Duxford Beaufighter

[Kemble Pitts]

Sounds hopeful.

[Flugzeug A]

TFC’s website appears to be down , and tho’ I haven’t looked for a while , I don’t think they update it too regularly, so again , I’ll ask the endless sources here!
Any news on this?
I’d love it to fly here in the UK so I can see & hear it , and I understand that the issues with the engines were hopefully / potentially resolved a couple of years ago.
I know it was up for sale & probably still is but can anyone tell me if it’s progressing ( slowly ) or if they’ve stopped working on it?
There are 2 efforts underway here in the UK to get a Mosquito into our skies , tho’ tbh , I think they are both doomed to fail through lack of ££££.
I’m puzzled that no-one here in Blighty seems to have the same enthusiasm for the poor old Beau!
We’ve had ‘The people’s Mosquito’ as an organisation , I’d love to see ‘Britains’ Beaufighter’ or similar!
Is it simply that us enthusiasts - the ones most likely to pay to see it- would prefer to see a Mosquito & that therefore the 2 competing efforts are aiming at that aircraft?
At the end of the day , there ARE Mosquitos flying & more on the way , there’s only 1 Beau’ anywhere close to flight , and for now , it’s here in the UK.
A pity Shuttleworth can’t put something in place & raise funds to buy it , but as I’m fond of pointing out , I know nothing!
I’m hoping for some good news here folks...
Ta again!

[treadigraph]

No idea what the latest with TFC's Beau is but Rob Greinart also has the former Tim Moore Beaufighter G-DINT as a hopefully airworthy rebuild in Australia.

[DHfan]

I was wondering what had happened to that one.

[POBJOY]

What happened to the Beau hut at Halton. engines and nose used for ground running training.

[Flugzeug A]

Pobjoy - I think that became G-dint & as mentioned , is now in Australia.
I stress ‘THINK’!
(Along similar lines , there’s a Hornet possibly under restoration down under an’all . Very laudable but again , I don’t think I’ll ever see it )

[treadigraph]

Halton Beau is definitely the former G-DINT - registered in honour of Tim Moore's father, "Dinty" Moore who I believe flew Blenheims and Beaufighters.

Hornet is certainly on the cards with Pioneer Aero Restorations at Ardmore but I believe I recently saw that it is stored pending the necessary effort. Possibly just in a queue rather than the want of any investment?

[Fargo Boyle]

Recent(ish) updates on G-DINT ex X7688

https://warbirdsnews.com/warbird-res...australia.html

Bristol Beaufighter Hercules Engine Restoration Update – June 2022 | Vintage Aviation News (warbirdsnews.com)

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by Flugzeug A

There are 2 efforts underway here in the UK to get a Mosquito into our skies , tho’ tbh , I think they are both doomed to fail through lack of ££££.

I think its almost certain that one of them has already failed.
Pathfinder Trust have not updated to their website or Facebook page for 18 months and this link below would seem to confirm that the ex-Glyn Powell FB.26 project that Pathfinder Trust was supposed to have acquired instead of the less complete ex-highball B.IV DZ452, is now being worked on for a US customer. Given the B.IV DZ452 project is also advertised for sale by AvSpecs, that would seem to indicate that the Pathfinder Trust project is no more.

https://nzcivair.********.com/2022/1...t-avspecs.html

[Pypard]

Any news on The People's Mosquito? The site seems very short on restoration progress and mainly dedicated to merchandise.

[Flugzeug A]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

I think its almost certain that one of them has already failed.
Pathfinder Trust have not updated to their website or Facebook page for 18 months and this link below would seem to confirm that the ex-Glyn Powell FB.26 project that Pathfinder Trust was supposed to have acquired instead of the less complete ex-highball B.IV DZ452, is now being worked on for a US customer. Given the B.IV DZ452 project is also advertised for sale by AvSpecs, that would seem to indicate that the Pathfinder Trust project is no more.

https://nzcivair.********.com/2022/1...t-avspecs.html

A pity but really no surprise.
The only good point in the apparent lack of interest in the Beau’ is that it hasn’t gone abroad -yet .
I reckon it’ll eventually go to Australia or Canada.

[uxb99]

So what separates a genuine restoration project from a `pie in the sky` project?

