Graf Zeppelin Does... Kemble

[Northolt Nobbler]

A sample of Phil's visits to the old 5MU at Kemble during the 1970s.

First up, JP XN555 being lifted onto a Queen Mary trailer, Aug 74. Note the lack of health and safety...


Shackleton MR.2 WR961, Feb 78


Lightning T.5, XM967, Jun76


Belfast C.1, XR364, Feb 78


Meteor snow-blower, anyone?


More on Phil's Flickr, just click on any image to see more.

Lee

[Buccaneer]

Superb set of pics, love the snowblower, heard of it before but never seen it, outstanding!

[paddyboy]

First few had me crying

Then the last one turned things around

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

[sherriff]

Absolutely tops, Sir ! Any more ?
It's this kind of post which keeps me coming back to FC, after putting up with the more tiresome and ill-informed posts elsewhere.
Faith fully restored...many thanks.

[Seahawk 11]

Big thanks for posting these, I made many a visit back in the day to 5MU, the Meteor snow plough was WF826, you could always see a great variety of aircraft there back in the 70s, I just wish I had taken a few photos back then,
cheers,
Rob

[Vulcanone]

Ah the days when we had an Air Force and there were several bases crammed full of stuff stored in reserve or out to pasture as the government killed it off due us not needing it....But wait, whats that Skippy...... the Argentinians have what...... Oh Pants better call Heavylift to borrow the Belfasts we flogged off...
Great Britain (home of the capability gap Armed Forces)

Anyway back to the thread, and a bit of a long shot, do you (or does anyone) have any shots of the Canberras at Wroughton which survived till about 1971-73?

TS

[Precinct7]

JP XN555 being lifted onto a Queen Mary trailer, Aug 74. Note the lack of health and safety...

.. they all have those brown coats on , that was Health & Safety in those days !!

Happy memories of 5MU , hangars full of Chipmunks, JP's, Hunters, Meteors etc. etc.

[roughcutter]

Did that snow blower end up at Brunty?

[Gary West]

outstandingly interesting set

[Vulcanone]

From memory of it being mentioned in an issue of the good old British Aviation Review.

No, sadly the Meteor snow plough joined the majority of aircraft that were disposed of from 5 MU ie cut up and melted down. The RAF did have similar systems for snow clearing but it was attached to the front of fuel bowsers from memory.

Well they were at Binbrook in the 70s and 80s when I was growing up, I think the snow blowers eventually got dispatched by the elf & safety brigade.

Tim S

[Northolt Nobbler]

Did that snow blower end up at Brunty?

The UK serials website has it going to Birds' at Long Marston (for terminal scrapping, I assume).

I think the snow blowers eventually got dispatched by the elf & safety brigade

The operators should have worn brown coats...

[Grifter]

That snow-blower is worthy of a thread all of it's own.