Warbird Information Exchange

In 1963 students from Cranfield Aeronautics College in the UK decided to wheel their Corsair down from the college to the local village pub under the cover of night. This naturally caused a buzz of amusement in the village and the college sent out to retrieve the bird with a tractor.

This aircraft is KD431, the only surviving Fleet Air Arm Corsair of around 2,000 delivered. It survived the chopping block whilst waiting for scrapping in 1946 when Cranfield requested a modern aircraft with hydraulic wing-fold as a learning aid for it's students.

Shortly after the incident it was transfered to the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton. In 2000 restoration began removing layers of paint from a quickly and thickly applied 1963 repainting and bringing it back to the layers of paint seen in 1946.

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

This aircraft and its restoration has led the way. It's doubtless the most original, complete Corsair in existence.

Meanwhile the warbird 'industry' is decades behind...

Not my subject, but I just want to say thanks Mark, you always seem to be able to come up with something new and interesting.

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www.B17BlackJack.com

That's the Swan in Cranfield village, clean across the airfield from the hangars and campus! Energetic buggers these students!

(Fond memories of various fly-ins at Cranfield between 1979 and 1994...)