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Post by keefyboy on Jan 10, 2018 21:29:18 GMT
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Post by rh226 on Jan 10, 2018 22:15:29 GMT
Hi Keith,
Believe it or not, I have actually been onto the old air park in the '60s. I was looking for a couple of old aircraft that were reputedly stored there, but I never found them (probably long gone elsewhere).
As I went to Hampton Grammar School, I had to cycle past the entrance if I was making a side-trip to Heathrow after school (I lived in Ashford).
Cheers,
Bob
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Post by Jeff on Jan 11, 2018 5:47:05 GMT
Growing up in Feltham, Hanworth air park holds fond memories, from carnivals, car shows, grass motorbike riding and horse shows.
Hanworth park house is currently very high on the preservation scale in the borough, it has quite a colourful history from country manor through to a home for injured soldiers in WW1, the current owner is trying to raise funds to repair it before it falls down !! Unfortunalty the only aircraft Ive ever seen there were model ones on a Sunday morning .....
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Post by graham on Jan 11, 2018 6:19:51 GMT
What an amazing set of photos Keith and great clarity too. Thanks very much for the link |
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Post by keefyboy on Jan 11, 2018 12:13:06 GMT
There are some very dodgy looking aircraft in this set - especially the German ones like the one registered D-1960 and the FW Duck towards the end!
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Post by Jeff on Jan 30, 2018 16:19:10 GMT
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Post by chrisj on Feb 29, 2020 20:38:43 GMT
Hi All , just found this article so it was 'out with the old logs' yet again ! Sorry !! Not sure if it is the same place but here goes . After a cycle along the railway to Colies yard one afternoon , a couple of us went into what I have noted as Harmansworth playing fields . Here behind a fence at the yard of International Forwarding agents were some wings in open style crates . They were marked as 'Sea Mosquito Mk 33' and there were six of them . I have noted SE1 , SE2 and SE18 from plates on them . I do not have this bit as a note but think there were two wings in each 'crate' and they were packed so that they stood on edge with the root of one next to tip of other (?) If you get my drift ?? They were behind a link fence so we were not able to enter the yard for better examination and suspect that they were packed in pairs of one left wing and one right one . No other markings noted and nothing more heard about them ! Just one more mystery from the 60s . Oh , noted date was 18 April 63 and also noted in the park was G-ARVN Grasshopper . ( Colies or Coley's ??) Bye for now . Chrisj
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Post by monarch01 on Mar 1, 2020 7:51:32 GMT
Hi ChisJ, It was R J Coleys according to Key's website, interesting thread & pictures of scrapyards of that era here :- www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/146234-coleysCheers Adrian ps:- only fifty Mk.33's were built and all saw service with Royal Navy shore based units (Serials TW227 -> TW295 ), be interesting to see the c/n's of these as these could be your "SE" numbers |
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Post by chrisj on Mar 1, 2020 10:17:55 GMT
Adrian , Thanks for Key Aero link . I used to use that some time back but it changed hands or something . It used to have some even better shots at Coleys . Strange thing with those wings ( as far as I recall ) was that they seemed to be new and not used ones . Never found out what became of them . Chrisj
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Post by davebasing on Mar 1, 2020 11:02:57 GMT
