Latest updates from the Lightning Preservation Group at Bruntingthorpe
July 2020 LPG Future at Bruntingthorpe
A meeting was held at Bruntingthorpe today involving David Walton, the LPG and other Cold War Jet owners and operating teams. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the future of the aircraft remaining at Bruntingthorpe following the sale of C Walton Ltd to Cox Automotive who now lease and control most of the site.
The first update is that there will not be a CWJ Open Day in August. There was a hope that the open day would take place but a combination of the volume of cars and ongoing fallout from Covid-19 means that this cannot happen. Bad news for all of us who enjoyed those fantastic events but I think most people out there knew that this was the likely outcome.
There is an area of land owned by David Walton that is not part of the site leased to Cox and fortunately the LPG Q shed is situated on this land. The Q shed and aircraft can remain there and that is our intention. We plan to maintain the 2 F6 aircraft in fully operational condition as they currently are. We plan to continue with anti-det runs although we may be constrained to running at low power settings in the longer term.
The area to the right and rear of the Q shed has been earmarked by David Walton as an area for parking the other jets that are remaining but much work remains to be done for this to happen. In the longer term, it may be possible to obtain funding for hangar construction but in the meantime preservation of the jets is the priority. Cox Automotive intend to erect a security fence around the area that I’ve discussed so we would no longer have access to the aircraft area from the main site. Separate access would be required from Bath Lane.
I fully appreciate that this is far away from being good news but the option of moving the Q shed and Lightnings would be a monumental and expensive task. The work involved in dismantling the aircraft, transporting them and reassembling in an operational condition doesn’t bear thinking about.
Dennis Brooks, Chairman, Lightning Preservation Group
Please continue to support the Lightning Preservation group via our website, all donations and purchases from the online shop are vital to help keep our Lightnings alive and maintained.
We are hopeful in the future to be able to hold events and allow the public to return to close contact with the aircraft – please keep watching our website for details.