Looking for saveable Air Ministry Hutting and EE Canberra Cockpit section

Read the forum code of contact

Member for

20 years

Posts: 4,561

Forward planning for Sywell Aviation Museum means that we are looking to see if anyone knows of either Air Ministry wooden type hutting for sale (or someone who can construct one new to same specs) and a half decent Canberra Cockpit section for purchase...

Any snippets, leads or other gen welcome!

Thanks folks....

ATB

TT

Original post

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 729

Exactly what type of wooden hutting? There are a few.

If you know the type it's possible the RAF Museum has the original drawings and I'm sure the guys over at AIX (http://airfieldinformationexchange.org/) could fill in the blanks. With that in hand, any competent chippy could probably build it from scratch.

Member for

20 years

Posts: 4,561

Hi 1/8th - we dont really mind I dont think - I have a spec book at home which I'm going to look out and see whether we can get some costings on a 'new' one. Having reused old Nissen hut tins and caught a cold (when we could have bought them new and galvanised pretty cheaply) it may be that we go the new route! Thanks for your help though, will check out AIX - ATB TT

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,123

Texantomcat: Sorry I was not able to get across for your show a couple of weeks ago. Too much to do and too little time, but in any case you had sold out by the time I got round to thinking about it! One day though!

Re the Canberra, I think 115 Peterborough ATC (my old squadron) were trying to dispose of theirs a while ago. Not far from you, but I don't know if they still have it.

http://www.bywat.co.uk/wk127.html

Member for

20 years

Posts: 4,561

Thanks Laurence, yes they sold it on ebay at the start of the year, would have been perfect for us - I should have explained ideally we're after a bomber type as we'd like a cockpit to use with our visitors - it went for about £3500 from memory - it was all there but had been stripped out for refurb...

ATB

TT

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,123

Just too late then!
Your request brings back happy memories of trips in Canberra B2s from Upwood with 115 ATC, and it fits in with the current two Lancasters around at the moment, as we got a number of hours in the Upwood Lincolns before that!
Sad to read that the Canadian Lancaster has a U/S engine: what with that on top of the rotten weather. But the pictures so far are great.
Good luck with your search.

Member for

18 years 10 months

Posts: 4,796

That type of wooden hut are scattered all over Cambridge, might be worth a visit. Also, lots of BoyScout units got them surplus.

Member for

20 years

Posts: 4,561

Thanks folks - any more leads? ATB TT

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 729

Hi 1/8th - we dont really mind I dont think - I have a spec book at home which I'm going to look out and see whether we can get some costings on a 'new' one. Having reused old Nissen hut tins and caught a cold (when we could have bought them new and galvanised pretty cheaply) it may be that we go the new route! Thanks for your help though, will check out AIX - ATB TT

The chaps at AIX will be really useful. They're really good at identifying the correctly nomenclature for these things and they have an exhaustive audit of what drawings the RAF Museum do and don't have. Likewise if there is one to be saved, they'll more than likely be able to tell you where they are.

Member for

13 years

Posts: 520

There's a derelict original wartime crew/dispersal hut at Biggin Hill. It's all there but is starting to fall down, I think the nails are rusting away.

I keep hearing about plans to do something with it but I'm not optimistic. I've seen lots of plans for preserving the original wartime parts of Biggin Hill come and go but none ever seem to come to anything. Mine would be to roof over the old blast pens and move the Heritage Hangar people there, at least they have the drive to do something before it all disappears.