RAF turns back the clock to save plane heritage for future

They were put to work on a number of projects including the Douglas C47/DC3 Dakota recently brought into engine-running condition, with the objective of making the hydraulic and braking systems serviceable to allow the aircraft to be able to taxi – the final frontier in the restoration of the historic World War Two aircraft.

The hands-on work, with no computer-aided fault diagnosis, was part of the development programme that all RAF personnel continuously undertake as part of their training

Other aircraft to receive their attention were the Blackburn Buccaneer XN974, one of the museum’s live ground operational jets, which had its ejector seats removed for cockpit cleaning and some inspection work on the museum’s Fairey Gannet to establish a future work programme to preserve the aircraft.

Museum operations co-ordinator, Grant Sparks, himself a former RAF electrical chief technician, said: “We welcome this burst of technical knowledge, enthusiasm and, yes, muscle to assist our ageing volunteer force at the museum.”