[uxb99]

Originally Posted by Flugzeug A

TFC’s website appears to be down , and tho’ I haven’t looked for a while , I don’t think they update it too regularly, so again , I’ll ask the endless sources here!
Any news on this?
I’d love it to fly here in the UK so I can see & hear it , and I understand that the issues with the engines were hopefully / potentially resolved a couple of years ago.
I know it was up for sale & probably still is but can anyone tell me if it’s progressing ( slowly ) or if they’ve stopped working on it?
There are 2 efforts underway here in the UK to get a Mosquito into our skies , tho’ tbh , I think they are both doomed to fail through lack of ££££.
I’m puzzled that no-one here in Blighty seems to have the same enthusiasm for the poor old Beau!
We’ve had ‘The people’s Mosquito’ as an organisation , I’d love to see ‘Britains’ Beaufighter’ or similar!
Is it simply that us enthusiasts - the ones most likely to pay to see it- would prefer to see a Mosquito & that therefore the 2 competing efforts are aiming at that aircraft?
At the end of the day , there ARE Mosquitos flying & more on the way , there’s only 1 Beau’ anywhere close to flight , and for now , it’s here in the UK.
A pity Shuttleworth can’t put something in place & raise funds to buy it , but as I’m fond of pointing out , I know nothing!
I’m hoping for some good news here folks...
Ta again!

I don't think a Mossie or Beau are the right aircraft for Shuttleworth. Spitfire and Hurricane seems to be the end of the line age wise. The Wildcat was a bit of an outlier.

[Flugzeug A]

If the only criteria is age , then surely the Beau’ fits the Spitfire & Hurricane , as it’s from the same war.
That isn’t the only ‘thing’ though.
I’ve no idea re restoration projects , only my opinions & will demur to anyone who knows better , if they’d care to post!

[Asturias56]

"I’m puzzled that no-one here in Blighty seems to have the same enthusiasm for the poor old Beau!"

it never got the coverage in the war - and it was mainly a night fighter or coastal strike - neither glamorous to the public.

And although it as a great aircraft it wasn't terribly "pretty"

[Flugzeug A]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

"I’m puzzled that no-one here in Blighty seems to have the same enthusiasm for the poor old Beau!"

it never got the coverage in the war - and it was mainly a night fighter or coastal strike - neither glamorous to the public.

And although it as a great aircraft it wasn't terribly "pretty"

Thanks Asturias’.
Sadly , that’s as I suspected.
I’d love someone - anyone!- here in Blighty to take it on but there seems little hope of that.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by Flugzeug A

Thanks Asturias’.
Sadly , that’s as I suspected.
I’d love someone - anyone!- here in Blighty to take it on but there seems little hope of that.

I think the issue in the UK is, if TFC can't do it, then no one else is going to manage to, so its not surprising. Its still not clear if the lack of the correct prop hubs/engines situation has been resolved or not.......my feeling is it hasn't.

The Blenheim seemed to garner enough interest in UK, even to the extent of 3 restorations of it.......so I think if the lack of correct parts to get it in the air wasn't the issue, then I think there would have been a lot more interest.

Always remember those tee shirts TFC had done when they were working on the Beau as a banter mick take of ARC across the pan when they were doing the Blenheim and had those 'Happiness is a pair of big Bristols" t-shirts, and TFC did a copy with "Happiness is an even bigger pair of Bristols"

[DHfan]

Another problem TFC have/had is they only had three serviceable mainwheels and tyres.

That's not enough to fly the aircraft as in the, admittedly unlikely, event of a double blow-out on landing, they can't leave it in the middle of the airfield indefinitely.
I hadn't thought of that...

A TFC engineer told me that some years ago so it's possible that more may have been located since then.

[treadigraph]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

I think the issue in the UK is, if TFC can't do it, then no one else is going to manage to, so its not surprising. Its still not clear if the lack of the correct prop hubs/engines situation has been resolved or not.......my feeling is it hasn't.

I thought they had solved the engine problem with a cache of newly discovered bits arriving from Aus (sure I saw something suggesting Rob Greinart was able to meet requirements for both projects from this source) not so long ago but then again my recent memory can be a bit creaky.

I suspect a Mossie or Beau probably couldn't operate from Old Warden with sufficient safety even if a particularly munificent backer could be found to finance the purchase, completion and upkeep of an aircraft. Duxford is the natural home, probably best under the auspices of ARCO - do I recall they were nominated to provide oversight and operation of one of the two Mosquito projects?

[uxb99]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

"I’m puzzled that no-one here in Blighty seems to have the same enthusiasm for the poor old Beau!"

it never got the coverage in the war - and it was mainly a night fighter or coastal strike - neither glamorous to the public.

And although it as a great aircraft it wasn't terribly "pretty"

I've been following the restoration since it arrived in boxes at Duxford. I seem to recall it sported a Goofy nose art?