Boscombe Down Aviation Collection
Old Sarum airfield
March 9, 2024
|
 |
Threshold night-shoot for Boscombe Down Aviation Collection's English Electric P.1A (WG763) which is outside for photography for the first time in over 40 years. I last remember seeing it outside on the parade ground at RAF Halton. The forecast was for rain all evening but luckily it held off till almost the end of the event.
WG763 was built to an Air Ministry specification from 1947. The main purpose was to evaluate low-speed handling characteristics of the revolutionary swept wing, which lead to the design of the Lightning. The P.1A's maiden flight was made by WG760 (preserved at the RAFM Cosford) in August 1954 from Boscombe Down. The flight characteristics were found to be very good and seven days later it achieved a speed of Mach 1. The second P.1A prototype (WG763) joined the program in 1955. Equipped with twin 30mm ADEN cannons in the upper nose, it was used in armaments trials. Fitted with an afterburner, it achieved a speed of Mach 1.53 in January 1956.
By 1964 WG763 was used for ground instructional duties at RAF Henlow, later moving to the parade ground with WG760 where they deteriorated outside until the early 1980s. WG763 was moved to the Science Museum in Manchester, but when the museum was closed in 2021 its collection was split and new homes had to be found. In January 2022, WG763 was moved on to the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum, the oldest continually operational airfield in the UK. |
| Left to right: English Electric P.1A (WG763 later 7816M). |
| Left to right: English Electric P.1A (WG763 later 7816M). |
| Left to right: English Electric P.1A (WG763 later 7816M). |
| Left to right: English Electric P.1A (WG763 later 7816M). |
| Left to right: Gloster Meteor D.16 (WK800 'Z') previously with the Royal Aircraft Establishment at RAE Llanbedr. As photographed at RAE Llanbedr in 1994. |
Left to right: British Aerospace Hawk T.1 (XX154). The pre-production aircraft with Empire Test Pilots School, Boscombe Down. Retired in August 2019.
Tornado GR.1 (ZA319 c/n BT001 later 9315M). It happens to be the first off the production line for the RAF, it first flew on July 10, 1979. ZA319 was delivered to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down for pre-service flight trials on November 15, 1979 before its transfer to the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) at RAF Cottesmore.
Following the jet's retirement from service in 2001 it was transferred to Tri-Services Defence Logistics Establishment, Upper Arncott, Oxford in 2002 to be preserved on the gate. Threatened with scrapping, in November 2021 it was acquired by BDAC through RAF Heritage in an all grey scheme. |
Left to right: SEPECAT Jaguar T.2A (XX145) first flew on May 1974 and delivered to the RAF operational conversion unit 226 OCU in June 1974, it was converted to a T.2A standard before transfer to Boscombe Down in 1988 for the Empire Test Pilots School. It was retired there in 2006 (due to a fuel tank leak I recall) and moved to RAF Cosford for storage and disposal. The BDAC acquired XX145 in August 2023.
Auster AOP.5 (MS968 registered G-ALYG). |
Left to right: Westland Wasp HAS.1 (XT437 '423') ex Royal Navy.
Bristol Sycamore Mk.3 (WA577). |
Left to right: SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 (XX734 '734') in 6 Squadron markings.
Beagle Bassett CC.1 (XS743) ex Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS) and QinetiQ Apprentice School based at Boscombe Down. Built in 1964 and was retired from flight in 2014.
Auster B.4 (XA177) designed as an Ambulance and light freighter, XA177 was built in 1951. |
