Hello everyone. Harry and I recently visited the Aircraft Museum at East Fortune, a former WW2 RAF station near North Berwick, to the south of Edinburgh. We had a great day out and saw some wonderful exhibits, many of which brought back memories of my time as an Aircraft Engineer in the Royal Air Force. There was one particularly special exhibit which caught our imagination. Oh that and a bona fide aviation war hero. Sadly deteriorating it has to be said. The filming was off the cuff, there is a good bit of wind noise, background noise, camera shake and all the other amateurish rubbish you've come to know but probably not love. All that aside, I hope you enjoy the film. We had a fantastic day and I'd recommend East Fortune to anyone with even a passing interest in aviation.
Thank you Paul, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I'd have liked to get far more information in but the film would have ended up being 2 hours long! Thank you for your comments and support. Yes, Harry is some man. I am very proud of him, as I am all of my children.
Thank you, Carl and Harry, for an excellent tour of the museum. Most enjoyable (and informative). My father, as an RAAF pilot, spent time at East Fortune during WW2. And I've been inside the cockpit of a Vulcan. One (or two?) visited Australia. Pretty sure in was during my Air Training Corps CUO course at RAAF Fairbairn, Canberra in January 1966. Cheers, Peter.
Thanks Peter! What an amazing fact that your Father was a pilot in the RAAF and served at East Fortune! Somewhat blown away by that. You were lucky to get in the cockpit of a Vulcan. The old girl there is in poor condition, and it pains me to see it. I am really pleased you enjoyed the film. Thank you so much for your support and kind words. They are much appreciated.
A great visit. I've built a lot of Comet/Nimrod undercarriages, brought back memories. What a shame that 597 has to sit outside and rot, given its history. Harry had a good time. Best wishes, Dean.
Of course I know your Nimrod pedigree, as you know mine. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. The Vulcan is in a terrible state. It needs to be inside but they just don't have the space. Ideally a Rubb hangar could be erected for it. Of course it comes down to funding.
I worked for Ferranti for a long time. I was temporarily working at Filton, just for a few weeks back in the early 80's and a Concorde was in having some work done on it. I was working on another project, but we could see the Concorde in the distance. I was advised I could possibly get a tour around that Concorde when my work was completed. Came the day of the tour, we drove around to Concorde, only to find it had just been cleaned, inspected and sealed, so I never did get to see inside, but was impressed with the exterior and how small it was (compared with other planes of the day) Your video brought back some of those memories :)
What a brilliant tale. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I know what you mean. Seeing the aircraft I worked on gives me a huge kick of nostalgia. Thank you for watching!
@@carlwilson1772 Lots of nostalgia. I was scheduled to work on the control and instrumentation for the rush job for that Vulcan in-flight refueling system, but was moved onto another project. BTW Thank Harry for the excellent commentary :)
@@paulhammond7489 Small world my friend. Whenever I go to one of these museums I see something that I worked on or had a hand in too. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. You must have some great stories to tell.
@@carlwilson1772 I'm sure we could bend each others ears for days on the stories we could tell. But I'll share a funny one re museums. The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester was one of my favourite places to take my children when they were still in primary school. On one such visit they had a new display of Ferranti computer hardware. Having worked on that kit I headed straight for the section... I soon found a few pieces of equipment that had my manufacturing stamp as well as my hand written module label displayed on the kit. I was as proud as punch explaining to my children that I had built those modules and then started to describe what each one did. My eldest daughter interrupted me and stated "Dad.... I always thought you were 'OLD', but now I know you 'ARE OLD' as something you made is actually in a museum". It was really funny at the time and we all had a good laugh, but she was right, technology had moved so fast during our careers, and still does. Something I'm sure you have considered when you took your son around these aviation museums, and talked about your experience working on historical aircraft :)
As the nephew of a rear gunner on Lancasters during WW2, I have a fascination ( and respect) of older aircraft and the folk who flew and maintained them. We must preserve this heritage. Young Harry's interest is admirable.
