Aviation history on the edge of Snowdonia

Welcome to this latest edition of Aerodrome and our regular look at the fascinating world of aeroplanes and the historic aviation scene in the UK.

With the recent government announcement of a potential ‘Roadmap out of lockdown’ for the nation and positive signs that the national vaccination program is proving successful, perhaps this year won’t be a write off after all and we may even be able to squeeze in an Airshow or two later in the year. At the very least, it appears as if the socially distanced reopening of the nation’s aviation museums will now not be too far away and as we look forward to the positivity of spring, aeroplanes may thankfully be reappearing on our radars once more.

To mark this much more optimistic outlook for the nation’s aviation enthusiasts, this latest edition of our blog will be paying a visit to one of the country’s less well known museum sites, one which is hidden away on a destination peninsula site in North Wales, the Caernarfon Airport Airworld Museum. The past year has been particularly challenging for the country’s museums, particularly the ones which are a little smaller and could be described as being ‘a little off the beaten track’ and from this point forward, are all going to be in desperate need for our patronage in order to ensure their very survival in the months ahead. For that reason, we wanted to bring you this review from a museum which many Aerodrome readers may as yet not have visited, but may do in the future, should they find themselves in this part of the world. With the spectacular scenery of the Snowdonia National Park as its stunning backdrop, there can’t be many aviation museums in the world which benefit from such a stunning backdrop as the one located at Caernarfon Airport, so let’s pay it a little blog visit.

A secluded airfield for training operations

A scene which would have been familiar at RAF Llandwrog during the Second World War, as an Avro Anson training aircraft prepares to embark on yet another navigation of air communication training sortie  

Most people would probably not readily associate the rugged North Wales coast with an active and quite modern airfield, let alone one which was responsible for training thousands of pilots, navigators and air gunners for Bomber Command during the Second World War, but that is exactly what today’s Caernarfon Airport is/was. Situated on a quiet peninsula of wild, yet stunningly beautiful Welsh coastline, you probably would never come to this secluded part of the country unless you lived here, were holidaying in one of the nearby holiday parks or self-catering cottages, or were specifically going to visit the airfield itself. Now not displaying much of its aviation heritage, the facilities at the airport are quite modern, with a collection of small hangars and a recently constructed control tower which overlooks airfield proceedings.

From the public car park looking towards the airfield, the large purpose built hangar to your right tells you something about the current status of the airfield and certainly its most impressive resident, the Sikorski S-92A helicopter of the HM Coastguard Search and Rescue service, operated by Bristow Helicopters. With one but sometimes two of these distinctively presented aircraft resident at Caernarfon Airport, visitors are usually able to catch a glimpse of these rotary behemoths on any given day, as they have been performing their essential Search and Rescue duties from here since taking over the role from the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy in 2015. This support contract has recently been extended and has even seen HM Coastguard trialling the use of new technologies in an attempt to further increase the effectiveness of the service - this has included the operation of drones and unmanned aircraft in the Search and Rescue role, which is dedicated to saving lives, whilst always looking to better protect the lives of their rescue crews. 

The new purpose built hangar for the SAR helicopters also acts as a base for the Wales Air Ambulance in this part of the country and with the RAF and Navy regularly using Caernarfon Airport as a refuelling/stop off point for their Chinooks and Merlins, helicopters are certainly not an uncommon sight in this part of North Wales. The connection between the airfield and Mountain Rescue/Search and Rescue is an important one and one which is certainly worthy of further investigation, but that will take us back to the dark days of the Second World War and the original establishment of the airfield.

