Rolls Royce Hucknall

[firbeck 859]

I was reading through some old postings and came across some comments whereby some of our contributors had seen both the Lightning and Javelin, based at Hucknall, that had come to grief at the end of the runway. I've tried to research this but can't find any information about these incidents.

Trawling through some of my old photographs, I found this dating from the late 50's, my brother must have took it from the woods at the side of the airfield:-

This shows the Javelin, Lightning and the Airspeed Ambassador which flew around for many years with a variety of turbo prop engines.

I think the Lightning is XA856, this was the second prototype P1B to be built and only the 5th Lightning type to fly, it was delivered to Hucknall for test flying only weeks after completion and remained there from 24/3/58 to 6/67 being scrapped on site in late 1968., it had carried out 296 test flights from Hucknall.

Not my picture but one of it clearly landing at the Hucknall end, you can see the edge of the spoil heaps. What surprises me is that it has a ventral tank, I didn't think that these were fitted until the production models came along. There is an account of a flight on this aircraft from test pilot Malcom Muir, he describes taking off from Hucknall, heading for the Wash climbing up to 70,000ft and reaching Mach 2.3 along a special flight path along the East Coast. He only had enough fuel capacity for a half hour flight, they were required to have enough fuel left to be able to circuit Hucknall, then if the runway was blocked, divert to Waddington for a landing, clearly the runway at Syerston wasn't long enough.

The next Lightning to arrive was F2 production variant XN723, note that this hadn't got a ventral tank so fuel must have been critical. This one arrived 2/4/63 and lasted until 25/3/64. On that date following take off from Hucknall, the aircraft had a fire in the number 2 engine bay and the pilot, a Mr D Withnal, ejected safely from the plane which crashed in Leicestershire near Keyham, they were lucky it didn't hit anything or anybody. Aparantly Hucknall took on another Lightning, a production F4, but I can't find any details about that aircraft.

[firbeck 859]

There were a couple of incidents that I managed to track down that occurred at Hucknall. On 13/5/60 Hawker Hunter F1 WT574 had an engine failure due to debris entering the engine while undergoing gun firing trials, the aircraft had to make a wheels up landing on the grass at Hucknall, the pilot was uninjured, I'd be keen to know where they were when they fired the guns, I can only assume it must have been on the ranges at Donna Nook or on the Wash, perhaps he glided back to Hucknall, unlikely, the fault must have appeared when he was on his way back, or else it was somewhere over the tank ranges in Sherwood Forest.

The other incident was 25/5/65, Wessex HAS1 helicopter, flames were seen coming out of the engine and he tried to put it down at Hucknall only to make an emergency landing on the M1 adjacent to the airfield where the helicopter overturned injuring the crew, can anyone remember this because I can't, it must have made headlines in the Evening Post at the time.

Just a few photos, not all mine, here's a picture of the engine test unit that was close to the footpath alongside the spoilheaps, I don't recall seeing a Phantom on test there but I know that they did use one at the time:-

Another photo of XA856, clearly taking off and not wasting much time getting his gear up. Actually, I just noticed, the caption states it's that aircraft, but the top of the tail fin has been squared off, it's unlikely that they would have done structural alterations at Hucknall and therefore it might well be the other F4 Lightning that I can't identify.

The Ambassador in flight, yes, it was the same type of aircraft in which the Busby Babes got decimated at Munich, though this one was fitted with Dart turbo props rather than piston engines which probably would have given it more power on take off.

Finally one of my photos, this is the Royal Aircraft Establishments experimental Comet aircraft with it's long nose sensor flying around Hucknall, it must have been visiting for a bit of 'tweaking'.

I do have loads of photos taken at Hucknall airshows in the 60's, unfortunately I still haven't sorted my scanner out yet, but I'll see what I can do if anyone is interested.

[The Pianoman 1,532]

Did you ever get a picture of the VC-10 they had at Hucknall when they were testing RB-211's on it. It had its normal Speys on one side and a single RB-211 on the other. I saw it flying over Eastwood a good few times but never got a picture of it nor have I ever seen a picture of. Mind you I haven't looked either

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Used to love to watch those Lightings sit on their tail after take off, just so bloody impressive. Pity the weapons load was so restricted.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

With regards to live firing the only range I know of in Sherwood Forest was at Proteus and this was only a small 30mtr small arms range. AFVs used the area for driver training and small exercise's but not for live firing.

There was a heck of a lot of live ammo stored all around there during the war and not all of it was successfully recovered, some still being found as late as the 80s.

[BulwellBrian 107]

I vaguely recall that a lightning lost its ventral fuel tank on taking off from Hucknall and that the tank landed and bounced on Nottingham Road spraying fuel around. Am I right or am I dreaming?

I do remember the Ambassador flying around and also the VC10.

