Bruntingthorpe Cold War Jets - Alive & Kicking!

By Bradley Rogers

Bruntingthorpe is closed, they say… Well that is certainly not the case! 

On Saturday 29th April 2023 The Bruntingthorpe Cold War Jets Collection reopened to the public, to a lucky 150 people who managed to get their hands on the limited amount of tickets that were on sale via ‘eventbrite’.

For those of you that are not familiar with Bruntingthorpe here is the backstory:

Bruntingthorpe is a large aerodrome just outside of Leicester, and just a stones throw from the former workplace of Sir Frank Whittle – Lutterworth. For many years this large aerodrome, owned by the Walton family, has been home to various aviation groups that have saved aircraft and kept them in “fast-taxi” condition. Many of these aircraft are prohibited from flight in the UK, and this aerodrome became a hub for these aircraft and their dedicated teams. Amongst the most notable being; the Lightning Preservation Group, The Buccaneer Aviation Group and of course this was also the place where Vulcan XH558 was returned to flight. In more recent years alongside this aviation hub, and like many other airfields of its kind, the site began to be used for a car storage. This in effect paid for the aviation side of things. Twice a year, usually the Sunday of both the later May and then August bank holiday weekends, the site would open up to the public for a day of “fast-taxi” action. This was a mecca for Cold War Jet enthusiasts, an event where you could see rare examples of aircraft strutting their stuff, albeit not flying.

Unfortunately, just as the pandemic was beginning to gather pace, rumours began to circulate of a change of lease on the aerodrome. Uncertainty and rumours spread quickly with the teams themselves not knowing exactly what the outcome would be. It soon became apparent the new lease holders were not in the business of supporting aviation in any form. The various teams began to make plans for the worst. The Buccaneer Aviation Group soon realised they would no longer be able to operate from Bruntingthorpe and began a successful crowd-funder, where they would later move to Cotswold Airport, former RAF Kemble. The race was now on to remove as many of the aircraft to land excluded from the lease as possible. A new site was created around the Q-shed’s where many of the smaller airframes are now located. The larger aircraft i.e. Nimrod, Comet 4 and Victor were also saved, but the downside is they are on a more remote part where access is restricted. The same cannot be said for the Super Guppy, 747’s, ex-RAF Tristars and VC-10’s, all were scrapped last year. However, if it wasn’t for the generosity of owners Dave Walton, Joe Walton and Matt Walton who gave up their time and own money, the remaining aircraft and created space that we see today simply would not exist. An amazing effort which was all carried out whilst dealing with the constraints of the pandemic!

Fast forward to the present day, and the new site is taking place. The hope is that a public museum can be created, as at present there are no facilities. The bonus is there is a small “Apron” or “Pan”, to the front of the Q-shed, with just enough room to carry out static engine runs and system demonstrations. The Lightning Preservation Group were able to successfully host a first public event back in November, where the team ran Lightning XS904 at twilight, showing the afterburners in their full glory. However, Ben Belben of the Classic British Jets Collection wanted more and set about organising a first all-teams public open day, running more than just one aircraft. He was met with many challenges; the site size has very limited parking, the running area is also small and as mentioned before no facilities. Of course the teams have to prioritise safety above all else, so it was agreed 150 tickets would be made available at a cost of £40. This was initially met with some mixed responses, but in just shy of 2 weeks the tickets were all sold out! It is great to see the appetite for aviation at Bruntingthorpe is still very much alive.

 

The Classic British Jets Collection owns the largest number of airframes on the new site, headed up by Dave Thomas aka “Mr Shifter”. They consist of; Hunter GA.11, Jet Provost, Venom, Meteor NF.11 and the Sea Vixen. Their airframes were all run with pilot Jon Corley in the hot seat. Running for the public were 4 of their collection; Venom, then Hunter, followed by the Meteor and then Jet Provost. With just the Provost, suffering a stuck open throttle, and not willing to play ball.