Taking over Search and Rescue support services from the Sea Kings of the RAF and Royal Navy, Caernarfon Airport is now home to at least one of the impressive HM Coastguard operated Sikorski S-92A helicopters

As the German war machine began its terrifying advance across Europe at the start of WWII, British military officials were concerned that the lightly defended west coast of Britain could be the likely target of a future German seaborne invasion, partly because they would hope to face little or no coordinated opposition and partly because this would give them a good base to strike at the port cities of Swansea, Cardiff and Liverpool. This was such a real concern at the time that various sites along the Welsh coastline were immediately assessed for suitability for airfield construction, with one near the village of Llandwrog being identified. Initially intended as a fighter station, work at the new airfield location began in September 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, when the threat of invasion had never been more real, but with that threat being to the south coast of England. Indeed, as the new airfield neared completion, the immediate threat of invasion had abated, as Germany had turned her attentions eastwards towards Russia, following their failure to defeat the Royal Air Force during the summer of 1940 and it would no longer be required as a fighter station. Instead, the new RAF Llandwrog would use this remote location to train pilots and aircrews in a multitude of essential flying disciplines throughout the rest of the war.

The first residents at the new airfield were No.9 Air Gunnery School, who arrived with their Whitley Bombers, Avro Anson trainers and a handful of Defiant turret fighters. Only two days after flight operations began, the airfield was visited by an aircraft with more destructive intentions, as a single Luftwaffe Junkers Ju88 made several sweeps of the airfield, strafing the site as it went, presumably having already dropped its bombs elsewhere. One of the station’s Whitley’s did sustain some damage, however, the attentions of this unwelcome enemy visitor could have been much worse.

From mid 1941 onwards, the Airspeed Oxfords of No.11 Service Flying Training School were also deployed to RAF Llandwrog from Shawbury in Shropshire, making this a busy wartime training airfield and one, which after the early opening visit of a Ju88 intruder, largely escaped the attentions of the Luftwaffe. The daily operational schedules would consist of a great many training flights covering day and night navigation skills, general navigation exercises, air gunnery training, air wireless operation and bomb aiming training, all essential skills required by aircrews destined to go to war with either Bomber or Coastal Command units.

The Legend of Llandwrog

Clearly having access to the impressive talents of a local artist, the museum at Caernarfon Airport helps bring their fascinating stories to life by incorporating wall murals in their displays

The ability to undertake hundreds of training sorties every month in a quiet location, with little possibility of your activities attracting the attentions of the enemy during wartime conditions, was absolutely crucial for the consistent supply of competent aircrews for the continuing war effort and cannot be understated. Other than the sparsely populated village of nearby Llandwrog village itself, the area around the airfield was almost exclusively farmland, leaving just the historic town of Caernarfon to be avoided during training sorties, making the location almost perfect for training operations. I say almost because of one significant caveat - Snowdonia. It is a well known fact that aeroplanes and mountainous areas make for an uncomfortable combination and as this famous mountainous region of Wales lay to the east of the airfield, many crews would experience hair raising moments if transiting back to Llandwrog overland from flights into England or South Wales if the weather turned nasty, as it often can in this part of the world.

The challenges posed by the airfield’s close proximity to Snowdonia and the sheer number of flying accidents which began to occur on the high ground during wartime training operations, would actually see one man elevate the station at RAF Llandwrog to being a national leader in providing professional and coordinated mountain rescue services to the region, cover which is still in place to this day. At that time, if an aircraft stationed at your airfield was involved in an accident, it was RAF procedure for the station Medical Officer to attend the crash site, hopefully to administer first aid and arrange for the transfer of casualties back to their stations medical facilities, or in extreme cases, ensuring the effective removal of fatalities. 

RAF Llandwrog’s Medical Officer at that time was Flight Lieutenant George Desmond ‘Doc’ Graham, who turned out to be quite the visionary. Having been called out to several flying accidents in North Wales, he was dismayed at the disorganised and disjointed state of the RAF response to such incidents and immediately established a formal team of base volunteers to respond more efficiently to such call outs. Providing training for his team and ensuring they had all the right equipment for this difficult job, Graham’s team at RAF Llandwrog would be the RAF’s first official mountain rescue section, quite a historic development. Constantly lobbying the RAF hierarchy for official recognition, he also helped to establish similar teams at other RAF stations which were situated close to high ground in both the Lake and Peak Districts, teams which would all go on to save the lives of many airmen whose aircraft struck high ground as a result of navigational errors or a change in weather conditions.

