Checking out the Warbirds

The Vickers VC10 has been put back together now and makes for an impressive backdrop…

I couldn’t join the lads at Silverstone this weekend for BSB, but I was determined to at least get a few miles on a bike in over the weekend. So I was a happy lad once I managed to get out this afternoon on the 550 for a quick jaunt up to RAF Cosford. I met up with my old mate Andy who was riding his trusty GS.  Just great to be out in the sunshine and warm enough to be comfortable.

Tea break first!

After a quick cuppa and obligatory ‘light salad’ at the excellent Spiders Web Cafe we headed into the museum. I go there quite a bit.  It’s free to get in, forum cheapskate Kat would approve. However cars do pay for parking. Cosford is always an interesting place to have a mooch about. I focused on the test and experimental hall during this visit. The variety of aircraft and concepts is quite amazing. Incredible what stuff the UK was working on the 50’s and 60’s. Shame those skills are not so prevalent now.

Anyway a pleasant little bimble, good to catch up with Andy and check out some fascinating aircraft and one or two classics parked up at the cafe in Quatt on my way home.

A few more pictures for you:.

The HS Nimrod formed a spectacular backdrop once we parked up. Based on the DH Comet, the world’s first jet airliner the Nimrod was perhaps the finest maritime patrol aircraft of the period

The Bristol 188. A near Mach 2 capable test aircraft that was used to provide data for the development of Concorde amongst other things. I think it just looks amazing

I followed this FireBlade (?) based SF for some the way on the A442. Not my sort of thing, but interesting all the same

The mighty straight six Z1300…it somehow had way more ‘attitude’ than the slightly earlier Honda CBX-6

Tidy BSA, not a clue what model, but I am finding this kind of bike increasingly appealing

A bit of background information for my fellow nerds…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_VC10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley_Nimrod

Visit Cosford