 1953. This was the last Varsity to fly with Royal Air Force Insignia, but in the very distinctive livery of the Royal Aircraft Establishment. It landed at RAF Cosford on 27 July 1992 and signalled the end of an era spanning over 43 years.

Comper Swift

This Comper Swift was on display at RAF Cosford.

The Comper C.L.A.7 Swift is a British 1930s single-seat sporting aircraft produced by Comper Aircraft Company Ltd of Hooton Park, Cheshire.

In 1923 Flying Officer Nicholas Comper formed the ‘Cranwell Light Aeroplane Club’ (CLAC) for apprentices at RAF Cranwell. The CLAC built three successful light aircraft, all designed and flown by Comper with the majority of the construction work being carried out by the apprentices.

Having gained this experience Comper left the RAF to set up the Comper Aircraft Company. Their first product was the Comper Swift which was produced from 1929 until 1934.

The Swift was available in either red or blue and became one of the most popular racing aircraft of the 1930s. This example, G-ACGL, was built in 1933 and registered to Alex Henshaw of Mablethorpe.

Henshaw won several trophies in this aircraft. The most notable success was the Siddeley Trophy at the 1933 Kings Cup, only a year after he had gained his pilot’s license. He went on to become one of Britain’s foremost competition pilots and record breakers and served as a test pilot flying Spitfires and Lancasters during the Second World War.