The professionalism and perseverance of RAF Llandwrog’s Flight Lieutenant George Desmond ‘Doc’ Graham finally paid off in 1944, when the Air Ministry officially recognised his work and formed the RAF Mountain Rescue Service, a service which now has its headquarters at nearby RAF Valley. In later years, RAF Valley would also become an important airfield for the operation of the RAF’s distinctive yellow Search and Rescue helicopters, which over the years, worked in conjunction with the Mountain Rescue teams to save countless lives of people not only in the Snowdonia region, but countrywide. They would also be used to save lives at sea and along the vast expanses of coastline which run the length of our nation’s west coast. Not a bad claim to fame for this secluded former RAF airfield.

An impressive wall mural and diorama display greets visitors to Caernarfon Airport’s Airworld Museum and makes a direct reference to the work pioneered by RAF Llandwrog’s Station Medical Officer Flight Lieutenant George Desmond ‘Doc’ Graham and wartime flight operations from the airfield. On the morning of 23rd August 1943, the crew of Avro Anson Mk.I N5371/AK of No.9 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit were to conduct a daytime navigational sortie from RAF Llandwrog to Shawbury, across the mountains of Snowdonia. The outward flight proved to be uneventful, however, during the return journey, the aircraft entered unexpected heavy cloud above high ground at around 10.30 in the morning. Experienced pilot Sergeant Arthur Bickerdike was only too familiar with the area and knowing his aircraft and crew were at risk of striking high ground, was looking for any point of reference to confirm his position. Just then, through the mist, he saw a sheep through the window which looked far too big for his liking - he instinctively pulled back on the flight controls in an attempt to gain altitude, but it was too late. 

Another view of the impressive Anson crash diorama, recreating the scene on top of Foel Fras on the morning of 23rd August 1943

Due to the aircraft’s close proximity to the ground, all the pull up action did was increase the Anson’s angle of attack, bringing it relatively gently to rest on the incline of a mountainside, but effectively avoiding what could have been a devastating nose first crash. Flopping onto the incline of the hillside, one wing struck a large boulder, which spun the aircraft round to face down the incline of the hill, almost ripping the wing clean off in the process, but apart from that, the Anson was down and relatively intact. As far as the crew were concerned, even though they were extremely shaken up and suffering from shock, all but the radio operator had escaped injury, with his wounds not being considered life threatening. With the crash being much less catastrophic than it could have been, the fuselage of the Anson was relatively complete and once they had gathered their senses, the crew were able to operate the radio and raise the alarm, or at least until the batteries died. With a basic crash site location obtained, the RAF Llandwrog base mountain rescue team left the airfield at 11am, but for a number of reasons, would have difficulty reaching the scene for several hours, particularly as the Anson’s radio had stopped working by then.

Eventually, after quite some time searching this unforgiving terrain, the rescue team spotted a bright yellow life-raft high on Foel Fras in the Carneddau Range and could just about make out the outline of an aircraft fuselage. Finally reaching the crash site at 15.00, they immediately effected the evacuation of the casualties back to Llandwrog airfield, where they could all receive medical attention and debrief their ordeal.

The striking crash site mural at the Airworld Museum is an effective illustration of this incredible story and the important work undertaken by RAF Llandwrog’s Medical Officer and his mountain rescue team. It also helps to highlight just how perilous training flights in this part of the country could be if the weather decided to take an unexpected turn for the worse, something the Snowdonia region is notorious for. On one of the many clear days in Wales, flights over the mountains must have been spectacular, even awe-inspiring, but if the weather turned bad, you better make sure you had enough altitude.

