Watisham Station Heritage Museum
Wattisham Flying Station
February 17, 2024 |
Time Line Events (TLE) organised an evening and night photo-shoot which would have raised funds vital to maintain the aircraft with the Watisham Station Heritage Museum.
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| McDonald Douglas Phantom FGR.2 (XT914) entered service with the RAF in 1969, with 228 OCU at RAF Coningsby before serving with 14 (Bruggen), 56 (Coningsby), 74 (Wattisham), 19 and 92 (Wildenrath) Squadrons and 228 OCU (Leuchars). It was actually based at RAF Wattisham when it was retired from service in November 1992 and moved to RAF Leeming as a decoy and as a gate guard at RAF Brampton from 1997 to 2012. |
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Gloster Meteor NF.11 (WD686). The NF.11 variant was designed to replace the de Havilland Mosquito as a night-fighter. It was equipped with Airborne Interception radar, the first prototype flew on May 31, 1950.
WD686 was restored in 2019 and transferred to the RAF Desford Museum at National Trust at Croome which is adjacent to the old RAF Desford airfield. In 1958 it had been the last plane to fly out of Defford Airfield, where during World War Two radar was developed. Initially delivered to the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Defford for radar trials, WD686 also spent time at the Central Fighter Establishment at West Raynham and the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, before returning to Defford in 1957. Here it was used as a target aircraft during radar trials for the 'Red Dean' air-to-air missile.
WD686 was abandoned on the fire dump at RAE Bedford until 1973. It was acquired by the Imperial War Museum in poor condition. The forward section arrived at Croome in August 2018. Restoration for static display was completed by a team of volunteers from the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum and the Defford Airfield Heritage Group (DAHG) to put it on display. In 2020 it was transferred to the Watisham Station Heritage Museum.
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| Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (XG194). Delivered to the RAF on October 3, 1956, it was converted to FGA.9 standard in March 1965. XG194 flew with 111 Squadron's Black Arrows and 92 Squadron's Blue Diamonds RAF aerobatic teams. It has been restored from 2009 to its original Black Arrows markings having been saved from the former RAF North Luffenham where it was dumped outside.
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