RAF Duxford - Airbase and Imperial War Museum

[ChevelleSB406]

Hello All, I was just back in England again for a workshop at one of our corporate Headquarters in Cambridge, England. I have been about 4 times to this office and finally made my way down the road to the Duxford air base. I was really excited as I go to as many RAF museums as I can while in England, and they are usually free (ask for donations) but this one was 30 pounds to get in! It better be good. It did not disappoint. I will be attaching pics from my phone and updating captions here on my computer.

Duxford is an active base still, and has the most civilian owned spitfires, hurricanes, and ww2 era planes in the world. Actively still flying. Its crazy to be at work and seeing Lancasters and Spitfires overhead as a normal daily thing. The base is also very historic in that this is where the American Airmen went to fly with the Brits before the US officially joined the war. There are strong American ties throughout Cambridge because of this, including my 2nd favorite pub in the world, I will repost pics of that later. Its where they would all hang out, the Americans, and would burn their names into the ceiling of the pub before the morning flights. Americans are still over often for training, there were several pilots in flight suits even in my hotel while I was there. Anyway, into the first pictures.


Rolls Royce v12's everywhere, Merlins, you name it, I have so many photos from other museums I didn't take pictures of maybe 200 different engines in the first hall alone. Radials through to ram jets, and everything in between.

Lancaster I believe, my Great uncle was a bombardier in the lesser known, equally as destructive Handley Halifax, I was lucky to see one of the few survivors at an airbase a few years ago, posted in another thread. The Lancaster is the legend though.

It doesn't really fit into a picture, but here we have a concorde. This was a test mule, mainly designed to test the de-icing system. I was able to set foot aboard a concorde, it wasn't configured for passengers, but everyone will be surprised at how tiny it really is inside. Its amazing still when you think of the technology available when it was built, and all that in accomplished.

The distinct concorde engines, early childhood memories at Heathrow when these things would take off. You go from 10's of planes taking off at any given time, not hearing a thing, to one of these bad boys going full throttle and the airport shaking.

Control systems for the tests.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

A harrier or a predecessor to a Harrier, I cannot remember. Either way, a Hawker that can take off and land vertically.

In this hall, are planes under restoration. Tons of spitfires, hurricanes, p51's, the usual suspects. Something more special to me though coming up next. It may be ugly, but its what my Grandfather flew during the war, and this is the only field my dad and I found in our research that had one. Someone privately is restoring it. Not this below, keep scrolling......

Here we are, the Bristol Beaufighter. Wood construction, twin merlin, low altitude precision bomber. My grandfather always joked that even though he had been to Germany many times, he never got a good look at it because of the altitude he was at, and that he never landed there. Anyway, here is a restoration underway of the model he flew in the war.

Dig the kills marked on side.

All of these under restoration, and the rafters full everywhere of weird and wonderful stuff. I never take enough photos, I focus on enjoying the moments, but try and do better each time I go somewhere like this.

 

[rrrr]

I've heard the annual Duxford airshow is one of the best in the world. Thanks for sharing your photos and mentioning your family's contributions to the war effort.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

I've heard the annual Duxford airshow is one of the best in the world. Thanks for sharing your photos and mentioning your family's contributions to the war effort.

I am very proud of them both, my Grandfathers brother was not as lucky as the other two and didn't make it back, he flew a beaufighter as well.

My Great Uncle has quite the stories, he was shot down in his bomber, none of the crew survived, but he was blown up and landed in a tree. Nearly dead, saved by German doctors and nursed for over a year. POW, and eventually escaped with the help of the same doctors. As a kid, sitting on his rug, hearing the stories, like the time the "cooler king" was in his POW camp, showing them all how to play baseball, incredible stuff.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

At this point I am walking through some of the civilian hangars of planes that are regularly flown

Luckily there are not many Brits with guns, some asshole flying his red baron over on of my families farms would get a nasty shock from someone like me

I thought this was a cool display of a German plane shot down and belly landed, and displayed just how it was recovered.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Any V-1 or V-2 examples at this place?

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Any V-1 or V-2 examples at this place?

Oh yeah, there are a few around, there is even a launching track by the American haul, getting there in a couple of posts probably. I hope I got a picture of the rocket that was inside, I certainly was staring at it long enough. Internet photo from Duxford in the meantime. This is just outside the American hall.

 

[Racey]

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A harrier or a predecessor to a Harrier, I cannot remember. Either way, a Hawker that can take off and land vertically.
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In this hall, are planes under restoration. Tons of spitfires, hurricanes, p51's, the usual suspects. Something more special to me though coming up next. It may be ugly, but its what my Grandfather flew during the war, and this is the only field my dad and I found in our research that had one. Someone privately is restoring it. Not this below, keep scrolling......
View attachment 1450425




Here we are, the Bristol Beaufighter. Wood construction, twin merlin, low altitude precision bomber. My grandfather always joked that even though he had been to Germany many times, he never got a good look at it because of the altitude he was at, and that he never landed there. Anyway, here is a restoration underway of the model he flew in the war.
View attachment 1450426









Dig the kills marked on side.
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All of these under restoration, and the rafters full everywhere of weird and wonderful stuff. I never take enough photos, I focus on enjoying the moments, but try and do better each time I go somewhere like this.
View attachment 1450428






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Super Cool, One of the original Concords was fit with a camera in the roof to film a solar eclipse, it's a super cool story. I wonder if this is the plane?

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Oh yeah, there are a few around, there is even a launching track by the American haul, getting there in a couple of posts probably. I hope I got a picture of the rocket that was inside, I certainly was staring at it long enough. Internet photo from Duxford in the meantime. This is just outside the American hall.

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That's wild that they still exist. Thanks!

 

[rrrr]

I am very proud of them both, my Grandfathers brother was not as lucky as the other two and didn't make it back, he flew a beaufighter as well.

My Great Uncle has quite the stories, he was shot down in his bomber, none of the crew survived, but he was blown up and landed in a tree. Nearly dead, saved by German doctors and nursed for over a year. POW, and eventually escaped with the help of the same doctors. As a kid, sitting on his rug, hearing the stories, like the time the "cooler king" was in his POW camp, showing them all how to play baseball, incredible stuff.

So many young men in Bomber Command lost their lives. I have great respect for their courage and sacrifice.

 

[rrrr]

At this point I am walking through some of the civilian hangars of planes that are regularly flown


View attachment 1450473

The Spitfire in the background with a five blade propeller (behind the Hurricane) appears to be a MkXIV, which had the Griffon engine instead of the Merlin that powered earlier Mks. It provided substantially greater horsepower. Later Spitfires fitted with the Griffon had even more horsepower, some exceeding the 2,000 HP threshold.

I'm really enjoying your photos. I would love to visit Duxford and the Imperial War Museum.

 

[TPC]

Excellent.
The Upside down Benz DB 605 normal mounting display V12 is a fantastic example.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

So many young men in Bomber Command lost their lives. I have great respect for their courage and sacrifice.

Yeah, they unfortunately didn't have much "sympathy" for years, which was tragic. The "success" they laid down over Germany was viewed as too brutal in country, so they were not returning heroes, something similar to the treatment of Vietnam vets in the states would be somewhat of a parallel. The losses were crazy as well. There are two very good documentaries on Prime right now, "Lancaster" narrated by Charles Dance, he also did "spitfire", and there is a "Halifax" one as well. The scenes of only like 4 people at lunch in a 200 person hall the day after a night mission, chilling. Such loss.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

still in the civilian hangar at this point, but making my way into the more modern conflict hangars next.

Not just allied planes here, which was new for me, more to come later as well.

V1, I will have to dig out the photos of the V-2 from the trip a few years ago where I stopped in the Imperial War Museum in London.

Here is a front of a Halifax, Great Uncle's bomber, they are wanting to build a restoration off of it. Again, I think the only ones known in public view are Elvington, Yorkshire (where I usually am), and one in Canada.

Now I am about a quarter mile further up the runway approaching the American hall. This was beyond impressive, with a substantial budget. It is not a simple 1940's era hangar, this is like the Smithsonian. Anti aircraft gun on the way.

Approaching the hall.

This unfortunately wraps a distance around the exhibit.

BRRRRRRRAAAAAAP!!!

Photographing inside these things is a bitch, you just can't get far enough away to capture things. This place has it all. More to come.

 

[Cobalt232]

That looks like a great visit! Will definitely add this to an agenda sometime. Last time in London, we went to the Churchill War Rooms and I was astonished what they had to endure during the war.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Panavia Tornado is one of my favorites.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Incredible stuff in here, i never in my life thought I would see an SR-71, in England no less. I cannot recommend this place more if you ever get over there.

Everyone loves the A-10 of course.

One of the ram jet engines used in SR-71's, picture for scale does not do it justice. Massive. I don't think I could get a pic of the plane due to size. Looking online at the museum website, this is the particular plane (you can see the belly here), that holds the record for altitude on a sustained flight, 85k feet.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Internet shot from the outside.

 

[bonesfab]

Love me some warbirds. Been to the Smithsonian and the hangar at Dulles. If you are ever in DC I highly recommend both. The Kermit Meeks museum in Florida is pretty impressive also.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Below are some photos of The Eagle, and RAF Bar in Cambridge. This place is tops with historical significance. This is where the American pilots liked to hang out before their missions flying with the RAF, before the US entered WW2. The tradition was to burn their names into the ceiling as a memory of them in the event they didn't make it back, like so many unfortunately didn't.

Also, this is the spot where some Cambridge students discovered/quantified what is known as DNA today.

A Bit of the ceiling as I was describing. The place usually has a few pilots in it from somewhere.

I've sat in that fireplace before, gotta love these ancient pubs.

There seems to be a tradition of placing your squadron sticker here. Many American ones.

 

[Flatsix66]

Amazing!

 

[rrrr]

Wow. The history in that pub is wonderful.

Those polished rectangular pieces of metal on the bar are pierced steel planking, or PSP. It's also known as Marston Mat. It was made in 10' interlocking pieces, and used to make runways for military aircraft during the war. There were literally hundreds of square miles of it laid across Europe.

By December 1941, two factories had already manufactured some four million square feet of the material. A year later, twenty-nine factories were producing Marston mat.

At the dawn of 1944, more than 180,000,000 square feet (some 477,000 tons) had been shipped overseas. This was enough for 240 runways 150 by 5,000 feet. By the end of the war, almost two million tons had been produced, representing enough steel to build 600 Liberty ships.

Marston Mat | Air & Space Forces Magazine

With pierced steel planking, you could have a runway where you needed one. Even the holes in it were f

www.airandspaceforces.com

 

[Nordie]

I've actually been there, albeit I was 12 and a little too young to truly appreciate it. Thanks for bringing up some great childhood memories.

I do remember some of the stuff in the pictures, and walking around in the Concord.

 

[Andy B.]

View attachment 1450420






A harrier or a predecessor to a Harrier, I cannot remember. Either way, a Hawker that can take off and land vertically.
View attachment 1450421








View attachment 1450422






View attachment 1450423








View attachment 1450424





In this hall, are planes under restoration. Tons of spitfires, hurricanes, p51's, the usual suspects. Something more special to me though coming up next. It may be ugly, but its what my Grandfather flew during the war, and this is the only field my dad and I found in our research that had one. Someone privately is restoring it. Not this below, keep scrolling......
View attachment 1450425




Here we are, the Bristol Beaufighter. Wood construction, twin merlin, low altitude precision bomber. My grandfather always joked that even though he had been to Germany many times, he never got a good look at it because of the altitude he was at, and that he never landed there. Anyway, here is a restoration underway of the model he flew in the war.
View attachment 1450426









Dig the kills marked on side.
View attachment 1450427






All of these under restoration, and the rafters full everywhere of weird and wonderful stuff. I never take enough photos, I focus on enjoying the moments, but try and do better each time I go somewhere like this.
View attachment 1450428






View attachment 1450429







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Flying Fortress? Pictures are awesome thanks!

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Since we seem to have a quorum of like minded folks here, I decided to upload some photos from another trip a few years ago, this time from the Imperial War Museum in London. This one is free to enter, just a donation is recommended. Absolutely incredible, and the WW1 exhibit is probably the best I have seen, you get to experience a walk thru a trench with the noise and explosions and chaos, and really clever use of shadows making you feel the presence of others. Hard to describe, but really got the blood pressure up.




So this is outside, those guns are even bigger than they look in the photo. The museum back onto a wonderful park, a truly peaceful place in the the bustle of the big city.

V2 just there off to the left of the Hawker, Spitfire, and not sure what was far left.

V2 size really showing in this photo.

Those early tanks are quite a sight.

Astated before, I see Rolls Royce, I take a photo.

I have a bunch more from this museum I can post as well, each floor is a different war/military action. Also, I have some shots from yet another trip at the Elvington air base. I will make the effort if people want to see them.

 

[Taboma]

Wow. The history in that pub is wonderful.

Those polished rectangular pieces of metal on the bar are pierced steel planking, or PSP. It's also known as Marston Mat. It was made in 10' interlocking pieces, and used to make runways for military aircraft during the war. There were literally hundreds of square miles of it laid across Europe.

By December 1941, two factories had already manufactured some four million square feet of the material. A year later, twenty-nine factories were producing Marston mat.

At the dawn of 1944, more than 180,000,000 square feet (some 477,000 tons) had been shipped overseas. This was enough for 240 runways 150 by 5,000 feet. By the end of the war, almost two million tons had been produced, representing enough steel to build 600 Liberty ships.

Marston Mat | Air & Space Forces Magazine

With pierced steel planking, you could have a runway where you needed one. Even the holes in it were f

www.airandspaceforces.com

View attachment 1451869

In '78 we landed a large electrical contract to upgrade the North Island Naval Air Station ammunition depot in preparation for relocating Nukes and a Tomahawk Missile support complex. This required a vast amount of UG that all required concrete encasement and perimeter lighting standards, in vast areas of loose sand. We purchased and used surplus PSP in many areas for the mixers to drive on.

 

[rrrr]

In '78 we landed a large electrical contract to upgrade the North Island Naval Air Station ammunition depot in preparation for relocating Nukes and a Tomahawk Missile support complex. This required a vast amount of UG that all required concrete encasement and perimeter lighting standards, in vast areas of loose sand. We purchased and used surplus PSP in many areas for the mixers to drive on.

PSP is still in the US military inventory. It was used extensively in Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Did you have the same experience I did in NAS manholes? The smell of petroleum solvents leaching into them was at levels which required respirators and handheld monitors.

 

[Taboma]

PSP is still in the US military inventory. It was used extensively in Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Did you have the same experience I did in NAS manholes? The smell of petroleum solvents leaching into them was at levels which required respirators and handheld monitors.

For NASNI (North Island) Ammo Depot, we were fortunate to be installing new and only connecting into one, and it was adjacent to the ammo pier and well away from any maintenance areas, so not a problem.
The next 12KV and Tel infrastructure contract UG was along Exec and Office row, so again, pretty clean as far as Navy MH's go.

Where we had numerous 'Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind' was the 32nd Street Naval Station where all the ship piers are.
First off, all the MH's and duct banks are filled with water, in some, to damn near the lid. So to work in any, required pumping, often, frequently.

The Aliens live in these manholes. The ones we encountered, live upside down on the MH ceilings or in ducts above the mean water table (Which fluctuates with the bay tide level).
These Alien creatures and their ancestors have been imported by Navy ships from every corner of the globe, most have likely interbred, and in general would fall under the classification of Cockroaches.
Well, except many of these are often 5-6" long, with bodies more resembling white flying skeletons --- more the shape of a Praying Mantis. Those being the largest, there were numerous variations, most likely having mutated or evolved.
Hearing grown men scream like little girls during their initial encounter was common. Once everybody finally realized they wouldn't eat you, we got used to them. The big ones that liked to fly were the least popular.

In one area of that base we found an intact railroad tank Car that had been buried, wheels and all, to store fuel oil. In another we trenched through about 200' of broken beer bottles. Doing some investigating, apparently both the buried tank car and bottle dump were from a 1930's brewery.
At North Island we dug up a few bombs, but all thankfully, all turned out to be practice bombs from WWI.

Of course all the HV equipment was PCB filled, the cable we were extracting and replacing was all lead covered, insulation saturated with PCBs and all the splices were wrapped in Asbestos under the lead sheathing for fire proofing.

Doing UG on Navy Bases was always entertaining. But no, fuel oil and Av-Gas fumes were not a problem for us, but it might have kept the cockroaches from taking up residence.

While running conduit out under the pier at the Sub Base, the damned trained Beluga Whales in their pens enjoyed spitting at us.
Of course with that permanently fixed shit-eaten-grin, you couldn't help but laugh.

Over the years we worked on every known and a few unknown military installations in the San Diego area, they were all uniquely interesting and enjoyable.

 

[ChevelleSB406]