10 FLYPAST December 2018
NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE
Meteor night fi ghter on display at Defford
The forward fuselage of Gloster Meteor
NF.11 WD686 has been put on display at
the RAF Defford Museum in restored
airfi eld buildings at Croome Park in
Worcestershire.
The rest of the jet – which was the
last aircraft to fl y out of Defford before
the base closed in 1958 – is being
restored by volunteers at Old Sarum’s
Boscombe Down Aviation Collection.
It’s hoped that the complete Meteorwill be returned to Croome for a
period of display at some point
next year.
The airframe was initially restored
at Duxford in the 1970s, and loaned
to a museum in Norfolk in 1991.
Its condition deteriorated over
the years, but the jet was saved
following a fundraising campaign
by members of the Defford Airfi eld
Heritage Group. It was subsequently
transferred to Old Sarum, in
Wiltshire, for restoration.
WITH THANKS TO DR BOB SHAWThe forward fuselage of Gloster Meteor NF.
WD686 has been restored for display.
ANNETTE DAVENPORTF-111 tribute to Vietnam veterans
After two years of restoration and $250,000 (£195,000) in funds raised, General Dynamics F-111A 63-9767 has been put on display outside
Waukegan National Airport, Illinois. The jet is to be part of the forthcoming Lake County Veterans Memorial Plaza event, which is dedicated to
veterans of the Vietnam War. The ‘Aardvark’ had previously been at the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum. TONY SACKETOSGreenham Common control
tower opens to visitors
A relic from the Cold War has been given a new lease of life, 26 years after its offi cial use came to
an end. On September 8, the control tower at Greenham Common in Berkshire was opened to the
public as a museum and café. Thanks to Heritage Lottery Fund backing, the building has a secure
future and will give visitors an insight into the former airfi eld’s role. RICHARD HALLVolunteers at the Helicopter
Museum in Weston-super-Mare have
given an aircraft sculpture a new
lease of life. The full-size
representation of a Bell Jet
Ranger was donated to the
museum by Barratt Homes in 2011
- it had previously been used as a
promotional tool for new housing
developments.
The sculpture is part of a wider
project to improve the exterior
appearance of the museum. A new
extension to the building will be opened
next year to mark the Somerset
attraction’s 30th anniversary.
Museum general manager Lee Mills
said: “The Barratt Homes helicopters
are great examples of rotorcraft in
popular culture, so we’re delighted to
add their story to the museum. The Jet
Ranger has been restored, repainted
and raised onto stilts acting as the
perfect ‘gate guardian’. It has also
been fi tted with solar-powered lights
to illuminate it during evenings.”
http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.ukRestored sculpture unveiled
at Helicopter Museum
The former Barratt Homes Jet Ranger
sculpture is now on display at Weston-super-
Mare. HELICOPTER MUSEUM