Aviation News - June 2016

Successful engine runs have been carried out

by Jet Art Aviation (JAA) on Hawker Siddeley

Harrier GR.3 XZ130. The 1976-vintage jet

is currently being restored by the company

to non-flying display condition. The March

run was the first time the jet’s Rolls-Royce

Pegasus turbofan had been fired up for 25

years.

JAA acquired the aircraft from the MOD in

November 2014. It had previously served with

4 Sqn in Germany, 1 Sqn, 3 Sqn, 233 OCU

and 1453 Flt in the Falklands. Once retired, it

stood outside for a decade as a ‘gate guardian’

for a London Air Cadet squadron not far from

the factory in Kingston where it was built.

Despite being on external display for so

long, the airframe is reported to be in very

good overall condition. JAA will now repaint

it into the livery it wore with 4 Sqn. The name

of ‘Capt L Y Ching’, a USAF exchange pilot,

will adorn the starboard side of the cockpit.

Capt Ching flew the Harrier when serving

at Gütersloh in Germany. Once it has been

completed, the aircraft will be put up for sale.

http://www.jetartaviation.co.uk With thanks to Chris

Wilson-JAA

Staff at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona have returned Consolidated Canso

A 9742 to its original RCAF colour scheme. The aircraft was previously at the Lone Star Flight

Museum in Galveston, Texas, and was damaged by Hurricane Ike in September 2008. It arrived

at its current home last year along with PB4Y-2 Privateer N3739G. http://www.pimair.org Courtesy John

Bezoscky-Pima

Names on a Plane

The Royal Air Force Museum (RAFM) has

launched an innovative campaign to raise

funds for its RAF Centenary Programme,

offering members of the public the chance

to have their name written on a Red Arrows

Hawk in exchange for donations.

The donor can have their name or those

of friends or relatives placed on the jet

and this will be worn for the entire 2017

display season. Five naming packages are

available ranging from £30 to £25,000.

RAF Museum CEO Maggie Appleton

said: “This is a fantastic chance for the

public to be part of the RAF’s history and to

receive something unique in return for their

support.”

To mark 100 years of the air force, RAFM

London is undergoing a transformation,

with new exhibitions exploring the RAF’s

history and its future at the heart of the

redevelopment.

The ‘Names on a Plane’ appeal will run

until September 2016. For more information

visit http://www.namesonaplane.org

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 17

Boost for Brooklands

A £1m grant has been awarded to

Brooklands Museum from the UK

Government to aid its Re-Engineering

Brooklands redevelopment programme.

This is part of the £8m Brooklands

Aircraft Factory and Race Track Revival

project, which will see the Grade 2-listed

Aircraft Hangar restored and re-opened

as the Brooklands Aircraft Factory. A new

exhibition inside will feature aircraft and

objects dating back to the start of British

aviation. A flight shed will be built alongside

the hangar to house working historic

aircraft, provide environmentally controlled

storage for the museum’s archive and a new

restoration workshop.

Work is also being undertaken on the

site’s race track, and as a result the Bellman

Hangar will be relocated.

The redevelopment started last

October, after a successful fundraising

campaign that included nearly £5m from

the Heritage Lottery Fund. The grant from

the government has come from the Libor

Fund (created from fines levied on banks

for attempting to manipulate Libor) and will

help plug a financial gap that resulted from

rising construction costs and the clearing of

contaminated land.

Allan Winn, Director and CEO of

Brooklands Museum, said: “This support

from the Chancellor of the Exchequer

is crucial to enabling the delivery of our

ambitious plans for the site and to help us

tell the extraordinary story of Brooklands’

role in British aviation history. We are very

grateful to the Chancellor for his support and

to Philip Hammond MP for his role in helping

us secure it.”

The Brooklands Aircraft Factory, the new

flight shed and the restored section of race

track are scheduled to open next summer.

Harrier GR.3 XZ130 is fired up for the first time in 25 years. Chris Wilson-JAA

Harrier

Fired Up

Pima’s Canso Gets New Paint

16-17_preservation.JRDC.mf.indd 17 04/05/2016 13: