PDA

View Full Version : Tangmere Military Aviation Museum (RAF Tangmere) Pic & Info Heavy



woofem
13-06-2011, 10:41 AM
History from the website

Tangmere Military Aviation Museum was established in 1982 on the old RAF Tangmere airfield. From its beginnings in 1916, through its illustrious service as one of Britain's front line fighter bases during WW2 and on to its key role as home to the world speed record breaking aircraft of the High Speed Flight in the post war years it has occupied a unique place in aviation history.
The museum contains countless fascinating exhibits. Here you can see priceless historic aircraft such as Neville Duke's world record breaking Hawker Hunter, actual equipment used by the brave SOE agents who were carried into occupied France on 'black Lysander' flights from Tangmere.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3357/5821392872_9c9a352afe_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2228/5820831199_5b0e273d95_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/5820831335_c64b61b457_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2264/5821392698_4c84daa786_z.jpg

These pill boxes were situated along the old runway and were manned incase of attacks by Aircraft or Paratroopers.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/5821392412_170eea6571_z.jpg

McDonnell Douglas Phantom | XV408
In 1968, XV408 was one of the first Phantoms delivered to the RAF. She served briefly with No 228 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Coningsby and in June 1969 was allocated to No 6 Squadron, the first operational Phantom unit, for fighter/ground attack duties. She saw further service with the OCU between 1974 and 1976 at which point, with this aircraft type switching to the air defence role, she was transferred to No 23 Squadron. Moves between several squadrons in both the UK and Germany followed until 1992 when she was finally retired. After a year in storage, XV408 became a gate guardian at Cranwell.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5820829389_031637d83b_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/5821390928_c377c2e6b3_z.jpg

De Havilland Sea Vixen FAW2 | XJ580
This aircraft entered service with the Royal Navy in November 1960 as a Mk1 and served at sea with various Fleet Air Arm units until being converted to FAW2 status during the period 1963-65. She served with a number of shore establishments until March 1970 at which time she joined 899 Squadron, first on HMS Eagle and thereafter at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Llanbedr. Her naval career ended in January 1980 when she was reputed to be the last Sea Vixen to fly in Royal Navy livery.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2397/5821390482_7032159d8f_z.jpg

Sea Harrier FRS2 | ZA195
RS2 Sea Harrier ZA195 started life as an FRS1 (Fighter/Reconnaissance/ Strike version 1) and first flew on September 9th 1982. It saw service life with 899 Squadron in 1984 and 1985 but was passed back to the manufacturer shortly after that because operational experience highlighted that there were important needs to upgrade the FRS1 specification and ZA195 was selected to become the development airframe on which modifications were to be carried out, turning it into the FRS2 prototype. These modifications included a 35" extension to fuselage length behind the cockpit to accommodate an all-new avionics fit, a redesigned wing, a new cockpit with HUD, the installation of a Blue Vixen radar, new weapons systems and a new Pegasus engine with increased thrust.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/5820828153_e4b88f3bbf_z.jpg

Lockheed T33 | 19252

T-33 serial '19252' was allocated to the French Air Force during the 1950s and early 60s as part of the military aid development plan. When France left NATO's military structure in 1966, she was transferred to the UK for use on American bases and subsequently loaned by the USAF to Tangmere. The aircraft was designed in the late 1940s for training pilots already qualified to fly piston aircraft. This well-known machine has seen service with more than 20 countries; some 5,700 were built and many are still in use around the world.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5238/5821389844_057473178b_z.jpg

Gloster Meteor F8 | WA829
The Meteor F8 reigned supreme between 1949 and 1954 as the RAF's principal single-seat day fighter aircraft, equipping 30 front line squadrons.

End of part 1

woofem
13-06-2011, 11:21 AM
Part 2

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2464/5820835085_43f50243bc_z.jpg

Looking down towards the lightning main afterburner

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/5821396954_b2f17b8c93_z.jpg