Fascinating find Chris. As Adrian says, 50 Mark 33s were built (TW227-257 & TW277-295, 258-276 being a black out block with nothing allocated). 11 were lost in accidents (229,230,231,253,256,277,281,284,288,293 & 295). The rest were struck off charge in 1953 with the majority being sold as scrap to R A Short. 237 was sold to the Israeli AF and 246 was scheduled to become G-AOCO but the conversion was abandoned and it was finally scrapped at Lossiemouth in 1957. The majority of those sold to R A Short came from the Fleet Air Arm bases at Lossiemouth, Stretton and Culham. I did a check to see if by any chance 6 had come from one place but the closest was Stretton from where 4 were disposed of to Short, while Culham disposed of 9. As you say, if they appeared unused they may have been spares disposed of much later. If so a wild guess might be from Airwork FRU at Hurn who operated some Mark 33s for a while prior to 1953 but I can account for all the flyable examples they had. I went to primary school at Strand on the Green in Chiswick and there was an international transport company nearby and I remember seeing aircraft there while passing long before I became interested. Oh for a time machine! Think I posted this before but I took this in Coleys yard back in 1965  aaa (215) by dave tompkins, on Flickr |
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Post by chrisj on Mar 1, 2020 18:05:00 GMT
Thank Dave for info and picture . Back in the early sixties there were quite a few 'yards' around the country and many people paid them visits . As has been said , it is a great pity that so much was destroyed during those times . Yesterday whilst trawling about I came across someone's photo of one of the prototype Hastings . I remember this first sticking out of a hangar on the 'far side' at Hatfield and later waiting for the End at Stansted fire school . There are many more such sightings of now long lost types - Argonaut at Heathrow just one ! At the time of my Coley visits I did not have a camera - much regretted now but with the new all electric time machine this can be rectified ! IF ONLY as you say ! Thanks again . Chrisj
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Post by Jeff on Mar 2, 2020 1:28:27 GMT
Being born in Chiswick but living in Bedfont from birth till 1990 (24 years), I am now on a few of the old local Facebook groups, Feltham and Hanworth and of course the Bedfont and Hatton group, I will ask on these if anyone has any photos of coleys from back then. I believe there were 2 yards though, one which I think was near the crematorium in Hanworth and another in Hounslow, although the road changes its name near the crematoriam from Hounslow Rd Hanworth to Hanworth Road Hounslow!
I also recall that the part of the Brabazon fuselage with 'Brabazon' written on it was hanging up in coleys yard at some point, not sure if the whole aircraft ended up there or just bits though.
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Post by monarch01 on Mar 2, 2020 8:04:25 GMT
Morning All,
Extracted from the "De Havilland Aircraft Production" Website, with due acknowledegment :-
TW227 TR33 RN/AAEE/DH Leavesden/Airwork FRU SOC 8.53
TW228 TR33 RN Sold 31.8.53
TW229 TR33 RN Caught fire and crashed 16.12.46
TW230 TR33 RN
TW231 TR33 RN Taxied into by Lancaster 29.5.47
TW232 TR33 RN Sold 23.7.35
TW233 TR33 RN To Israeli AF wings to Mosquito Museum London
TW234 TR33 RN Sold 18.11.53
TW235 TR33 RN NFT
TW236 TR33 RN Sold 21.6.54
TW237 TR33 RN To Israel [as 4X-3186?]
TW238 TR33 RN Sold 23.7.53 [To Israel as 4X-3186?]
TW239 TR33 RN 811/790/AAEE/790/FRU Sold 31.8.53
TW240 TR33 RN/AAEE/TRE/AAEE/771 Sold 18.11.53
TW241 TR33 RN 778/TRE/RAE/703/771 Sold 31.8.53
TW242 TR33 RN Sold 31.8.53
TW243 TR33 RN Sold 23.11.53
TW244 TR33 RN 762 Force landing after engine fire Ford 11.11.47
TW245 TR33 RN 790/FRU Std Lossiemouth 24.3.54 Scrapped after 7.57?