The supporting information panels in front of the mural also inform visitors that the pilot of Avro Anson N5371 on that fateful day was not finished with his Anson training flight incidents, whilst flying over the mountains of Snowdonia. Around twelve months after suffering the Foel Fras crash, Sergeant Arthur Bickerdike was piloting another Anson over the Welsh countryside when the weather once again closed in and the crew found themselves in the middle of an electrical storm. As was the procedure in such cases, the radio operator turned off his wireless set and started to reel in the trailing aerial wire which aided the set’s effectiveness. Just as the wire was almost fully retracted, the aircraft took a direct lightning strike, blowing a hole in the side of its fuselage, with the current passing along the Anson’s electrical system to the end of the starboard wing - the resulting explosion, blew a three foot section off the end of the aircraft’s wing. Using all his skill and experience, Bickerdike managed to nurse the damaged trainer back to RAF Llandwrog, where he landed the aircraft safely and significantly, with no crew member having sustained any injury whatsoever. Another interesting entry in his logbook and a story to recount with friends over dinner in the years to come.

Unfortunately, some of the other crew members from the Anson crash of August 1943 were not so fortunate once they had passed their respective training courses and been posted to operational squadrons. One was killed only a few months after the Anson incident, as the Vickers Wellington he was flying in collided with a Short Stirling whilst flying over Essex. The Stirling managed to land safely, however, the Wellington was lost with all on board. Another was lost whilst flying in a Lancaster sent on a raid to Stuttgart and was shot down over France, highlighting the perilous nature and high loss rates Bomber Command had to endure throughout the Second World War.

Caernarfon’s Airworld Museum

Following the end of the Second World War, RAF Llandwrog was no longer required for flight operations, becoming an aircrew holding station for a short while, before being reclassified as a Maintenance Unit between September 1946 and late 1955. During this period, the site was used to store a massive cache of captured German bombs which were found to contain nerve agents. The bombs were simply stacked out in the open air on the old runways, until they were eventually loaded on ships and disposed of at sea.

For the rest of the fifties and throughout the sixties, the disused airfield quickly reverted back to farmland, with its future looking bleak. Things started to take a turn for the more positive in the mid 1970s, when the airfield site was cleared and re-opened as a civilian airfield, with Keenair of Liverpool being the main residents. It would later be licenced as Caernarfon Airport, with the old wartime infrastructure slowly giving way to new, purpose built hangars and facilities more appropriate for a modern civilian CAA licenced airport. 

With the site and the former RAF Llandwrog possessing such rich heritage, particularly with its links to the establishment of the RAF Mountain Rescue Service, it was not long before the idea of establishing a museum on the site started to gain momentum, something which would be a tourist attraction for the region and a real feature of this now active airfield. Established in 1988, the Caernarfon Airport Air Museum (now known as Airworld) is located on the opposite side of the carpark to the terminal/Bristow building, behind the new control tower - just look for the huge propeller attached to the outside of the building. During my visit, which was now almost five years ago, the entrance was through a large glazed building which resembles a conservatory, but is in actual fact the well-stocked museum shop - it was comforting to see the number of Airfix and Corgi products on display in there. The museum is run as a charity, relying on entrance fees, shop sales and donations for its survival, so it is always a pleasure to part with a few pounds under such circumstances.

Once inside the museum, you are greeted by two impressive displays which commemorate the site’s important connection to the RAF Mountain Rescue Service, with the Avro Anson crash mural and diorama at one side, and an even more impressive display a little further into the museum and on the opposite wall. Once again using a dramatic wall mural as its backdrop, Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 XJ726 is an imposing sight and one which again commemorates the lifesaving heritage of this part of the Welsh coast. Wearing the famous all yellow livery of an RAF SAR helicopter, this Whirlwind has been finished in the colours if ‘C Flight’, No.22 Squadron, an RAF helicopter SAR unit which operated for many years at nearby RAF Valley on Anglesey, a unit which operated some of the highest profile aircraft in the history of the Royal Air Force. For holidaymakers enjoying a summer’s day on one of Britain’s many beaches, the sight of one of these yellow sentinels would have everybody waving at the crews, a mark of genuine affection for these airmen and their aircraft who kept us all safe from harm, selfless in placing themselves in harms way to do so.

