The Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at the RAF Museum-Cosford held the latest of its popular annual open-house weeks recently, highlighting the progress on its restoration of its Handley Page HP.52 Hampden, registration number PI344. More than 3,000 visitors were able to see the progress that has been made with the Hampden project and a number of Bomber Command veterans with wartime connections to the Hampden were among the visitors.
One of the museum’s longest- running restorations, the Hampden has been receiving a lot of attention from the team as of late. The plane crashed during a transit flight in Russia on September 5, 1942, killing three of its five crew members. It was discovered in 1989 and acquired by the RAF Museum in 1991. During the open-house, visitors were able to see the results of the conservation team’s painstaking work to restore the rear fuselage, following fire damage from its crash and corrosion damage due to the wreck’s years of exposure, unprotected from the elements.
The fuselage is nearing completion and will soon be ready to receive its now-restored original fixtures and fittings. The aircraft will soon have its bomb bay and lower cupola finished and ready for the installation of the circuitry required for operation. Following that, the next major item to be addressed will be the repair and reattachment of the plane’s tail boom.
Born in Milan, Italy, Moreno moved to the U.S. in 1999 to pursue a career as a commercial pilot. His aviation passion began early, inspired by his uncle, an F-104 Starfighter Crew Chief, and his father, a military traffic controller. Childhood adventures included camping outside military bases and watching planes at Aeroporto Linate. In 1999, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, to obtain his commercial pilot license, a move that became permanent. With 24 years in the U.S., he now flies full-time for a Part 91 business aviation company in Atlanta. He is actively involved with the Commemorative Air Force, the D-Day Squadron, and other aviation organizations. He enjoys life with his supportive wife and three wonderful children.
Please could you inform me of the next date to see the Hampden
restoration exhibition update during November 2014.
& oblige.
R Slater