Fly Past

May 2018 FLYPAST 103

Most of the airframes inside the hangar are displayed in a dismantled condition ready for fi nal
assembly, similar to SE5a replica ‘F5475’.

Never fi tted to an airframe, but used for trials (including bird strike tests) by RAE Farnborough is

this cockpit section from a BAC TSR2.

May 2018FLYPAST 103

Of 11,461 Wellingtons built, just two
survived the post-war cull, making
this a remarkable survivor.
Moving through the hangar, many
of the aircraft on display are in pieces
or have been neatly sectioned – for
example, SE5a replica ‘F5475’, which
has its wings in wooden jigs adjacent
to the fuselage, and Hawker Hunter
F.51 ‘XF368’, which has its wings
stored nearby and is finished half in
priming paint and half in camouflage
as an aircraft of 4 Squadron.
The theme of aircraft manufacture
is continued with an Airbus A320
wing section and a Vickers Vanguard
rudder and wooden cockpit mock-
up – which are used to demonstrate
construction techniques.
Elsewhere in the hangar visitors
can see the fuselage of record-
breaking Supermarine Swift F.4
WK198, flown by test pilot Cdr Mike
Lithgow on September 26, 1953
when he attained 737.7 mph; and the
newly restored nose and cockpit of

Vickers Valiant B(K)1 XD816, which

was the last of its type to fly in 1968,

having been used for test purposes.

The nose languished on the RAF

Abingdon fire dump after the jet

was scrapped in 1970, but was

saved by the RAF Museum and then

loaned to Brooklands from 1988

before being painstakingly and fully

refurbished between 2014 and 2017.

It now appears on display in silver

colours having lost its badly faded

anti-flash white.

One aircraft in the hangar that

remains complete is Hawker P.1127

XP984, which is carefully pole-

mounted close to the upper part of

the exhibition and leads the way into

the Flight Shed hall located behind

the Aircraft Factory.

Hammer and chisel

A clever way Brooklands has chosen

to involve the public further in the

Aircraft Factory is a series of exhibits

designed to create a more ‘hands

on’ feel. Sections of the hangar floor

have been partitioned to represent

different factory departments,

each demonstrating a different

construction technique.

‘The Fabric Shop’, for example,

is devoted to the use of fabric on

aircraft surfaces, and explains how

dope is used, which types of material

are most suitable and so forth.

A particularly popular section is

the ‘Tinsmiths Shop’, where visitors

can create a small aeroplane out of

strips of metal under the tutelage

of a Brooklands guide. The process

sees the metal strips being formed

and bent before being finally riveted

together by the participant.

The end result is basic, but it’s an

excellent educational tool showing

how components were worked to

create recognisable sections of

aircraft. Adjacent to the ‘Tinsmiths

Shop’ is the ‘Machine Shop’, which

features examples of some of the

machinery used on the factory floor.

Visitors to the upstairs exhibitions

can try their hand at more cerebral

challenges with a visit to the ‘Design

Office’. Among original exhibits on

display is the desk of Hawker chief

designer Sir Sydney Camm, together

with a range of unusual models

detailing Hawker, Vickers and British

Aerospace projects, including some

that didn’t leave the drawing board.

There’s also an opportunity for

visitors to have a go at designing

an aircraft themselves – interactive

displays allow for a choice of types,

advancing the design to be built up

in stages until a complete airframe

is produced on screen for approval.

Again, it’s informative and very

different, and ties in neatly with the

ethos of the hall as a working factory

environment.

Into the shed

Moving from the Aircraft Factory,

the next stop is the new Flight

Shed, which features aircraft

“Visitors can see the fuselage of record-breaking Supermarine Swift F.4

WK198, fl own by test pilot Cdr Mike Lithgow on September 26, 1953 when he

attained 737.7 mph”

Fresh from the factory fl oor, Hawker Hurricane I, L1547 stands outside at Brooklands in October 1937. The fi rst production Hurricane, this aircraft was lost near Oglett on October 10, 1940 after an in-
fl ight engine fi re while serving with 312 (Czech) Squadron. KEY COLLECTION