Perhaps the most impressive display at Airworld is the RAF Search and Rescue diorama, which has Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 XJ726 as its centrepiece, with the mural artist also illustrating the development of the service, by including representations of the two helicopters which would go on to replace it in service. The history of C Flight, RAF No.22 Squadron is also commemorated, but we would be interested to find out further details about this plaque

The rear of this impressive mural clearly illustrates the lineage of the RAF’s SAR helicopter service, with the Whirlwind flanked by painted examples of the two helicopter types which replaced it in service, the Wessex and the Sea King. In fact, No.22 Squadron at RAF Valley were operating the mighty Sea King in this role right up until the RAF (and Royal Navy) relinquished this responsibility in 2015, handing it over to HM Coastguard service, in conjunction with Bristow Helicopters. In a symbolic illustration of the continuation of this important service from the RAF station where it all began, this Whirlwind and its SAR display share the same location as one of HM Coastguard’s powerful new Sikorski S-92A helicopters.

Westland Whirlwind XJ726 was constructed as an HAR.2 machine in 1955, making its first flight in the December of that year, before being allocated to the Royal Air Force at the beginning of 1956. These early machines were powered by piston engines, but were upgraded to use the more powerful turbine powerplants during the early 1960s, making these much more useful machines. I wasn’t able to find too much about the aircraft’s military service, however, I did find manage to find one particularly interesting photograph which showed XJ726, resplendent in her yellow colour scheme, serving as part of RAF Khormaksar’s Search and Rescue flight during the mid 1960s. She can be seen waiting to take on an underslung load at Thumeir Airfield during the Radfan Campaign in May 1964, an operation which would underline the effectiveness of the modern helicopter in military operations.

At the end of its RAF service, this Whirlwind was placed in storage at Royal Naval Air Yard Wroughton from 1976 onwards, before being sold to the Nene Valley Aviation Society for display at their Sywell Museum site. Whilst there, she was displayed in a very different colour scheme to the one she wears today, with a mainly red fuselage, white cockpit and grey rear fuselage and boom. She finally came into the possession of the Airworld Museum at Caernarfon Airport in 1986, where she was prepared to take pride of place as the centrepiece of their RAF SAR helicopter display, once more resplendent in her iconic yellow scheme.

Famous Harrier T.2 is a Caernarfon classic

To our knowledge, this is the only example of a complete Harrier T.2 trainer currently on display in a British museum

Without doubt, one of the most impressive exhibits at Caernarfon’s Airworld Museum is their magnificent Hawker Siddeley Harrier T.2 XW269, an aircraft which many Aerodrome readers will probably remember as being available for sale on an online auction site for around £70,000 back in 2011. Acquired by Jet Art Aviation in 2010 at the end of a glittering service career, this Harrier was languishing in a disposal yard and slowly falling into disrepair when the owner of Jet Art came across her - he thought she was deserving of a future much more befitting an aircraft of this pedigree. Transporting the Harrier to his facility in North Yorkshire, the aircraft underwent an extensive 12 month restoration to static display condition, before being offered for sale in a development which attracted national press coverage.

During the restoration, the aircraft was returned to T.2 standard, the first variant of the two seat training configuration of Britain’s famous Harrier jet and an extremely distinctive aeroplane in its own right. Marking its time serving in RAF Germany with No.4 Squadron, it was also finished in a circa 1971 three tone RAF camouflage scheme, complete with 4 Squadron’s attractive markings, with this impressive project finished off with the addition of an array of external stores.

Harrier XW269 had a long and illustrious 26 year service career, during which time she flew in the markings of Nos.4, 1 and 3 Squadrons, spending quite some time based in Germany. She would also be used as a test airframe by the Strike Attack Operational Evaluation Unit, where she undertook weapons trials under tactical conditions. Her final service role was to help develop the upgraded version of the Harrier, where as part of the ‘Night Bird’ project, she was used in trials to test infra-red technologies destined for use in the AV8B/Harrier II. Making her final flight in 1997, this hard working Harrier was sent to Boscombe Down to serve as a ground instructional airframe, before being deemed surplus to requirements and coming into the hands of Jet Art Aviation.