Lightning cockpit

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/5821396726_b7210e569e_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2241/5821396530_0807a83749_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5820834375_6dcc1acb2c_z.jpg
Hawker Hunter Mk 5 | WP190
WP190 was delivered to No 1 Squadron, Tangmere on 13th August 1955. When the Suez crisis erupted in August 1956, she deployed to Cyprus for five months with a Tangmere Wing of 25 Hunters for air defence duties. In mid-July 1958, 1 Squadron's F5s were replaced by Hunter F6s and WP190 was allocated to RAF Bircham Newton as an instructional airframe. She later became a gate guardian before passing into private ownership.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/5821396010_6944c8c377_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5188/5821396094_b8bcd1643e_z.jpg
Gloster Meteor F4 | EE549
The actual aircraft that captured the world air speed record of 616 mph in 1946. The RAF High Speed Flight was reformed in late 1945 at Tangmere in order to make an attempt on the world air speed record. In August 1946, it received Meteor F4 EE549 direct from the Gloster Aircraft Company. On 7th September 1946, Gp Capt E M (Teddy) Donaldson set a new world record of 615.78 mph flying EE549 off the Sussex coast at Rustington. On returning from the Paris Air Show in January 1947, the same aircraft set a new record time of 20 min 11 sec between Paris (Le Bourget) and London (Croydon). She later saw service with the Fighter Command units before being retired to instructional airframe duties at Cranwell in June 1952. EE549 went into store in June 1958 before finally going on display at the RAF Museum in 1972.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/5821395802_0323fa1ccb_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/5820834103_acbd6b0a6e_z.jpg

ERNIE99_UK
13-06-2011, 11:21 AM
Those aircraft are in stunning condition. so many air museums aircraft have scabby paintwork.

woofem
13-06-2011, 11:26 AM
All manned by volunteers to. Really nice bunch of people down there. Lots more to see than you would think. Sadly some of the exibits your not allowed to take pics of.

Part 3 soon......

Clough
13-06-2011, 11:35 AM
Agreed there in ace condition I went to the yorkshire air museum and its looking pretty much like a scrapyard. Lovely photos too

woofem
13-06-2011, 11:50 AM
Part 3

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2006/5820833893_9877feef9e_z.jpg
Prototype Spitfire
n 1983, the renowned Spitfire test pilot, Jeffrey Quill, decided that the contribution to military aviation by the designer R J Mitchell had never truly been recognised. Accordingly, a group comprising Quill, Dr Gordon Mitchell (RJ's son) and members of the original design team joined forces with the Spitfire Society and decided to sponsor a full size replica of Spitfire prototype K5054 (the original having been destroyed in the late 1930s). Fund-raising began and a partnership was forged with Aerofab Restorations of Andover who would construct the aircraft. The result of these endeavours was unveiled at the RAF Museum in May 1993 when Quill was able to report that the replica is "99% the original prototype".

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3641/5820833811_f16bdc36d5_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2458/5820833629_d2444dc3ec_z.jpg
Hawker Hurricane Mk 1
Hurricane L1679 was delivered to No 1 Squadron at RAF Tangmere in early 1939 and deployed with the unit to France on 9th September just 6 days after the outbreak of war. When Germany began its blitzkrieg through the Low Countries in 1940, the squadron became involved in daily combat whilst constantly withdrawing to the west as the enemy forces advanced. L1679 was in the thick of it - being flown by several pilots who later became household names, including Flying Officer Paul Richey whose book 'Fighter Pilot' became a classic of the genre. Sadly, L1679 did not survive. Badly damaged during a crash-landing at Mezieres on 10th May she was destroyed on the ground 4 days later. The museum's replica was built in the 1980s at Middle Wallop and, because it includes a Rover V8 engine that turns the propeller, has been used as a taxiable - though not flyable - film extra.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/5821395206_6fd94541b6_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/5821395086_c4ec6ddf83_z.jpg

Metor Cockpit instuments

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5196/5821394338_0017e40fe1_z.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2169/5820832653_99fedda79e_z.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5080/5820832791_d0fa117f7d_z.jpg
Hawker Hunter Mk3 | WB188
The Hunter in which Neville Duke flew to secure his world air speed record of 727 mph in 1953. This unique aircraft was ordered in June 1948 as one of three prototypes and first flown by Hawker's Chief Test Pilot, Squadron Leader Neville Duke, in July 1951. In early 1953, WB188 was fitted with side-mounted airbrakes, extra fuel tanks in the wings and a new reheated version of the Avon engine - at which point she became known as the sole Hunter Mk 3. On 7th September 1953, Neville Duke took off from Tangmere to set up a new world air speed record of 727.63 mph along a course between Bognor and Littlehampton. One month later, WB188 came to the end of its flying life and was transferred to RAF Halton as an instructional airframe. She was employed as the gate guardian at Melksham and Abingdon from 1961 to 1964 and then displayed at a museum at RAF Colerne until 1975 when she moved to the RAF Museum at Cosford. The aircraft has been on loan to Tangmere since September 1992.


Thanks for looking