Hangar 11 News

News from Hangar 11 Collection – February 2012

The period since Xmas has been busy at Hangar 11 as we continue to work hard on the Mustang cockpit and other winter tasks.

Jumpin Jacques is such an original old girl, she has never been restored since her service with the 332nd Fighter Group in Europe in 1944/45. So we decided it was high time to take some of the key components out of the cockpit floor for inspection. Such items as the rudder pedals, main control shaft and many of the rods and levers that disappear into the floor, sight unseen.

These components were removed for the first time in 68 years and it’s really fascinating to see original items which have been undisturbed over all these years coming out and in such excellent condition in most cases. Where there has been wear in bushes or bearings, these have been replaced or overhauled. Brake master cylinders had new seals fitted and so on.

Also satisfying is to see the original paint on the firewall, longerons and on most of the cockpit area still in great condition from the factory in 1944. So we decide to just touch in any areas that are worn but most, after a clean off with fuel, look like new.

Any modern bits of “kit”, added since the 1940’s have been consigned to the dustbin and we are re-installing any items in the dash that have been removed. Last week we sourced the remote compass indicator, which came in a sealed box dated 1943, it seems sacrilegious to break the tape after70 years !

So, progress is slow but very positive and Chris and his team are doing a brilliant job and “Jumpin Jacques” is expected back in the skies within next 3 months, well in time for the busy season ahead.

I flew our P40 Kittyhawk last week and some of these bright winter days present perfect flying conditions. The cold crisp air allows the engine to work so much more efficiently and it is a great privilege to fly these warbirds during the winter months. We are pretty much the only operator flying these aircraft at this time of year.

We had a new addition to the hangar last weekend, a super Mercury tractor unit from the second WW period. This was used to tow bombs on RAF stations and indeed on aircraft carriers as well. Bomb loads up to 20 tonnes were regular fare and she will be use to tow our British fighters around the hangar and ramp.

Our new website has been widely praised and I am very pleased with it as a platform to expand from. We have literally thousands of great photos in our library, yet at present we have just a few representative examples on the site. We are remedying that right now and expect far more on the site very soon.

Also, been a lot of positive comment and feedback about our video section and in particular the first clip which is the “in cockpit” sequence from my opening of the show at Dunsfold last year in the Spitfire. I was asked why I rotated my head left and right on the initial pull up….no it’s not a nervous twitch !! Fact is that I am looking for the angle at which the wing tips cut the horizon to be equal on both sides, so if I see the same picture port and starboard, I know the pull is perfectly straight and that we will reach the inverted dead level. This is so important when you are working to a fine display line and need to know that you are bang on that line around the whole loop or other vertical manoeuvre.

So that is the latest from the Hangar 11 Collection for now. We have been asked several times for display dates for the 2012 season, there are many already in our diary but these will be posted on the site in months to come.

Many thanks to all the Hangar volunteers for your essential contribution and to Chris for making it all come together.

Best,

Peter Teichman

December 31, 2011 - New Year - New look!.

We are delighted that you are looking at our new website that was launched on December 30th, to see in the New Year. We have a new and dynamic webmaster Tim Callaway, well known within the flying fraternity who will hopefully whip me into shape and make sure that we keep news and photos up to date!

Looking back at 2011 it was a really busy year for the Hangar 11 Collection, in fact a record year in terms of number of flights and displays flown. Starting at the end of April at Sywell in our Hurribomber and running right through to 2nd October at Old Warden in our P51 Mustang, we flew almost every weekend and on many occasions in the week too and clocked up 85 public displays in 5 countries, so all in all a great result. Furthest missions were to southern Germany and northern Holland.

Hangar 11 Collection is one of Europe's busiest operators of WW2 aircraft and in between the many public displays we also carried out some documentary work for the BBC, flying in the excellent programme called “ Operation Crossbow” all about the amazing work of the photo reconnaissance squadrons, which mapped occupied Europe during those dark years of 1939-1945. Amongst other duties they photographed the results of bomber raids, kept close surveillance on enemy shipping and troop movements as well as the preparation for D Day landings in 1944. It was astonishing to discover that so many thousands of people were closely involved with these covert operations. Try to watch the documentary if you can, well worth it.

In terms of the Hangar 11 Collection aircraft all largely went well this year and apart from a few weather driven issues, we did not fail to appear as per our schedule nor let our audiences down. All 4 fighters flew extensively during 2011, although the P40 Kittyhawk more towards the later part of the season.

Our unique MK XI Spitfire PL 965 has now covered some 35 hours on her original wartime service engine and remains as far as we are aware the only Spitfire in the world operating on its original power plant ( with which she flew some 25 missions). A very special aircraft which has given so much joy to so many in her new colour scheme, which is exactly as she served in RAF 16 Squadron in Belgium between October 1944 and the end of the hostilities. Please do take a look at the new photos of her in the images section.

“Jumpin Jacques” our fabulous P51 Mustang covered a number of long distance missions to Germany, Holland and Ireland this year. She is a “long legged” old lady just 68 years young, she still has amazing long distance ability, with standard fuel tankage still offering a range of pretty much 1,000 miles at 250 mph at a moderate power setting which represents perhaps 40% power from her 27 litre Merlin engine.

Our Hurribomber BE 505 “ Pegs” also had a very busy season and was seen by several hundred thousand people between her fist display in April through a busy season. I hope that most would agree, her graceful aerobatic displays are pretty unique. In my humble opinion, the Hurricane is in many ways as good as the Spitfire and perhaps better. If I had to go to war tomorrow, I would probably take a Hurricane as it will out manoeuvre almost any other fighter I can think of. Let’s hope that our exposure of this fine aircraft, displaying her true capabilities, will enhance the Hurricane’s  reputation as an equal to the Spitfire marques of the early war years.

Looking ahead to 2012 Hangar 11 is a hive of activity right now. Each year we have a winter project and this year we are working on the cockpit section of the Mustang. She is such an original aircraft not having been restored over these last 68 years and still flies on her original longerons. As such we decided it was high time to take the floor boards up, inspect the pedal assemblies and so much more that has been untouched over the decades since she served with such distinction in the Italian theatre of war, with the 332nd Fighter Group the “Tuskegee Airmen” in 1944/1945. We are delighted with the results to date and we expect “ Jumpin Jacques” to return to service by April 2012 looking even better than when she left North American Aviation's factory at Inglewood California in the summer of 1944.

General ongoing servicing and improvement of the rest of the collection is also taking place over the winter, along with making sure that the other vehicles that are in daily use are maintained, such as our 1950’s grey Ferguson tractor , 1942 Ford Jeep and 1941 Harley Davidson 600 WLA. Yes Hangar 11 collection is very busy year round. We are also starting to compile our 2012 airshow diary but with this tough economy, it is hard for everyone but hey...that is what we said this time last year and we had a record one!

May I end by wishing all our friends and staff, volunteers and helpers a Happy and Healthy New Year and we look forward to flying with you in the new season.

Best,

Peter Teichman