This historic aircraft was transported to the Airworld Museum by road in 2012 and reassembled by the team who had restored her so effectively. Taking her place as a prized exhibit at Caernarfon Airport, XW269 is one of only three two seat Harriers on display in a British museum and the only one in this early T.2 configuration. In truth, if historic British aeroplanes are your thing, it is well worth taking at trip to Wales just to see this stunning Harrier.

It is worth a trip to North Wales just to cast your eyes on this magnificent restoration

One of the most appealing features of this excellent museum is the fact that the team behind its establishment and upkeep don’t simply want this to be a collection of old aeroplanes gathered together on an old RAF airfield, but that they want visitors to be able to ‘experience’ them. Of particular interest to younger visitors, they are positively encouraged to clamber over many of the exhibits, sitting in the cockpits of some classic British aeroplanes and seeing first hand just how clever you have to be to understand all the dials and switches in the restored cockpits. Having attended many Airshows and open days in my youth, I know only too well how memorable the opportunities I got to sit in the cockpits of such aircraft as Sea Hawks, Hunters and Phantoms were to me and definitely encouraged me to pursue a career in the Royal Air Force. Although this didn’t go the way I had hoped, this aviation infatuation has brought me to my current position here with Airfix and Corgi, so there are definitely no complaints here. For the older enthusiast, the museum’s collection of fascinating artefacts and related stories will keep you enthralled for hours, but whilst we are filling our aviation senses with all this information, it really is quite nice to see children really enjoying this opportunity to engage with aviation - full marks to whoever decided to arrange the museum in this manner.

When visiting the Airworld Museum, it becomes apparent almost immediately that the team behind it were determined to preserve and promote the history of this famous old airfield, one which many people have probably never heard of. Using the impressive painting skills of someone who has clearly spent a lot of time at the museum, they use wall art to really effectively link their exhibits with the stories they want to tell, something which I found really enjoyable. If there is something they want to use to make a particular exhibit more effective, even if they only have part of an aircraft or artefact, the clever use of art fills in all the blanks and says more than a thousand words could ever do - somebody in this part of Wales had a clear vision and a really fertile imagination.

Of course, at any aviation museum, the most important exhibits are the aircraft themselves and other that the displays already featured, Airworld Caernarfon has some real crackers. 

Classic jets preserved at Caernarfon

As we have previously seen, one of the benefits of a visit to Airworld is the fact that you are allowed to get really close to the aircraft in the collection, the majority of which are displayed in excellent condition. In some cases, you are allowed to clamber into the cockpit, or at the very least, encouraged to have a good look at the cockpit renovation work the museum team have been engaged in. Although there is much to see at the museum, the exclusively internally housed collection is dominated by classic British jet types and if post war RAF jets are your thing, you will not be disappointed with a visit to Caernarfon. As this region is synonymous with the post war training of military pilots, let’s begin this final exhibit round up by looking at a classic RAF jet trainer which was built just a few mile away, across the mountains of Snowdonia.

De Havilland Vampire T.11 XK623 (G-VAMP)

As far as British jet aviation goes, it has to be said that the de Havilland Vampire doesn’t really receive the historic respect it deserves. Always in the shadow of the Gloster Meteor, the Vampire was Britain’s second jet fighter to enter service, too late to see combat during the Second World War, but going on to set plenty of aviation ‘firsts’ in its own right. From a training perspective, the Vampire T.11 was the first advanced jet trainer to feature a side by side student/instructor cockpit configuration, a layout which provided students with a high degree of reassurance when being introduced to this new propulsion technology. The Vampire was therefore the RAF’s first jet trainer in which student pilots could obtain their wings and above all its many achievements and accolades, it just happens to be one of the most attractive jets ever to see RAF service. 

