Aircraft Museum

When I first started going to this place there were loads of planes on display but I never thought of going to have a look, now! well over twenty years later I thought I would have a look to see what was left. As I know the owner I got permission to go and look as long as I did not disturb anything. The first visit I took the photos in Black & White and changed them to sepia, a couple of weeks later I went back and took the colour shots.
As normal (For me) a full set can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/100221036@N06/sets/72157635263226072/

What is left in the museum building




Inside and out of the Shackleton Bomber












Gloucester Meteor T.7 Jet Fighter Trainer






Westland Whirlwind Helicopter (Only in sepia)




Thanks for looking

Not keen on vehicle based threads but seeing as it was a permission visit I guess it can stay.

krela said:

Not keen on vehicle based threads but seeing as it was a permission visit I guess it can stay.

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I PMed Urbex-SW to ask if it was OK to post this! and he say YES

Cool beans, thanks for checking!

Great shots there mate and cheers for posting them up!

Sorry Krela, meant to send you a PM about this lol!

Very nice thanks for sharing.

Cracking shots! Shame to see these aircraft festering away though, but rumour has it the Shackleton might have found a new owner so hopefully will finally get a bit of much needed tlc.
PS. it's a Gloster Meteor, or what's left of one!

Sad to see planes get in that state especially the Shackleton which is one of my favorite planes it would have looked like this in its heyday.

Took this when I was around 15

I've been told it was based on the Lancaster Bomber. I should also say it was never used as a bomber, it was the forerunner of the Nimrod and used for detecting Submarines. (I am sure we exercised with one when I was on Subs, they used to drop bouys where they thought we were)

Excellent pics. Such a shame about the aircraft

Wow amazing pics and its a shame they have been left to rot

krela said:

Not keen on vehicle based threads but seeing as it was a permission visit I guess it can stay.

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why is there a problem with vehicles in posts? as with many explores (especially in a aircraft museum) there will be vehicles of some sort, they are still man made, will exhibit signs of dereliction and in allot of cases set the scene of the subject of the explore. you wouldn't be surprised to find a crane in a old ship yard or tractor in a derelict farm. I have viewed quite a few old garages and reclamation yards that have vehicles in and personally find the dereliction of these sites as exiting and interesting as a five hour explore of Denbigh asylum. imsure there are people who don't find vehicles interesting but remember they have been a part of history, deserve some recognition and tell a story.

robbie1003 said:

why is there a problem with vehicles in posts? as with many explores (especially in a aircraft museum) there will be vehicles of some sort, they are still man made, will exhibit signs of dereliction and in allot of cases set the scene of the subject of the explore. you wouldn't be surprised to find a crane in a old ship yard or tractor in a derelict farm. I have viewed quite a few old garages and reclamation yards that have vehicles in and personally find the dereliction of these sites as exiting and interesting as a five hour explore of Denbigh asylum. imsure there are people who don't find vehicles interesting but remember they have been a part of history, deserve some recognition and tell a story.

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It's a moot point and one that was - maybe still is - contentious but Krela was right to draw the line, or "context", at some point.

First, the abundance of pix just of "scrap metal" would have made this forum an easy target for the Light Fingered Folk. Second the site is "Derelict Places" so the main point is fixed architecture. So, old vehicles and/or farm machinery in it's original setting is the "icing on the cake" for many pix . . . numerous shots of old cars overgrown in bushes, no matter how interesting that "old banger" maybe, doesn't quite fit the bill.

Remember this is a free site so bandwidth will be finite.

. . . but I too miss those shots . . . but there must be separate forums for them, surely?

There are two Shackletons at The Gatwick Aviation Museum one of them is a runner but not airworthy, the last time they ran it up was 2008.

The 'Shack' was a descendant of the Avro Lincoln, which was in turn directly descended from the famous Lancaster. It was designed as a Maritime patrol aircraft, and unbelievably continued to fly with the RAF into the very early 90's as an Airborne Early Warning platform.
A group at Coventry airport keep this country's only live running Shackleton MR2, with a view to returning it to the sky one day. More info here http://www.avroshackleton.co.uk/

I love that shack! The last time I was in there was about a ago hiding from the secce as they were doing their checks. It truly is an astonishing bit of British history, and to be on one of those things even in that state is an honour.
I spoke to the secce at the front cabin after I'd been on the shack and he had no issue in me being there. What a nice guy!!
So I took one shot of the non flyer at the gate..... Not sure what it was though, but found the moon light appealing.

P3109465 by dajoolzcat, on Flickr

I go past this nearly every other weekend and have never known what it is, also taken plenty of photos over the years

NICE!!!!!
Apparently, it's the plane of 'Gods Kitchen'.... What ever that means.

Its now called "Vibes Stika" Gods Kitchen was the for runner to The Global Gathering. (Music festivals)

It always makes me wonder why things like this get left to decay, obviously money is a big part but museums buy this stuff all the time & collectors also.

On the other hand I love looking around them and looking at pictures lol.

Great pics