Hooton Park Hangars

16/08/2024

Next open day Sunday 25th August

15/08/2024

The episode of Bangers and Cash on free view channel Yesterday is showing the departure of the late John Karlberg's buses from Hooton. It airs at 20.00 hrs Please share this post.

12/08/2024

The bus running day was a very successful day. Being blessed with almost clear blue skies for most of the day. A good selection of the Hooton buses were out on display with several of them taking part in the runs out from Hooton. One bus alone clocked over a 1000 riders on the day. Great photo opportunities and some happy photographers were the order of the day. The model boat club and the radio club both put on display on the Pear tree field. The field was pressed into service for car parking as it had been a dry week. The museum was open and thank you to the 72 visitors who paid the entry fee and had a look around.
A programme was produced and sold which included the bus time table. Ken Burnley also produced a poster in the print museum to mark the day.
An event like this can only succeed through the hard work and dedication of a few people aided on the day by a host of volunteers family and friends. Well done to every one.

08/08/2024

https://bit.ly/3OfgSQd Follow the link to a poster for the bus running day on Sunday.

VERY LIMITED ON SITE PARKING DUE TO ALL THE BUSES.
Please use the shuttle which will pick up at Hooton Station. Just a taster.

06/08/2024

Last Friday we had the first of 3 planned visits from Central Cheshire Buddy Scheme, this group was the young explorers group and it was a real pleasure to show them around. There was interest in all our displays but the show stealers were the Canberra and Gannett cockpits because they are hands on. The group shot at the end of the tour captures the mood beautifully.

06/08/2024

Just a quick photo update since the July open day to keep everyone up to speed on projects.

22/06/2024

Our Next Open Day is Sunday 30th June. As parking is restricted on site we will running a shuttle bus from Hooton Station car park with the first bus leaving the station at 10.30. Hooton Station is sign posted from the A41. If approaching from the motorway turn right at The Chimneys public house and the station is just over a mile on the left. Bus will run at approximately 30 minute intervals.
A new attraction this year is our Print Museum located in Building 27 entrance from the top of the car park by the red and white barrier. Enjoy a brief introduction to the skills needed before computers were used.
There are new exhibits on display since the May open day, a Miles Gemini has joined The Aeroplane Collection restoration que and Hooton Park has added some Avro 504 parts (on loan) and now have a section of Hurricane cockpit and a RR Merlin engine on display.

17/06/2024

There was a notification saying that we had a message from Rebecca Heron but no message has opened up. Rebecca if you still have a query please e mail us on [email protected]

17/06/2024

Our Next Open Day is Sunday 30th June. As parking is restricted on site we will running a shuttle bus from Hooton Station car park with the first bus leaving the station at 10.30. Hooton Station is sign posted from the A41. If approaching from the motorway turn right at The Chimneys public house and the station is just over a mile on the left. Bus will run at approximately 30 minute intervals.
A new attraction this year is our Print Museum located in Building 27 entrance from the top of the car park by the red and white barrier. Enjoy a brief introduction to the skills needed before computers were used.

There are new exhibits on display since the May open day, a Miles Gemini has joined The Aeroplane Collection restoration que and Hooton Park has added some Avro 504 parts (on loan) and now have a section of Hurricane cockpit and a RR Merlin engine on display.

24/05/2024

Sunday 26th is our public open day, 10.00 to 16.00 last admission 15.00, £5.00 per person accompanied under 16's free.

Due to limited on site parking we will be running a shuttle bus from Hooton Station with the first bus from Hooton Station at 10.30.
The Station car park fee is £1.00 for all day parking. Last bus from the hangars to the station will be at 16.00. Bus provided by 201 Bus Group.

Looks like I gave duff gen as on another site its £1.30 to park, sorry.

29/04/2024

Well that went well, what a turn out for our first public day of the year. A huge thank to all the Hooton Park volunteers not just on the day but for the hard work put in over the weeks which went to make the day such a success. I never managed to get around with the camera during the day but did have the advantage of being able to go around after we closed and when the light was taking on that soft evening glow.
A big thank must also go to all the visitors that turned out to join us and it was great to hear that we had several return visitors coming back to follow our progress.
Our next open day is on May 26th so please spread the word and we look forward to welcoming visitors again for the public days as well as starting our ad hoc tours for 2024.

09/04/2024

With the pace picking up as our self imposed deadline approaches we are having to declutter in the hangar. One item that we have stored for several years but really have no place for in an aviation themed collection is a boat.
The boat in question was designed and built by Peter Richardson sadly no longer with us, Peter was involved from the start in 1998 with the campaign to save the Hangars and was one of the original board members. We have managed to make contact with Peters daughter who unfortunately is not able to offer a home for the boat but has agreed to us offering her out in the hope of finding a new home.
I'm not big on boats but do know that this is a fibre glass hull and is named RotoBoat, its around 6 meters in length with a beam of around 1.5 metres .The sail had been replaced with a pair of vertically mounted blades which then transferred to a drive shaft connected to the prop. Sadly much of the drive gear no longer exists as the boat was in Building 16 when the roof gave in and was trapped in without any cover as it was to dangerous to go into the building. The blades still exist some damage to them and a pair of out riggers are also with her. The tail goes that Peter put on the water once and it was such a handful that the outriggers were built to stabilise the whole rig but were never tried out. The hull could possibly be remodelled for a more conventual rig.
In a bid to find a home we are offering this as seen at no cost to any one who would be interested in taking it on. Transport would need to be arranged. If interested or you know of any one who may be please share this post. Interested parties should contact us at [email protected] as soon as possible as we cannot keep her indefinitely.

