Malta Aviation Museum
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WZ550/599 is a de Havilland Vampire T.11 preserved in the museum's. She is wearing its original serial but painted as a Vampire T22 of No 750 Sqn, Royal Navy, based at Hal Far in the early 1960s.
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WV826/O-161 Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6 wearing Suez invasion stripes and the tiger head of 804 Sqn which flew from HMS Bullwark during that 1956 campaign. Preserved in the Malta Aviation Museum. Note the open radio bay behind the cockpit.
The Sea Hawk was one of the first jet aircraft to serve the Royal Navy, with one still remaining airworthy with the RN's Historic Flight.
Originally built for the USAF in WW-II, this Douglas DC-3 spent time in Africa before joining Canadian Aero Service for years of survey work. It wound up abandoned on the island of Malta in 1980.
The Agusta Bell AB204B (in the foreground) is, former Italian SAR heli, MM80303/1-03.
The Agusta Bell AB204B (in the foreground) is, former Italian SAR heli, MM80303/1-03.
Ex USAAF 43-15762, starting life in 1944, as a C-47A-90-DL. She ended life in 1980 as C-FITH with Terra Surveys Ltd. The aircraft was salvaged by the Malta Aviation Museum in 1996 and is awaiting restoration.
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N495F Beechcraft-18S. This Beech started life as USAF 52-10958 and was subsequently registered N3114G, N114G and N495F. It was rescued from a scrapyard in 1996 by the Malta Aviation Museum.
The aircraft at the Malta Aviation Museum started life as 52-10958 presumably with the United States Air Force. The serial denotes that it was ordered as part of the Fiscal Year 1952 Budget, which means it entered service shortly afterwards. After military service, the registration N8176H was reserved for it but never used. It became N3114G and then N114G in June 1963 owned by David B. Stewart. N114G was operated by LAVCO (Libyan Aviation Company) from at least January 1965. It was operated later by SAGITTAIR and ZAPATA as an air taxi until grounded. It was probably re-registered N495F in the late 60's. At the end of the 1970's the aircraft found itself at a scrap yard in Birzebbugia. In the summer of 1996, Museum members towed the aircraft to Ta' Qali for eventual restoration.
The aircraft at the Malta Aviation Museum started life as 52-10958 presumably with the United States Air Force. The serial denotes that it was ordered as part of the Fiscal Year 1952 Budget, which means it entered service shortly afterwards. After military service, the registration N8176H was reserved for it but never used. It became N3114G and then N114G in June 1963 owned by David B. Stewart. N114G was operated by LAVCO (Libyan Aviation Company) from at least January 1965. It was operated later by SAGITTAIR and ZAPATA as an air taxi until grounded. It was probably re-registered N495F in the late 60's. At the end of the 1970's the aircraft found itself at a scrap yard in Birzebbugia. In the summer of 1996, Museum members towed the aircraft to Ta' Qali for eventual restoration.
WJ328 is an Handley Page Hastings C.2.
The Handley Page HP.67 Hastings is a retired British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and manufactured by aviation company Handley Page for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Upon its introduction to service during September 1948, the Hastings was the largest transport plane ever designed for the service.
The type was rushed into service so that it could participate in the Berlin Airlift; reportedly, the fleet of 32 Hastings to be deployed during the RAF operation delivered a combined total of 55,000 tons of supplies to the city.
As the RAF's Hastings fleet expanded during the late 1940s and early 1950s, it supplemented and eventually replaced the wartime Avro York, a transport derivative of the famed Avro Lancaster bomber.
RAF Transport Command operated the Hastings as the RAF's standard long-range transport; as a logistics platform, it contributed heavily during conflicts such as the Suez Crisis and the Indonesian Confrontation.
Beyond its use as a transport, several Hastings were modified to perform weather forecasting, training, and VIP duties.
A civilian version of the Hastings, the Handley Page Hermes, was also produced, which only achieved limited sales.
Hastings continued to be heavily used by RAF up until the late 1960s, the fleet being withdrawn in its entirety during 1977. The type was succeeded by various turboprop-powered designs, including the Bristol Britannia and the American-built Lockheed Hercules.
WJ325 is an Handley Page Hastings C.4, the VIP version belonging to Royal Air Force Far East and in retirement since the mid 60's.
The Hastings was powered by an arrangement of four wing-mounted Bristol Hercules 101 sleeve valve radial engines. The engines drove de
Havilland-built hydromatic four-blade propellers.
Havilland-built hydromatic four-blade propellers.
A Douglas Dakota IV and a Le Pou du Ciel H.M.14.
Spotted inside the Malta Aviation Museum's complex, located at Ta' Qali. The DC-3 was donated by Medavia and is fully complete including both engines and wings, also full instrumentation.
US serial 44-76603 went to RAF in India as a Dakota IV, KN462, in March 1945. After the war she went to Eagle Aviation as G-AMPT. She also served with airlines in Africa from 1953. The DC-3 departed Malta on 7 March 1995 for Algiers under a new Equatorial Guinea reg (3C-JJN), but returned with engine problems. Strangely she received a Bosnian reg (T9-ABC) but did not fly again. She was purchased for the Malta Aviation Museum in 1999 and moved to Ta Qali in 2006.
Former registrations used by this airframe include 44-76603, G-AMPT, VP-YKM, 7Q-YKM, ZS-EYO, F-ODQL, F-GILV, N48ME, 3C-JJN. Registered T9-ABC and stored at Malta since April 1995. Presently she is preserved with the Malta Aviation Museum at the former RAF Ta'Qali airfield.
This ship was previously owned by Cargo Sans Frontier and NewCal Aviation.
The sticker suggests that once the aircraft took part in Paris-Dakar rally.
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp.
A Birmingham Small Arms Company motorcycle.