The museum’s example was produced at Broughton, near Chester in 1955/early 1956 (Build Number 392/ Construction Number 15780) and delivered to No.19 Maintenance Unit at RAF St Athan in June 1956. It would be one of 804 Vampire trainers built, with the type going on to see service with around twenty of the world’s air forces and becoming responsible for training many thousands of new jet qualified pilots. After a relatively short, but extremely active RAF career, XK623 was sent back to St Athan for storage, where she would eventually be declared non-effective and withdrawn from use. Sold to Hawker Siddeley Aviation in December 1968, the next time the aircraft shows up is as an instructional airframe at North Manchester College, Moston, where she would be used as a test airframe for students learning about airframes and aircraft systems. It is reported that during her time in this role, the Vampire’s engine was fully serviceable and would be fired up by college staff on regular occasions.

In 1984, the aircraft was sold to the Hunter One Collection, based at Hurn Airport, as the basis of a potential project for restoration to airworthy condition. It was during this period that she was photographed wearing the civil registration G-VAMP, as she was a star attraction in the static display of a Bournemouth Airshow. Unfortunately, she would never take to the air again and her stay at Hurn would be a relatively short one, as just a couple of years later, she would be on the move again, this time to be a highlight exhibit at the new Snowdon Mountain Aviation Museum (now obviously renamed Caernarfon Airport Airworld Museum), where she is cared for to this day.

Hawker Hunter F.1 WT694

As far as significant RAF jet aircraft are concerned, few wear the tag ‘Classic’ as readily as the magnificent Hawker Hunter and the Airworld Museum’s example is a beauty! The old adage, ‘If it looks right, it is right’ is used quite extensively within the world of aviation, but when used to describe the Hawker Hunter, few would disagree with its validity. The first Hawker produced jet to see service with the Royal Air Force, the Hunter was a thoroughbred aircraft, with many regarding this as the most cultured of the early generation of jet fighters. It would go on to be used extensively by the RAF and Royal Navy for almost forty years, with many later finding their way into civilian ownership and if you are lucky enough to see a Hunter flying at an Airshow, you knew you are looking at one of the world’s most attractive aeroplanes.

The museum’s example is an early F.1 variant and it is in excellent condition, despite the fact that the museum team are still working on her renovation. This aircraft served at the Central Fighter Establishment at West Raynham during the latter period of the 1950s, where she was operated by the Day Fighter Leaders School in a rather distinctive scheme which featured a red tail and dorsal spine. Following the end of her RAF career, she went on to serve as the much-loved gate guardian at RAF Debden, before later moving to perform the same task at RAF Newton. She arrived at Caernarfon from RAF Newton in 1996 and various pictures on the internet show her initially stored in the open air, with the spectacular snow covered mountains of Snowdonia in the background. Thankfully, she is now under the protection of the museum’s main building and has been finished in the colours of an RAF No.54 Squadron aircraft.

Hawker Sea Hawk FB.5 WM961

Another jet aircraft type which possesses significant heritage, the Hawker Sea Hawk was the first jet powered aircraft produced by this famous company, entering service with the Royal Navy in early 1953. I seem to keep using the words beautiful and attractive when describing these early generation jet aircraft, but they really do seem to be appropriate - perhaps the designers, released from having to incorporate a huge piston engine at the front of their designs, were now allowed to work with smooth, clean lines when working with jet propulsion, with their eye for aesthetic appeal coming very much to the fore. Looking at the Sea Hawk, you really do have to describe this as a pretty aeroplane, but one which was devastatingly effective as a fleet defender/seaborne strike aircraft.

This particular example served with Nos 811 and 802 Naval Air Squadrons, before going on to serve with the Navy’s Fleet Requirements Unit. Retired from flying duties, WM961 was assigned to the School of Aircraft Handling at RNAS Culdrose, where she became an instructional airframe, helping to train students destined to work with aeroplanes at sea. Later deemed surplus to requirements, she was acquired by the Torbay Aircraft Museum, where she spent many years on open air display at this beautiful site. With the eventual closure of the museum in 1988, she was purchased by the fledgling Snowdon Mountain Aviation Museum, where she is still lovingly cared for. She has been finished in stunning Suez Crisis markings, with the letter ‘J’ on her nose and tail denoting that she was an HMS Eagle aircraft.