12/03/2024

A short update on progress in Building 16, still lots to do before we open the doors on April 28th but progress is being made.
Work on TAC's Vampire continues with the booms now refitted. Auster G-AJEB has been taken off display and is seen here stored in the north bay alongside G-ARTM. Tucked away in a quite corner our airfield search light is getting a bit of much needed tlc. Tugmaster 6A G-ARGB has had the wings fitted and will be displayed as a project in waiting for a while. Our Meteor now has all the major panels fitted next job is prep work for a new paint job. The Sopwith Baby has moved to its display position and now has that beautiful prop fitted to its 3D printed rotary engine which was produced by John Moores Uni Liverpool. Our pieces of original truss and door can be seen in the picture of Auster G-AIGP where it is situated for work to be carried out before replacing JEB in the display.

18/02/2024

With Friday the 16th come and gone time to reflect on a very busy day. An early start got me to Hooton for 07.30, time to open up and catch up on a bit of paper work before the real work began. Haljon in the form of Andy arrived just after 08.30 and from then on it was all action until closing the gates just after 19.00.
First job on the list was to lift the Meteor WH132's tail section of the trolley and hang it on the back of the centre section. Andy quickly picked up the c of g and with a few tweaks soon had the balance sorted out. From there on it was pretty much plain sailing to drop the section in over the flaps and bolt it down. Done and dusted by 10.00 without incident.
Next on the list was to suspend the Vampire pod so that the nose wheel could be lowered and locked and rear supports could be added to the back end. With that done and hanging so the work to lock the nose wheel could continue it was over to Building 17 to retrieve the section of original truss which we are displaying now in Building 16. With the necessary bus moved Andy's fork lift and jib made light work of the job and the truss is now positioned in its final display position. Not quite parallel to the wall as it has a pronounced twist in it probably from when it was hanging when the centre section collapsed. Little bit of fettling to do to remove sticky out bits and a coat a white to freshen it up.
Then it was into unknown territory with the Vampire wings starting with turning the starboard wing the right way. A difficult manoeuvre with the main wheel down, however Andy made it look easy and the whole exercise was carried through with any mishaps much to Stewart relief. After re-slinging it was all stations go to locate and pin the wing in place. This is where things slowed down but after a struggle all 3 pins were located and the wing was not coming off. The struggle involved pretty much every one a some stage in the proceedings so its a blanket thank you to every one in the hangar on Friday for the help with the Meteor, truss and Vampire. By the time the 3rd pin was located it had grown dark and the decision was made to leave the port wing for another day.
A pretty full on day for every one so thanks to all for the hard work.

11/02/2024

To follow up on the information provided by Bob Street the link below will give chapter and verse on VH-BOB c/n 6522 and there are some nice colour shots of its last scheme which is really attractive in my view.

The unique Miles Lycoming Gemini VH-WEJ at Broadmeadow aerodrome, Newcastle NSW in 1956, soon after it was re-engined with Lycoming flat four engines by owner Walter E. James. His plan to market Lycoming conversion kits to Australian Gemini owners was not successful.   Photo: Ben Dannecker collect...

11/02/2024

With under a week left until we have Andy from Haljon in with his hi-ab a quick up date on where we are. The Meteor is positioned ready for the tail section lift which will be the first operation on Friday. TAC have been busy finishing the underside of the Vampire wings a great job by Paul from Western Signs & Printing on applying the decals. Paul is due back for a repeat visit to the Vampire and he has also produced the roundel's for the Meteor, still away to go before they are put on. As of last Friday there was a wheel and tyre left to fit on the Vampire wings which will be rotated through 180 to get them the right way up before fitting to the fuselage pod which has also moved across to the north bay.
Also due to be moved on Friday is the section of B.16 original truss the only salvageable piece from the whole roof which has been languishing in B.17 since Scott from Carroll's dropped in there. The Canberra has been seeing some attention and work has also commenced on putting our FSM Spitfire IX together starting at the rear end with strengthening the tail wheel assembly and fitting the port tail plane. TAC have had parts of another Miles Gemini delivered to Hooton Park which carries the registration VH-BOB on the fin an aeroplane I first saw 20 years ago to the day at Brooklands airfield near York Western Australia. Rob Jones and crew are pressing on with No.4 one stair case has had a trial fit and the rails for the upper deck are being assembled some of them are in front of the tram primed with red oxide. Finally our Eastham Day Care volunteers have been recycling plants from an over grown verge and created a small garden by B.17 arch.

21/01/2024

Since closing after the last open day we have been busy in Building 16 North doing prep work for the expansion into both bays when we reopen in April. Conditions were not ideal before Christmas for floor painting and there has been a lot of shifting around to clear areas for priming and top coating. As the pictures show we have now made major in roads on that front. Restoration wise the The Meteor team are pushing on WH132 is now on its wheels and the re-joining of the tail section is planned for February 16th, that will be a major milestone for every one involved. Its good to welcome back Paul onto the restoration circuit, Paul did an amazing job on the Meteor cockpit before buying a boat which took up a all of his free time. with the boat now moved on Paul is joining in with the Canberra WT520 project work. At the same time as the Meteor work is scheduled we are hoping to get TAC's Vampire wings re-united with the fuselage pod which will move across to the North bay for assembly. Work on G-ALPU glider is now well on and is pretty much ready to mount in the North bay once the skid and screen have been fitted. Work has also continued on the the Parker CA.4 G-AFIU, with one wing and covered along with the tail feathers. Personally I can't wait to see her finished having been involved with saving her 3 times during my time in TAC.
Still lots to do and I will try and keep you up to date as the work progresses.