| On the evening on the 23rd June we had a excellent talk on the work of the |
Sir Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at RAF Cosford from the center’s manager Darren Priday.
The Sir Michael Beetham Conservation Centre are responsible for the conservation and maintenance of around 180 historic aircraft. Whilst there is no intention for these aircraft to ever fly again the team aim to keep then in as close to flying condition as possible. The team consists of a small core of full time staff whose skills include aircraft carpentry and fabric trimming. This team is supplemented by around 50 volunteers. In addition the conservation center has an Engineering apprentice scheme.
Darren explained the wide variety of Aircraft looked after by the center from early balsa wood and fabric aircraft through World War 1 & 2 aircraft and upto aircraft such as the VC10 which were in service until relatively recently.
Two aircraft restorations of particular interest were highlighted. One being a Hadley Page Hampden. This was a twin engined Bomber used during the early years of WW2. This particular example had crashed in 1942 whilst on a mission to support Artic Convoys. The aircraft was recovered from the crash site, in Northern Russia during 1992. The other restoration highlighted was that of a Dornier 17, which was recovered from the Goodwin Sands, off the coast of Kent during 2014. Both of these Aircraft are extremely rare. The Hampden is one of only three surviving, whilst the Dornier is the only example surviving.
Overall an extremely interesting talk. Hopefully, once Covid is behind us we will be able to organise a visit to RAF Cosford and the Sir Michael Beetham Conservation Centre