The RAF Museum at Hendon officially reopened yesterday so drove up there this morning to take a look. The new 'Milestones Of Flight' Hall is very nice - not too overloaded with exhibits - with the centrepiece being Me 262A-1a W. Nr. 112372 ( ) displayed facing Mosquito B35 TJ138 ( ). You are allowed to get very close to these exhibits ! Also nice is that previously out-of-bounds old buildings of the WW2 era have now been 'tidied up', several still with earth blast-walls and showing signs of camouflage paint, and the whole area is now open to view. Where else can you see a Messerschmitt 109E,109F,110G and 262 ? Not to mention the Ju87, He-111 and.. and... and.... If you come to London, DO NOT MISS the Raf Museum !!
You might have seen a big building site just past the main entrance, Ross. That was the new 'Milestones Of Flight' Hall. The Museum closed at the beginning of December to allow many exhibits to be repositioned and the fences removed from the old historic buildings. The new main entrance is now in the 'MoF' Hall itself. Some aircraft have been 'reshuffled' with exhibits from Cosford and the P-51D donated by Bob Tullius from the USA has been put on display also.
I think i recall. But was to busy researching to notice. At least it is back open. My dissertation gives me the perfect excuse to go back and see what has changed
Sounds amazing Martin I think I might have to come up and view. That's insane they have all those planes in one place.
Martin there must be a new brochure out on the museum correct ? If so is there a small bit of text on this particular Me 262A-1a ?........what unit, etc ? ~E
yes, there's a nice new brochure but I was too mean to buy one ! The aircraft is WNr 112372 and is a Me 262A-2a which, when it was captured at Fassberg, Northern Germany in 1945, wore a red 'X' and the markings of 2./KG51. Actual service history is, I believe, unknown. It was flight-tested extensively at Farnborough post-war before moving around a number of RAF stations in the 50s/60s. Having been on display at Cosford for several years, it is now intended that it will remain as a permanent centrepiece at Hendon. ( PS : Here's a little taster : - http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/milestones-of-flight/exhibition/milestones-of-flight.html ) [ 20. December 2003, 02:56 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]
Someone from the Avi8 Forums just visited Hendon & posted some nice piccies on his site, so take a virtual walkround at ; - http://www.robleigh.force9.co.uk/hendon01.htm
Back to the RAF Museum's 262 and again, this month's 'Aeroplane' has an article from Messerschmitt expert Russ Snadden who has been able to closely examine the aircraft and has been helped by the discovery of a previously-unseen 1945 photo . In this, Werknr 112372 appears to carry an overall coat of RLM82 Dark Green with a light coating of RLM76 Light Blue underneath, and blue and red bands around the fuselage denoting service with JG 7. Just forward of the windshield can be seen a ( possibly light blue ) shield bearing the figure '2' which may be in red outlined with white. This marking remains unidentified.
Blue shield with running fox emblem of JG 7 ? The 2 underneath this would indicate a Stab machine as the rest of the staffeln of I. and III. gruppe had the numberations before the Balkenkreuz. II. gruppe never really existed ! ~E
