Cold War Jets Roar!

By Bradley Rogers

Sunday 25th August saw Bruntingthorpe once again throw open its doors for a fourth all-teams public open day. Like the Cold War Jets Open Days of old, it took place on the traditional Sunday of the August bank holiday, which saw 117 lucky people indulge in a jet fuelled day. The changes to Bruntingthorpe and its aviation have been well documented, with the current site is still under development to a dedicated public museum. Open days are vital to raising funds to support the maintenance and running costs of these historic aircraft.

The team of Canberra WT333 ‘Treble Three’ sadly had to make the tough decision not to run, following a number of unfortunate and frustrating setbacks with their team, which meant that they were unable to perform any of the necessary maintenance work on her. However, there was a skeleton ground crew on hand to open up ‘Treble Three’ to allow visitors to get up close and personal with the aircraft. They also continued to give the aircraft a good clean and set up a merchandise stall alongside the aircraft selling WT333 related merchandise.

With most of the public now on site, all were encouraged to congregate around the apron located at the front of the Lightning Preservation Group’s genuine RAF Wattisham QRA shed. There, a short safety briefing was given by Richard Clarke and Matt Wainwright to ensure public safety throughout.

To start proceedings, shortly after 11am, were the Classic British Jets Collection’s Jet Provost Mk.3 and Mk.5, which were placed side by side to perform simultaneous engine runs. Both jets performed impeccably, testimony to the teams who give up their time to keep these jets running. 

Between each item in the running order, the aircraft would have to be repositioned back to their allotted parking slots, due to the small nature of the current site. During this time visitors could take time to talk to the crews, visit the LPG shop and hangar, browse the stalls or purchase some refreshments. 

Next to take centre stage was the first of the two resident Soviet aircraft that make up part of the wider Cold War Jets Collection, the PZL TS-11 Iskra. At the controls was former Lightning pilot Sqn Ldr Dennis Brooks, who’d later be at the controls of a Lightning once again! This was the first time the Iskra had run for the public since the changes, it ran seamlessly. 

After another short intermission and a large game of aircraft-tetris, it was the turn of the Aero Vodochody L-29 Delfin, the second of the Soviet aircraft in the collection. This aircraft has previously taken part in the open days, but only to refuse to start, giving the teams more issues to juggle. This time however the aircraft behaved and started first-time.  

Next to take the stand is what many regard as one of the all time great British designs of aircraft, the Hawker Hunter. This is a GA.11 variant previously used by the Royal Navy’s FRADU and flew with the Blue Herons Display Team. It is now part of the Classic British Jets Collection, one of the teams that make up the wider Cold War Jets Collection. This aircraft’s party piece, if you will, is the eye-catching ‘cartridge start’ where essentially a rocket motor fires, driving a starter motor to spool up the engine. This creates a striking dark cloud of smoke before the surroundings are alive with the sound of a whining Rolls-Royce Avon engine.

Once the Hunter had vacated clear of the apron it was time to position the once stalwart of the classic jet UK airshow scene the Gloster Meteor NF.11 WM167 (G-LOSM). Now part of the Classic British Jets Collection the team had to source new engines to get her back to ground running condition, after the original airworthy set were taken away as part of the deal for the aircraft to join the collection. Thanks to the team's hard work the Meteor continues to run smoothly, after briefly refusing to start her port engine.

Last and by no means least, to bring the proceeding to a dramatic close was the Lightning Preservation Group’s BAC Lightning F.6 XS904. This would be the public’s chance to witness the power of the Lightning in reheat and just feet away. The Lightning is simply too powerful to run both engines in reheat at once; not even chocks can be trusted to restrain the sheer amount of power. Climbing into the hot seat was the aforementioned Sqn Ldr Dennis Brooks, winding back the years to take control of a Lightning once again - for him it never gets old! The public got to witness a running of each engine at a time, up to and including reheat.

Once again another successful open day, despite the site’s obvious challenges when compared to yesteryear. Please look out for more events in future as the teams continue to keep these historic aircraft alive for future generations. Details of such events can be found at https://www.lightnings.org.uk/, the Bruntingthorpe Cold War Jets Collection Facebook group, and the Eventbrite page; just search “Classic British Jets Collection”. The next open day will be the Lightning Preservation Group Twilight Event on Saturday 2nd November 2024.