A 1960 Standard Ensign estate.
Z3055/HA-E is an Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIA.
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This Hurricane was lost in June 1941 after take off from Safi airfield in Malta. Found in the sea in 1993 and recovered in 1995.
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Agusta Bell AB47G-2 AS7201.
Superb restored Cessna L-19E Bird Dog 9H-ACB at the Malta Aviation Museum. She formerly flew as MM61-2983 in the Italian Army. The aircraft was written off in 1992 after doing a ground loop and it was eventually donated to the Museum.
Fiat G91R/1B MM6377/2-11.
English Electric Lightning F.2 XN769.
Denny Kitfox 3.
5N-BBP BAC 111-518FG (nose only) was built in 1970. This One-Eleven served with Court Line Aviation, Dan-Air, British Air Ferries and British World Airlines. This aircraft was last operated by Albarka Air from Nigeria.
The '500 cockpit had a lot of similarity with the HS.121 Trident.
Gloster Meteor F.8 presented with fake serial number "WF714". Original is serial is WK914.
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Gloster Meteor NF.14T WS774/D is a resident at the excellent Ta'Qali Malta Aviation Museum. This is a former RAF 228/OCU navigation trainer variant of the venerable Meteor. It arrived at the museum in 2006, after being held in storage at RAF Quedgeley.
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Bell UH-1H Iroquois 66-0749.
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Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX EN199/R-B is seen here on display in the Malta Aviation Museum. This aircraft served in the Mediterranean throughout its operational life and it has quite a pedigree. It was the personal machine of Wing Commander Ronald Berry DFC, whose code it bears. It was also flown by Sqn Leader Colin Gray (81 Sqn), one of the top RAF aces of WWII. It is known to have 6 kills to its credit, although this excludes a crucial period in early 1943 for which records have not been found. Information kindly provided by the Museum. Olympus C-740.
North American T-6G Harvard MM53679/SL-36.
From these ashes a phoenix shall rise. The remnants of this Fairey Swordfish IV 'HS491' was built in 1943 for the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the war it fell into disrepair and was eventually cannibalised to enable another Swordfish, 'HS554', to be restored to flying condition. 'HS491' has just been acquired by the Malta Aviation Museum, which intends to restore it to the same standard as its Hurricane.
Agusta Bell AB212AM MM81145.
This One-Eleven rolled-off the Hurn production-line in 1970. With construction number 230 she was delivered to Dan-Air London as G-BEKA. During these years she was a regular visitor to European airports. Later in her career she was operated by British Air Ferries, British World and Sabena. In March 2002 she was exported to Nigeria and started to work for Albarka Air Service. Her career in Nigeria was short and only one year later she was seen stored at Malta with 'Official Carrier of Miss World 2002'. In August 2004 she was being studied by a Brazil delegation in view of ferry and preservation in Brazil. In February 2006 she was lifted by crane over fence of Malta Luqa airport and towed to former RAF Hal Far airfield. Presently she is used by International Safety Training College.
The One-Eleven is a low wing airliner powered by two aft-mounted engines.
The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
- Nose wick.
- Twin static port pressure instruments for Capt. and F/O (ASI/VSI).
- Visual ice vane with light and heater
- Rotary ice detector.
- Ground-crew head set connection
- Pitot-tube for ASI dynamic pressure.
- Ground power connector.
- Radio cooling outlet vent.
- Conditioning airdischarge valve.
- ILS aerial.
Introduced in 1967, the 500 series are stretched by 13.5 ft (4.1 m).
The design was designated the BAC 111 (later known as the One-Eleven).
The short haul, narrowbody aircraft was powered by aft-mounted Rolls-Royce Spey low-bypass turbofans, a configuration similar to the earlier Sud Aviation Caravelle and later Douglas DC-9.
Specially "hush-kitted" Speys.
In 1967 a larger 119-seat version was introduced as the One-Eleven 500 (also known as Super One-Eleven). This "stretched" version was delayed for at least a year while its launch customer BEA assessed its requirements. This gave competing US aircraft (the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 737) the opportunity to compensate for the One-Eleven's early penetration of the US domestic market.
BEA/British Airways 500 series aircraft (denoted One-Eleven 510ED) varied significantly from other One-Elevens, at BEA's request. The One-Eleven 510ED had a modified cockpit which incorporated instrumentation and avionics from or similar to that of the Hawker Siddeley Trident, for better commonality with the type. Their additional equipment included a more sophisticated Autopilot, which allowed autoland in CAT II and included an autothrottle. The modifications went as far as reversing the "on" position of most switches to match that of the Trident; indeed, the 510ED was so different from other One-Elevens and 500 series aircraft that a different type rating was required to fly it.
BAC One-Eleven 500. Extended body version with up to 119 seats and longer span wings. Fitted with more powerful engines Spey 512s.
Having faced competition from US aircraft by 1966, by 1970 the One-Eleven also faced competition from newer, smaller aircraft such as the Fokker F28 Fellowship. The F28 was lighter, less complex, and cheaper. The One-Eleven 475 of 1970 was launched to compete with the F28. It combined the 400 fuselage with the higher power and larger wing of the 500 and was intended for hot and high operations, however only 10 One-Eleven Mk 475 were sold. In 1977, the One-Eleven 670, a quiet and updated 475, was offered to the Japanese domestic market, also failing to sell.
In 1971 orders slowed to a trickle. There were two reasons why the production line was kept open for just 35 aircraft delivered over 11 years: first, BAC hoped that Rolls-Royce would develop a quieter and more powerful version of the Spey engine, making possible further One-Eleven developments; second, throughout the early part of the period Romania was negotiating to buy the entire One-Eleven programme and transfer production of the type to Bucharest.
RAF Westland Sea King HAS.6 ZD633.
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