Other planes I recall are a Meteor and a Spitfire that often flew around together, also a Lincoln with a Conway engine in the nose, the Canberra that crashed into the Railway at Bulwell Common, the Vulcan that crashed at Syston, and I think it was an Avro Ashton. The noise of them testing jet engines was a common one.

Visitors I can remember was a Boeing 707 with President Kennedy on board, he was heading for Chatsworth to visit the grave of his ?brother. Also a Caravelle when passenger jets were rare.

[tomlinson 879]

#2 The Comet shown was possibly there for calibration of the airfield equipment such as ILS (Instrument Landing System) and other equipments. # 6 I think I'm right in saying the Lincoln you mention had a Tyne turbo prop' on the nose. It was surrounded by a cage which sprayed in water for de-icing tests. Yes, another aircraft you mention was the Avro Ashton and it had a Conway engine slung underneath for tests. An Ashton was used in the black and white film, 'The Cone Of Silence', starring Jack Hawkins. It dealt with jets losing power in conditions of heat and humidity. Hucknall was, I believe, featured in the film 'The One That Got Away' in which a German P.O.W. nearly escaped by hi-jacking an aircraft. Another aircraft to visit was a Supermarine Swift. This topic has brought a lot of happy aircraft spotting memories back; thanks Firbeck!

[benjamin1945 16,139]

I REMEMBER the ' Hucknall air displays' Brian,on bank holidays in the 50s,when we used to picnic on Bulwell Common or Bulwell Hall Park.,for a great view.

[notty ash 370]

Ref #6

A plane definitely lost a fuel tank. I remember my mum telling me that something like that had happened one day when I got back from school. We used to live on on Nottingham Road (Hucknall). I remember a couple of official people coming round a day or two later and searching our garden for bits.

[The Pianoman 1,532]

This Mosquito was at a Hucknall air display must have been mid '60s. This is the one that crashed at an air display at Barton approx 18 years ago

Scanned from 120 prints. The are some more I will post when I can find them

[Blondie 1,392]

I came from Hucknall and had family who worked for Rolls Royce..........My grandparents lived at Westville, when it was the Air Display, as children we used to stand on the shed roof, we could see on to the airfield at all the activities..........

[colly0410 1,181]

The VC10 with one RB211 flew over Bestwood Village regularly coming into land when the wind was from the south west, it fascinated me, mind you all planes still fascinate me, I'm like a big kid according to SWMBO..

[firbeck 859]

Visitors I can remember was a Boeing 707 with President Kennedy on board, he was heading for Chatsworth to visit the grave of his ?brother. Also a Caravelle when passenger jets were rare.

29th June 1963, Airforce One actually landed at Waddington and Kennedy was taken to Chatsworth by helicopter, I would imagine being a military base, Waddington was a more secure place for it, I don't know why it would have gone to Hucknall. I once saw the current Airforce One land at RAF Mildenhall, George Bush junior was on a trip to Europe, Mildenhall is considered a safe place for it. Similarly on recent trips to the UK, Airforce One has dropped Obama off at Stansted and the aircraft has been whisked off to Mildenhall for safe keeping, well, US Special Forces are based there, for the time being anyway.

The grave he visited is this one:-

JFK's sister, Kathleen, married William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, son of the Duke of Devonshire, 6th May 1944. He served as a Major in the Guards Armoured Division and was shot dead by an SS sniper in Belgium only a few months later in September. She was killed in an air crash in France on May 13th 1948 and buried at Edensor. Kennedy made the visit in secret that day on his way to Ireland, he visited the graveside in company with the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The plaque on the ground in front of the headstone commemorates the visit, you should go there, it is a most peaceful, atmospheric spot, it's the site of all the Devonshire family graves, the last time I went I took my son and his hungover Nottingham University pals, they had never been there and were quite blown away by the place, the sight of a bunch of disheveled students standing around the grave in silent awe was something to behold!!

Back to Hucknall, I found one airshow photo on my Photobucket page, this one:-

I took this at Hucknall airshow Whit Monday 1963, it's a very rare P-47D Thunderbolt, then registered N5087V, it had flown over to Europe to take part in several airshows that year. It's now stuffed and displayed at the USAF museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

I put this picture up on an aviation forum and one viewer send me a colour film on DVD shot by his father of that same airshow back in 1963, remarkable!. It also has footage of the last RAF Belfasts arriving for breaking up, they were taken there so that Rolls Royce could salvage the engines, perhaps the MOD hadn't finished paying for them. I'll try and sort out some more pics tomorrow.

[Chulla 4,946]

A few points about the topics above.

P1B XA856 had its ventral fuel tank drop off the aircraft as it was coming into land on 3.3.61. The tank landed in the front garden of a house without causing any injuries. Apart from this aircraft awaiting a new tank, none of Hucknall's Lightnings ever flew without one fitted.

Javelin XA562 landed at Hucknall on 28.2.62 with one undercarriage leg not lowered. It landed safely before veering off the runway. Very little damage done.

