Cornwall, UK — Visitors to Cornwall this summer may be forgiven for thinking they have stumbled on to the set of a remake of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines as the skies are filled with classic aircraft.
Preparations for the opening of a Classic Air Force attraction in March continued this week as the first flyable aeroplane arrived on the tarmac at the former RAF St Mawgan air base.
A collaboration between the Classic Aircraft Trust and Newquay Airport, the intention is to create a permanent home for some of the most famous machines from an era which enthusiasts regard as the heyday of aviation engineering.
CAT chairman Tim Skeet said yesterday work on the project was “moving along very nicely” and that the centre would be on target to open to the public by the end of March.
“It is wonderful to see aircraft start to arrive at the Classic Air Force hangar and everything coming together,” said Mr Skeet. We are very excited about the opportunities the new facility has to offer and I am very pleased with our progress to date.”
Among the 40-plus aircraft expected to make their home in Cornwall is an ex-RAF Gloster Meteor T7 – the world’s oldest flying twin jet – and three De Havilland Dragon Rapide biplanes, which will be available for pleasure flights across the South West. The first flyable aircraft to arrive was an Auster J1 Autocrat, G-JAYI, which had been flown to Cornwall from its previous home at Coventry by experienced vintage aircraft pilot Trevor Bailey. It has now taken its place alongside two static Hawker Hunters and a newly-acquired Hawker Sea Hawk. The fuselage of a Vickers Varsity WJ945, recently acquired from the Imperial War Museum at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire, has also arrived and will be joined shortly by the wings and engines.