Warbird Information Exchange

Currently located at Fort Paull museum in UK close to the port of Hull the worlds last surviving Blackburn Beverley xb259 desperately needs a new home

With museum closure she's at risk of scrapping if the forthcoming auction fails , im not sure of what interest she will attract in the UK - (RAF museum scrapped their only one at Hendon many years ago!
so if any body in America is out there to save Britain's heritage (she's only a few miles from the east coast port of Hull. And they last disassembled her in 2005 so she could come apart again no doubt)

I'm in no way related to the old girl other than having visited her twice in last 25 years - I just don't want to see such an old airframe scrapped she's maybe one of the oldest airframe still outside in uk! the design traced it's origin back to the GAL hamilcar WW2 glider used in D Day - She deserves to survive especially as she's still in reasonable condition.

Auction dated is not yet announced but mooted over coming months Gilbert Baitson auctioneers so the article reads

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritag ... 1-10226857

I wonder if the RAF museum is waiting for a free donation? Would seem that would be the best location.

She would look good at Pima, which would be better for her long term survival if kept outdoors, but would needs lots of stamps to cover the postage....

Fly her to PIMA ha ha

Visited the Yorkshire Air Museum in 2018 and it’s really not that far from Fort Paull. It would fit in with their collection. Yorkshire Museum was really good, a Halifax and a lot that I never thought I’d ever see.

The RAF Museum scrapped the last one they had! I think Duxford is one of the few places that might find space under cover for this unique machine.

Here we go again!

The one at Hendon was on the RAF camp, behind a chainlink fence, and not part of the museum. It was owned by the RAF. When the Museum were offered it when the RAF station closed, it was too far gone to be saved.

But did the RAF museum ask if they could take it on before it got to that point?


Rob

It's worth pointing out that this Beverley has already been relocated by road a couple of times. She was flown into the glider strip near Fort Paul on retirement and was used as a clubhouse by the glider club. It was then dismantled and moved by road to the Museum of Army Transport in the town of Beverley (also in Yorkshire). When that museum closed the Bev was moved to Fort Paul itself, where she stands now.

Unfortunately, for the road trips the fuselage had to be cut horizontally so there is no way the structure could be considered airworthy, not that she would realistically be anywhere near airworthy after so many years out in the UK weather.

It really would be a great shame if she wasn't saved, but the sheer scale of the beast must be very daunting for any potential owner.

How bad would it have been for a museum to say "its too far gone" When its one of two remaining examples, its hard to justify scrapping when it could be rolled over to the facility with little to no cost. Sounds like a cop-out. It could have been a restoration to static by volunteers if they really didn't want to spend any effort.

It seems a natural for it to go to the RAF museum. It will be expensive to disassemble, transport, and reassemble. That’s why they spend thousands patching up old transports and obtaining ferry permits. This one can’t be flown. If it were an inside a hangar, it wouldn’t take up all that much space. Being a high wing, lots of aircraft can be parked underneath. The cavernous fuselage would be great for walk through tours, exhibit displays, or a huge amount of equipment storage. I assume it has a loading ramp for vehicles.
If it gets scrapped, it will be a shame but a reflection of being an ungainly, ugly, and probably not nice to fly, design. The USAF museum recently put up for sale , their sole survivor Northrop YC-125 Raider. National museums are losing their sentimental favor, for the odd, ugly, foreign built , and not particularly historic or important types.

Well to get the ball rolling I for one will put his money where is mouth is. I will publicly donate £500 to any organisation that correctly dismantles, transports and re-assembles the entire aircraft to a place of preservation. The RAF Museum itself should be falling over themselves to acquire this for the nations collection at Cosford.

And IMO if this last surviving complete Blackburn Beverley is allowed to be scrapped and lost forever in 2020 after surviving for so many years outside, then we may as well all pack up and go home!


Rob

Close - one of two; Pima has the other one. Castle would be a natural for the NMUSAF Raider; they seem to have an affinity for the odd stuff.

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Four were preserved in the modern era. Finningley (broken up to make space for the Silver Jubilee review in 1977), Southend (which didn’t survive the museum’s closure), the RAF Hendon one, and now this one. Will this be the first major type to become extinct after entering preservation?

Very likely.
I'm pretty sure there no museums with a hangar big enough (specifically height - just short of 40') to take a Beverly so the chances of preserving it indefinitely are remote.

'Twood be hard to find a hangar that tall. I've only studied the Beverly in photos and your initial thought is C-119/C-82...maybe a little bigger. Nope a lot larger. The upper deck/tailboom is the size of somewhere between C-47 and C-54!! Tho only my opinion, I'll defer description to the folks who have personal experience with the Beverly.

In reading a Beverly pilot report years ago, upon liftoff, Pilot to Co-pilot calls, "My side's up! How about yours?"

Maybe someone could take her on as a Reservist barracks or temporary housing for the poor in a township?

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