Gloster Javelin FAW.7 XH837

We end this exhibit review with yet another post war British jet type, but this time we will not be using such words as pretty or attractive to embellish it. The Gloster Javelin was a brute of an aeroplane, a massive all-weather interceptor which featured a delta wing and high ‘T’ tail. Revolutionary in its own way, the Javelin was designed to give the RAF an aircraft which could be used to protect the nation by day or night and in all weather conditions, a real airborne deterrent against enemy incursion. This huge aeroplane is also significant as it would be the last to carry the famous Gloster name.

The section of aircraft on display at the museum is from Javelin XH837 an aircraft which would spend its entire RAF career in the colours of No.33 Squadron, based mainly at Middleton St George. There are pictures of this aircraft displayed outside Whitehall and whilst I don’t have any further details about this, perhaps Aerodrome readers could provide us with a little more information on the subject. Following the end of her flying service, the aircraft became an instructional airframe, but at some point in the late 1960s, not as a complete aircraft. The front section of the fuselage was allocated to No.71 Maintenance Unit at Bicester for exhibition and later seen on display at No.114 ATC Squadron at Ruislip. Photographed on RAF Northolt’s fire section hardstanding in 1985, it was disposed of the following year and acquired by the new air museum at Caernarfon Airport, where it was restored and used as part of an imaginative display, using mural artwork as its backdrop.

Although we have featured most of the main aviation exhibits on display at Caernarfon Airport’s Airworld Museum in this review, there are so many fascinating artefacts on display that no blog review could ever do it justice and you really do need to go and discover them for yourself. At the moment, the museum remains closed in line with government Covid guidelines, however, it is hoped that this situation may change in the near future. Please keep visiting the museum website for all reopening information and all the details you will need when planning a future visit.

This final selection of images begins with a cockpit view of Vampire T.11 XK623 and how younger visitors are encouraged to familiarise themselves with its layout

More imaginative use of wall murals, this time as the backdrop for the museum’s Gloster Javelin cockpit section display

I bet you never thought that a Blackburn Beverley would ever feature in an edition of Aerodrome, but here is a beauty!

As with all aviation related museums the length and breadth of the nation, the past year or so has been catastrophic from a fund raising perspective and the good people behind the Airworld Museum at Caernarfon Airport will be desperately keen to start receiving visitors once more. With so many other attractions in this beautiful part of North Wales, why not make 2021 the year you visit the museum again, or indeed discover it for the very first time? You will definitely be in for a treat, whilst helping to get one of the country’s smaller aviation museums back on its feet once more - don’t forget to send Aerodrome a quick review of your visit when you do go!   

   
I am afraid that is all we have for you in this latest edition of Aerodrome, but we will be back with more aviation related content for your enjoyment in just a few weeks’ time. If you would like to send us a selection of your own pictures, or suggest an aviation related subject you would like to see covered in a future edition, please use our aerodrome@airfix.com address, where we will be delighted to hear from you.

In between new editions of our blog, the aviation related conversation continues over on the Airfix Forum and we can also be contacted on either the Airfix or Corgi Facebook pages, in addition to Twitter for both Airfix and Corgi – please do get involved in all the aviation related discussions and let us know what you think about Aerodrome. 

The next ‘official’ edition of Aerodrome is scheduled to be published on Friday 9th April, however, we might just sneak another one in before then.

May I extend a sincere thank you to you all for continuing to support our Aerodrome blog, which is now entering its 6th year of production.

Michael

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Model link section

Airfix

Hawker Hunter, Hawker Hunter, de Havilland Vampire T.11, Gloster Javelin, Westland Sea King, Bae Harrier, Folland Gnat and Bae Hawk
        

Corgi

Westland Whirlwind, Westland Wessex, Junkers Ju88, Bae Hawk T.1 and Boeing Chinook