TW246 TR33 RN 778/TREFU/Airwork Sold 25.11.53 G-AOCO Scrapped Lossiemouth .57
TW247 TR33 RN 811/790/Airwork Sold 25.11.53
TW248 TR33 RN 778/790/Airwork Sold 23.7.53
TW249 TR33 RN 811/762/Airwork Sold 25.11.53
TW250 TR33 RN 811/790/771/751 SOC 15.6.53
TW251 TR33 RN 778/790/Airwork Sold 18.11.53
TW252 TR33 RN 811/790/Airwork Sold 31.8.53
TW253 TR33 RN 739/Airwork Port engine failed during formation takeoff prop hit runway when a/c swung Hurn 18.2.53
TW254 TR33 RN 811/790/Airwork Sold 25.11.53
TW255 TR33 RN 790/FRU Sold 5.11.53
TW256 TR33 RN 703/771/Airwork Engine failed on takeoff u/c collapsed Hurn 4.53
TW257 TR33 RN 739/771/790 Sold 3.9.53
TW277 TR33 RN 703/771 Mainplane fell off in half roll caught fire and crashed into sea 3.6.48
TW278 TR33 RN 703/790/FRU Sold 25.11.53
TW279 TR33 RN 703/790/FRU Sold 23.7.53
TW280 TR33 RN 739/771 Sold 18.11.53
TW281 TR33 RN 703/790 Overshot runway landing in poor visibility ran into disused shelter St.Merryn 10.1.49
TW282 TR33 RN 762/790/FRU Sold 31.8.53
TW283 TR33 RN 771/ARS Ford/771/762 Std Stretton 2.10.52 Sold 18.11.53
TW284 TR33 RN Crashed after wings folded in flight Weston-super-Mare 7.7.48
TW285 TR33 RN 778/RAE/771/703/790 Sold 31.8.53
TW286 TR33 RN 771 Sold 23.7.53
TW287 TR33 RN 790/Airwork Sold 31.8.53
TW288 TR33 RN 790 Crashed after pilot baled out when stbd engine caught fire 15.7.48
TW289 TR33 RN 790 GI Stretton to Yeovilton dump by 12.53
TW290 TR33 RN Awaiting collection 6.12.46 NFT
TW291 TR33 RN 771/ECFS Sold 23.7.53
TW292 TR33 RN 771/Airwork Sold 31.8.53
TW293 TR33 RN 762 Port engine failed when practising approaches Felpham nr Ford 16.4.48
TW294 TR33 RN 739 Sold 25.11.53
TW295 TR33 RN 771 Crashed into sea 6m ENE Eddystone Lighthouse 16.1.49
Sorry I did not realise that 258 -> 276 was a black out block, when i quoted the above serials a couple of posts ago
Dave, does this add anything to your database ?
Regards
Adrian
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Post by Jeff on Mar 2, 2020 8:05:58 GMT
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Post by keefyboy on Mar 2, 2020 9:00:02 GMT
Jeff
That chunk of Brabazon fuselage with 'Brabazon' written on it ended up in the Bristol Industrial Museum (now known as the M Shed). It's no longer displayed there so I guess it's made it's way over to Aerospace Bristol at Filton though I don't recall seeing it on my visits there.
Keith
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Post by davebasing on Mar 2, 2020 10:52:16 GMT
Many thanks Adrian for the link which I had not come across. I can add a few bits to that list –
TW230 was a trials aircraft and one of those with a /G suffix after the serial indicating that it needed to be guarded. It was written off after over running at Gosport on 4 December 1947. It went to Fleetlands for possible repair a week later but was dumped there shortly after.
TW 233 I would question whether this really went to Israel. It was struck off at Culham on 23.7.53 on sale as scrap to R A Short. I suppose it’s just possible, as on a trip round Coley’s I came across 2 intact Sea Fury fuselages (with wings stacked neatly alongside) which both then went to Germany as flyable target tugs.
TW236 703/790/Airwork FRU. Sold for scrap ex Lossiemouth 21.6.54 but unlike those struck off in 1953 it did not go to R A Short but ended up at the once famous scrapyard of Williamsons in Elgin.
TW242 was another trials aircraft which never saw service with a RN squadron, spending most of its life with DH. It was then stored at Stretton in 1951, then Culham and finally soc at Lossie.
TW250 was struck off charge at Watton with 751 Sq but I have no record of what then happened to it.
TW235 & 290 Strangely I also have no histories for either apart from the date that they were awaiting original collection from DH at Leavesden.
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Post by davebasing on Mar 2, 2020 10:56:04 GMT
The chunk of the Brabazon which I took at Coleys. Didn't find any other trace of its bits but the piles of aircraft were several feet high and anything could have been lurking underneath. Did find some Comet 1 wings near the bottom of one pile.  IMG_8644 by dave tompkins, on Flickr |
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Post by monarch01 on Mar 2, 2020 12:13:01 GMT
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Post by chrisj on Mar 2, 2020 13:31:56 GMT
Hi All , Those DH / Mosquito lists will get a look at later today , thanks . I recall a cycle ride from LHR ( LAP in those days) to a cinema just past Hounslow bus garage/station where a very large chunk/length of metal was by the back fence . This was reportedly from the Brabazon and considered to be from the main spar ! Nothing confirmed then or later . Thanks to All for the continuing ride down memory lane . Chrisj
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Post by davebasing on Mar 2, 2020 15:24:06 GMT
Thanks Adrian. Another useful link. |
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