Qantas Museum Receives Funding Boost
The Department of Environment and Energy in Australia has
announced that the Qantas Hangar at the Longreach-based Qantas
Founders Museum in Queensland will be among 24 heritage-listed
sites to share in $4.4m (£2.5m) of funding.The award is part of the government’s Protecting National Historic
Sites programme for improved conservation, restoration and promotion
projects. The museum’s parent company has been given $70,700 for
its ‘Qantas Hangar – Restoring our Past for the Future’ project.The world’s only ying Bristol Sycamore
helicopter temporarily returned home to
Weston-super-Mare in Somerset on June
18, six decades after it was built there. The
historic aircraft landed at the Helicopter
Museum and was on public display for
nearly a week, before performing at the
nearby Weston Air Show and ying back to
its base in Austria.
The Sycamore was the rst British
helicopter to receive a certi cate of
airworthiness. The type was produced by
the Bristol Aeroplane Company from 1955-
1959 at its Oldmixon factory on the former
Weston Air eld where the museum is now
based. A Sycamore had not own in the UK
for over 46 years and a large crowd visited
the museum to be part of the homecoming.
Siegfried Schwarz – chief helicopter
pilot of the Flying Bulls Display Team and
the only person quali ed to y a Sycamore- explained what it meant to bring the
helicopter back to Weston-super-Mare after
so long: “It’s an incredible feeling. It took us
ten years to get the helicopter airborne, get
my licence and everything else, and then
nally we made it to Great Britain, and to the
home of the Sycamore.”
Bristol 171 Sycamore ‘XG545’ (OE-XSY)
is the only remaining airworthy example
in the world. Its rst ight took place from
Weston Air eld on February 3, 1958, and
it was then delivered to the West German
Navy in VIP con guration, later transferring
to the German Air Force. After retirementand disposal by the military, the helicopter
moved to Switzerland where it was repainted
in RAF colours in 1988 and then sold 18
years later to the Austria-based Flying
Bulls display team. By this time the aircraft
required an extensive overhaul and with
technical assistance from the Helicopter
Museum, including the supply of archived
maintenance manuals, the Sycamore ew
again in July 2013.The Elvington-based Yorkshire Air Museum
recently transported its Avro 504K
reproduction ‘9828’ to Paris, where it starred
in an open-air exhibition celebrating over
100 years of co-operation between theFrench Air Force and the RAF. This display
at the Hôtel national des Invalides also
included a French SPAD VII ghter from
the Conservatoire de l’air et de l’espace
d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux. It’s believed to bethe rst time aircraft have been displayed
at this location, and the event provided an
opportunity for a joint declaration by ACM Sir
Stephen Hillier, Chief of the Air Staff, and his
French counterpart Général André Lanata,
to reinforce the ongoing co-operation
between the two air arms.
During his address, ACM Hillier said: “Of
all the visits I am making this year to mark
the centenary of the RAF, the one with the
greatest historical signi cance is my visit to
France.” The opening of the exhibition was
completed by a ypast from a French Air
Force Dassault Rafale ghter.
Yorkshire Air Museum director Ian Reed
commented: “We are very privileged to
have been asked by the RAF to assist in
this unique celebration of over 100 years of
co-operation. The ties which bind our two
countries remain strong, even as ‘Brexit’
looms, and will remain so into the future.”Annie on the Move
The Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre
in Scotland has acquired Avro Anson C.
TX226 from Glenn James of Coventry,
Warwickshire. The centre’s chairman, Ron
Morris, said: “We acquired the aircraft and
original parts from Glenn who also has an
airworthy Anson which he still ies. It’s a
very exciting project and we are looking
forward to starting the restoration. Weestimate it will take around ve to six years
to complete.”
Annie TX226 was ordered for the RAF in
January 1945. It served with RAF Hemswell
Station Flight and at Coningsby during
its lengthy military career. The type was
operated from Montrose with RAF Coastal
Command’s 269 Squadron, usually on anti-
submarine patrols over the North Sea.Dr Dan Paton, the museum’s curator,
added: “Our ethos is to focus on the
experience of those who served at
Montrose, and seek to collect aircraft
which have an historical connection to the
base. Ansons served here so they t our
collections policy. We will be looking for a
personal story to attach to the new arrival
when it is restored.”The two World War One aircraft types on display in Paris. The Yorkshire Air Museum’s Avro is
on the left. Neill Watson/YAMYorkshire Air Museum
Goes International
PRESERVATION
18 Aviation News incorporating Jets August 2018Sycamore’s Homecoming
Sycamore ‘XG545’ landing at the Helicopter Museum on June 18. via Helicopter Museum16-18_preservation_newsDC.mf.indd 18 04/07/2018 16: