OT: Visit to DHAMT - Mosquito museum

[BeauBrummie]

What a great weekend. Friday, my Brother-in-law got married. Saturday was visiting family. Sunday was my pilgrimage to the Mosquito Museum! There have been changes. All three Mossies are under one roof. The prototype is in bits tho' as it had to be dismantled to move it, so the opportunity was used to do a major repair/refurb job. The FBVI however has had its Merlins mounted.


Here's the photos
http://s187.photobucket.com/albums/x...view=slideshow

Heres a little video I made from two digital camera clips

[Pat Pattle]

That looks to be an A1 museum Jeff! Thanks for sharing the pics and video.
I never knew about concrete aircraft molds!??

[BeauBrummie]

Yes Clive that's how the Mosquito/Hornet got their body shapes by forming the ply around the mould. Have you heard of The Peoples Mosquito? Well they hope to go to NZ to use the moulds the Kiwi's have used to build their flyable Mossie with.

[icutler]

Thankyou Jeff. Never seen up that close to Mossie: surprised how big she is. Wonderful detail,cannons too! Wonderful work on them. (Salsbury?) Hall looks a beautiful place to have worked to do concepts.

(Vixen?) is a strange bird, never anything like that on it.

(Is a v. very sad Vamp. here that could share some of that TLC....)

[BeauBrummie]

I love the fact that you can get up close and personal with the aircraft. I know they would like to have a cockpit to let people sit in, so who knows if that'll happen, they have a lot on their hands. As for the Sea Vixen it is a classic British eccentric design with The pilot's canopy is offset to the left hand side. The observer is housed to the right completely within the fuselage, gaining access through a flush-fitting top hatch into his position, nicknamed the "Coal Hole. My first encounter with this aircraft was when I had as a kid an Airfix model of HMS Victorious which had wee little Sea Vixens and Supermarine Scimitars on deck.

[icutler]

Wow, you've still got one!!!!! It's a very nimble aircraft. (No offence) It's looks belie it's performance. Definitely not a stodgy bomb platform. He was really 'having a go'. Really well maintained.

Saw your above post on RN Carriers/ 60's; very interesting videos, especially looking to be a high risk occupation manually clearing arrester cable off the hook. Looked a v. big a/c to be catapaulted in that era.

Sad about loss of Carriers/Harriers (thought they would have kept some a/c, at least).

As you would know, we had two Carriers from you here in 50's, the last one, Melbourne (not sure original name) here till mid/late 70's: the A4 Skyhawks from her were sold to NZ, where they were revamped/upgraded and camouflaged, and think today are still the main fighters there. Very good, too; occasional visit for displays/US exercises. (Never know why we didn't keep them here).

Fascinating era. Maybe we still use one, with all that water around!

Thanks for showing it, Jeff.

[SgtT]

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

T.