Hunter WT574, and other Hucknall Hunters, was engaged on investigating the problem of engine surge when the guns were fired. The aircraft were operated from Farnborough and RAF Odiham when live firing trials were undertaken. In this case the aircraft had no ammunition and the gun firing button was pressed as part of the test to see its effect on the engine - it reduced the fuel flow to prevent the surge. On this occasion the engine flamed out and could not be restarted. As the aircraft was close to Hucknall it made a dead-stick landing, but because there was insufficient hydraulic power the undercarriage did no properly deploy.

Lightning XN734 overshot the runway when its parachute brake failed to deploy, stopping just before the path that ran at the end of the runway.

The Lincoln had a Tyne turboprop installed in its nose.

The VC-10 had Conway engines, not Speys.

[The Pianoman 1,532]

VC-10's had Conways. I typed differently to what I was thinking.

[notty ash 370]

P1B XA856 had its ventral fuel tank drop off the aircraft as it was coming into land on 3.3.61. The tank landed in the front garden of a house without causing any injuries. Apart from this aircraft awaiting a new tank, none of Hucknall's Lightnings ever flew without one fitted.

That confirms what I thought I remembered - the tank must have broken into pieces and bits flew everywhere, including our back garden. I remember finding a small piece myself.

[firbeck 859]

Now these pictures are going to look terrible, I thought I'd experiment by running the 1963 Hucknall airshow DVD through the telly, pausing, then taking a few photos with my mobile phone then e-mailing to my PC, downloading, then transferring to Photobucket then on to here. Don't forget they were shot on 8mm silent cine film of dubious quality and I think they are very interesting despite the quality. I don't recall the name of the chap who made the film, but he was a pilot with his own DH Leopard Moth at the display which he takes off in after the show and flies around Hucknall with his wife filming from the back seat.

Pre Red Arrows, the RAF Red Pelicans display team in their Jet Provosts.

Very low flying USAF F101 Voodoos of the 81st TFW Bentwaters, Suffolk.

USAF F100 Super Sabres from the 20th FBW based at Wethersfield, just up the road from me.

A very low flying Derby Airways DC-4 Argonaut.

[firbeck 859]

Hmmm, just thought I'd check, not good are they.

The P-47 Thunderbolt being overflown by an inverted Tiger Moth.

Not much concern about Health and Safety then from the point of view of the pilot and the crowd.

Vickers Valiant the first of the V bombers to be retired.

Youths in the crowd, does anyone recognise themselves.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Blooming heck Firbeck that post bought back some memories. I was there having a picnic with my then girlfriend Ann Conner. We went our separate ways and she married a guy and went to Aus.

Thanks mate

[firbeck 859]

BBMF MK Vb Spitfire AB910

The pilot complete with leather flying helmet. This aircraft was delivered to the RAF in Aug 1941 and flew with the American 133 Eagle Squadron. It shot down a Do217 over the Dieppe Landing and took part in the D-Day landings. In 1945 when flying with a calibration unit it famously took off with LACW Margaret Horton sitting on the tail, after a circuit and landing she was none the worse for her experience. After the war it was used as an air racer by Vickers Armstrong then donated to the BBMF for whom it was flown by the famous test pilot Jeffrey Quill, not sure whether that's him in the photo though. It's just had a massive renovation at Duxford and flew again just a few weeks ago ready for the airshow season.

Undergoing pre flight engine runs a few weeks ago.

[firbeck 859]

I've been doing a bit of research and found on the internet quite a few of the weird and wonderful aircraft that were tested at Hucknall over the years, several of which have been mentioned on here:-

Bristol Beaufighter, some marks were fitted with Merlins rather than it's usual Bristol Hercules engines, this is one at Hucknall in 1943.

Modified Lancaster with additional engine in the nose.

Early Dart Wellington 1948

Nene Lancastrian 1948

[firbeck 859]

Tyne Lincoln 1956

Derwent Meteor

Meteor fitted with Soar wingtip jets 1953

Dart Dakota 1960

Avro Ashton with Nene under the fuselage, the forward section of this aircraft is now at Newark Air Museum

[firbeck 859]

The unfortunate Vulcan which was destroyed in the crash at Syerston

The 'infamous' Flying Bedstead, can you believe the Harrier came out of this.

VC10 with RB211 test engine

The Argosy used to pick up and deliver engines, pictured at Stansted 1980

The original Rolls Royce Spitfire RM689 as I remembered it from when I was a kid, sadly destroyed and the pilot killed at Woodford Airshow 1992. The current Spitfire PS853 and based at East Midlands Airport was purchased from the BBMF to provide funds for them to restore their crashed Hurricane.

[Commo 1,292]

Great pics Firbeck, many thanks for posting these. I had no idea of the existence of quite a few of them.

[catfan 14,793]

Nice bit of history there Pete !