Nice one! two in one day! I am a big fan of Napier so to see the turbine diesel was excellent, got stiched up a bitby RR by all accounts! Really enjoyed the tour! Phil
Big fan of Napier myself. That turbine diesel was really quite something. They did get stitched up by RR. So did Whittle with Power Jets and Bristol Sidelley too. Napier Sabre was a brilliant aero engine.
Thanks for the tour and the information you provided. A great learning opportunity for us that aren't able to experience places like this in person. Again a great presentation.
Yes I didn't get the times right, it was a bit off the cuff. But you get the idea. A quantum leap.Thank you very much for watching and for your comment, it's appreciated!
Really interesting museum tours. I will have to visit both later in the year. Good news about your wife, I hope her recovery is swift. When I last was an East Fortune they had a Beaufighter, in a very sorry state… Any sign of it when you visited?
Hi and thank you very much for watching my film. I got to go into the restoration hangar at East Fortune but didn't film it. There was indeed a Beaufighter in there in a state of dismemberment. I got to see one of the mainplanes which looked quite damaged and with a fair bit of corrosion. The fuselage was away in the distance and I didn't get to see it. It is all there, but I had an interesting conversation with the museum staff re the relative merits of "restoration" vs "conservation". As an engineer my instinct is to repair and rebuild to as close to as new condition as I can get. So that would be restoration. Conservation on the other hand is more a case of preserving something as it is and preventing any further deterioration. I think their plan for the Beaufighter falls firmly into the latter camp.
Hello everyone. Harry and I recently visited the Aircraft Museum at East Fortune, a former WW2 RAF station near North Berwick, to the south of Edinburgh. We had a great day out and saw some wonderful exhibits, many of which brought back memories of my time as an Aircraft Engineer in the Royal Air Force. There was one particularly special exhibit which caught our imagination. Oh that and a bona fide aviation war hero. Sadly deteriorating it has to be said. The filming was off the cuff, there is a good bit of wind noise, background noise, camera shake and all the other amateurish rubbish you've come to know but probably not love. All that aside, I hope you enjoy the film. We had a fantastic day and I'd recommend East Fortune to anyone with even a passing interest in aviation.
Carl , a really interesting tour of the air museum. Thanks also to young Harry for his informative comments. You both make quite a team. 👍👍👍
Thank you Paul, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I'd have liked to get far more information in but the film would have ended up being 2 hours long! Thank you for your comments and support. Yes, Harry is some man. I am very proud of him, as I am all of my children.
Fascinating and informative. Great video Carl. plus the added value of your extensive knowledge.
Ha ha! I don't know about "extensive"! Thanks for watching, I appreciate your support. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you, Carl and Harry, for an excellent tour of the museum. Most enjoyable (and informative).
My father, as an RAAF pilot, spent time at East Fortune during WW2. And I've been inside the cockpit of a Vulcan. One (or two?) visited Australia. Pretty sure in was during my Air Training Corps CUO course at RAAF Fairbairn, Canberra in January 1966.
Cheers, Peter.
Thanks Peter! What an amazing fact that your Father was a pilot in the RAAF and served at East Fortune! Somewhat blown away by that. You were lucky to get in the cockpit of a Vulcan. The old girl there is in poor condition, and it pains me to see it. I am really pleased you enjoyed the film. Thank you so much for your support and kind words. They are much appreciated.
A great visit. I've built a lot of Comet/Nimrod undercarriages, brought back memories. What a shame that 597 has to sit outside and rot, given its history. Harry had a good time.
Best wishes, Dean.
Of course I know your Nimrod pedigree, as you know mine. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. The Vulcan is in a terrible state. It needs to be inside but they just don't have the space. Ideally a Rubb hangar could be erected for it. Of course it comes down to funding.
