Molly, Freddie, and I went back to the Bentwaters Cold War Museum yesterday. This time though, we visited the very special hangar where an incredible team of volunteers restore aircraft for future generations to admire and appreciate.
We were actually there to do some filming for an upcoming episode of Talking Classics and we all had a fantastic time talking to Dennis and Rob, who were hard at work on some very impressive Cold War aircraft.
Much more information and photos will be coming soon but, in the meantime, here are some snippets of what went on, and details of some of the exceptional planes we were able to get up close and personal with.
Gloster Meteor F.8
Currently under restoration.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Gloster Aircraft Company
Purpose: Single-seat day fighter
Crew: One
Wingspan: 37 ft 2” / 11.8 metres
Length: 44 ft 7” / 13.5 metres
Height: 13 ft / 3.9 metres
Weight (Empty): 10,684 lb. / 4,846 kg
Service ceiling: 43,000 ft / 13,106 metres
Engines: 2x Rolls Royce Derwent 8
Performance: 598mph at 10,000 ft
English Electric Lightning F.53
Currently under restoration.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: English Electric
Purpose: Single-seat fighter
Crew: One
Wingspan: 34 ft 10″ / 10.6 metres
Length: 55 ft 3 ” / 16.8 metres
Height: 19 ft 7 ” / 5.97 metres
Weight (Empty): 31,068 lb / 14,092 kg
Service ceiling: 54,000 ft / 16,000 metres/zoom ceiling >70,000 ft
Engines: 2 × Rolls-Royce Avon 301R
Performance: Mach 2.0 /1,300 mph / 2,100 km/h at 36,000 ft
Lockheed T-33A
Currently under restoration.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Lockheed
Purpose: Jet Trainer aircraft
Crew: 2
Wingspan: 39ft 1” / 11.9 metres
Length: 37ft 9” / 11.5 metres
Height: 11ft 8” / 3.56 metres
Weight (Empty): 8.367 lbs / 3.795kg
Service Ceiling: 48,000ft / 14,630 metres
Engine: 1x Allison J33-A-5
Performance: 600 mph
Range: 1100 Miles / 2050 km
Sepecat Jaguar GR.1A
Currently under restoration.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Sepecat
Purpose: Ground attack
Crew: One
Wingspan: 28 ft 5” / 8.64 metres
Length: 50 ft 11” / 15.52 metres
Height: 16 ft 1” / 4.92 metres
Weight: 16970 lb. / 7700 kg
Service ceiling: 45930 ft / 13920 metres
Engines: 2x Rolls Royce Adour
Performance: 1056 Mph
We would all like to say a big thank you to Dennis and Rob for taking the time out of their busy schedules to show us around and answer our questions. We look forward to seeing you both again soon.
