Difference between revisions of "Old Warden Aerodrome"

From Wikishire
Jump to: navigation, search
(The Shuttleworth Collection)
(The Shuttleworth Collection)
Line 22: Line 22:
  
 
==The Shuttleworth Collection==
 
==The Shuttleworth Collection==
The '''Shuttleworth Collection''' is an aeronautical and automotive museum located at the [[Old Warden Aerodrome]] in [[Old Warden]] in [[Bedfordshire]]. It is one of the most prestigious in the world due to the variety of old and well-preserved aircraft.
+
The '''Shuttleworth Collection''' is an aeronautical and automotive museum located at the Old Warden Aerodrome. It is one of the most prestigious in the world due to the variety of old and well-preserved aircraft.
  
 
===History===
 
===History===

Revision as of 19:11, 14 April 2021

Old Warden Aerodrome
Shuttleworth Collection hangars and other buildings holding collection exhibits
Code , ICAO: EGTH
County Bedfordshire
aerodrome
Operator The Shuttleworth Collection
Location TL152445
52°5’12"N, 0°19’7"W
Runway(s) 1,667 feet (Grass)
Website www.shuttleworth.org/

Old Warden Aerodrome (ICAO: EGTH), also known as Shuttleworth (Old Warden) Aerodrome, is located at Old Warden in Bedfordshire and six nautical miles east-south-east of Bedford. It is a privately owned aerodrome which mainly serves The Shuttleworth Collection, which contains a large number of vintage aircraft and cars, many in working condition.

The Shuttleworth Collection

The Shuttleworth Collection is an aeronautical and automotive museum located at the Old Warden Aerodrome. It is one of the most prestigious in the world due to the variety of old and well-preserved aircraft.

History

Richard Shuttleworth's own private Tiger Moth

The collection was founded in 1928 by aviator Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth. While flying a Fairey Battle at night on 2 August 1940, Shuttleworth fatally crashed. His mother, in 1944, formed the Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth Remembrance Trust "for the teaching of the science and practice of aviation and of afforestation and agriculture."[1]

Collection

Spitfire Vc, AR501, during renovation

Restoration and maintenance work is carried out by a staff of nine full-time and many volunteer engineers. These volunteers are all members of the 3,000-strong Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society.[2] These dedicated enthusiasts are crucial to the preservation and restoration of the collection.

In addition to the aircraft, the collection houses a number of vintage and veteran cars. Events include model-flying days, and once a year, there is a special flying day for schools in the area.

The Shuttleworth Collection puts an emphasis on restoring as many aircraft as possible to flying condition, in line with the founder's original intention.[3] There are typically about twelve air shows per year, including evening displays, which offer the opportunity to see aircraft which in many cases are the last of their type to survive, let alone existing in flyable condition.

The Edwardian flying machines

Some of the most notable aircraft in the collection are the five Edwardian aeroplanes, of which one is the oldest British aeroplane still in flying condition. What makes these exceptional is that they still fly (weather permitting). The oldest, with British civil registration G-AANG, is the Bleriot XI (still with original engine), which dates back to 1909 - six years after the Wright brothers' aircraft and the world's oldest airworthy aeroplane, the next oldest being, at only three weeks newer by date of manufacture, the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's own restored original Bleriot XI (Bleriot factory serial number 56, with civil registration N60094) in the United States.

Aircraft in the collection

Also resident, but privately owned: Avro Anson (BAE Systems)

  • Miles M14a Hawk Trainer N3788 G-AKPF
  • Westland Wallace replica fuselage
  • De Havilland DH89A Rapide G-AGSH painted as British European Airways

Vehicles in the collection

Bristol F.2B Fighter
The Hucks starter of 1920.
DH88 Comet Racer 'Grosvenor House'
  • 1898 Panhard et Levassor
  • 1899 Mors Petit Duc
  • 1899 Benz International dogcart
  • 1900 Marot Gardan
  • 1901 Locomobile Steam Car
  • 1901 Arrol-Johnston
  • 1902 Baby Peugeot
  • 1903 Richard-Brasier
  • 1903 De Dietrich
  • 1912 Crossley 15
  • 1912 Wolseley MS
  • 1913 Morris Oxford
  • 1920 Hucks starter
  • 1923 Leyland SG7 bus
  • 1926 Jowett Short-chassis tourer
  • 1931 Austin 16 hp "Burnham"
  • 1935 Austin Seven
  • 1937 Railton
  • 1937 Fiat Topolino
  • 1937 MG TA
  • 1939 Hillman Minx RAF Staff Car
  • 1943 Fordson WOT 2H
  • 1900 Singer Motor Wheel Motorcycle
  • 1904 Aurora Motorcycle
  • 1921 Scott Squirrel Combination
  • 1923 Triumph SD Motorcycle
  • 1927 Raleigh 14 Motorcycle
  • 1929 Ariel Motorcycle
  • 1938 Rudge Motorcycle
  • 1940 BSA M20 Motorcycle
  • 1950 Philips Cyclemaster
  • 1952 Brockhouse Corgi Scooter
  • 1955 BSA A7 Motorcycle
  • 1955 New Hudson Motorcycle
  • 1960 Norton ES2 Motorcycle

There is also a collection of tractors.

Outside links

Commons-logo.svg
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Old Warden Aerodrome)

References

  1. Ogilvy 1989, Ch.1.
  2. Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society Retrieved: 7 February 2009
  3. Ogilvy 1989, Introduction.
  4. Pilot dies after vintage plane crashes in Bedfordshire BBC News 1 July 2012, accessed 3 July 2012
  5. Ellis 2004, pp. 12-14.