I worked for Ferranti for a long time. I was temporarily working at Filton, just for a few weeks back in the early 80's and a Concorde was in having some work done on it. I was working on another project, but we could see the Concorde in the distance. I was advised I could possibly get a tour around that Concorde when my work was completed. Came the day of the tour, we drove around to Concorde, only to find it had just been cleaned, inspected and sealed, so I never did get to see inside, but was impressed with the exterior and how small it was (compared with other planes of the day) Your video brought back some of those memories :)
What a brilliant tale. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I know what you mean. Seeing the aircraft I worked on gives me a huge kick of nostalgia. Thank you for watching!
@@carlwilson1772 Lots of nostalgia. I was scheduled to work on the control and instrumentation for the rush job for that Vulcan in-flight refueling system, but was moved onto another project. BTW Thank Harry for the excellent commentary :)
@@paulhammond7489 Small world my friend. Whenever I go to one of these museums I see something that I worked on or had a hand in too. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. You must have some great stories to tell.
@@carlwilson1772 I'm sure we could bend each others ears for days on the stories we could tell. But I'll share a funny one re museums. The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester was one of my favourite places to take my children when they were still in primary school. On one such visit they had a new display of Ferranti computer hardware. Having worked on that kit I headed straight for the section... I soon found a few pieces of equipment that had my manufacturing stamp as well as my hand written module label displayed on the kit. I was as proud as punch explaining to my children that I had built those modules and then started to describe what each one did. My eldest daughter interrupted me and stated "Dad.... I always thought you were 'OLD', but now I know you 'ARE OLD' as something you made is actually in a museum". It was really funny at the time and we all had a good laugh, but she was right, technology had moved so fast during our careers, and still does. Something I'm sure you have considered when you took your son around these aviation museums, and talked about your experience working on historical aircraft :)
As the nephew of a rear gunner on Lancasters during WW2, I have a fascination ( and respect) of older aircraft and the folk who flew and maintained them. We must preserve this heritage. Young Harry's interest is admirable.
Thank you very much for your comments and for watching. I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment.
Just revisited and noticed I hadn't given a "Like"!! Error made good.
Thank you Peter, your support is appreciated!
Nice one! two in one day! I am a big fan of Napier so to see the turbine diesel was excellent, got stiched up a bitby RR by all accounts!
Really enjoyed the tour!
Phil
Big fan of Napier myself. That turbine diesel was really quite something. They did get stitched up by RR. So did Whittle with Power Jets and Bristol Sidelley too. Napier Sabre was a brilliant aero engine.
Thanks for the tour and the information you provided. A great learning opportunity for us that aren't able to experience places like this in person. Again a great presentation.
Wow, thank you so much for your kind comments, I really appreciate your support!
Nice video, thanks for sharing
Thank you very much .
31:33 The first flight of the Lancaster and Vulcan was just 11yrs apart... 11yrs...
Yes I didn't get the times right, it was a bit off the cuff. But you get the idea. A quantum leap.Thank you very much for watching and for your comment, it's appreciated!
This is great
Thank you so much Cain!
Home to the R34 airship
Yes indeed it was!
Really interesting museum tours. I will have to visit both later in the year. Good news about your wife, I hope her recovery is swift. When I last was an East Fortune they had a Beaufighter, in a very sorry state… Any sign of it when you visited?
Hi and thank you very much for watching my film. I got to go into the restoration hangar at East Fortune but didn't film it. There was indeed a Beaufighter in there in a state of dismemberment. I got to see one of the mainplanes which looked quite damaged and with a fair bit of corrosion. The fuselage was away in the distance and I didn't get to see it. It is all there, but I had an interesting conversation with the museum staff re the relative merits of "restoration" vs "conservation". As an engineer my instinct is to repair and rebuild to as close to as new condition as I can get. So that would be restoration. Conservation on the other hand is more a case of preserving something as it is and preventing any further deterioration. I think their plan for the Beaufighter falls firmly into the latter camp.