JetsTeam Update!

The Museum volunteers have been busily working away on our ex-Cranfield, 1969 Handley Page Jetstream 200 G-RAVL ‘Jenny’ throughout the year and have been determined to get the upper surfaces in primer before we lose the good weather.

This week saw them duck for the finish line and achieve that goal, she is now panelled up and prepped (ready for a shiny new top coat in 2026) before we put her covers on for the winter.

Below you can see the difference 6 months has made- special thanks to Chief Sander and Painter, Museum Member Rob Colbert 🌈 , who together with the rest of the team has really smashed it in 2025🫡

If you think the team deserve it give ‘em a like and a comment below🙂

Yes folks that time of year has come round already!

Sywell Aviation Museum is now closed for 2025 and reopens on Easter Saturday 4th April 2026.

Huge thanks to all our supporters, donors, friends, volunteers and visitors for their help and support this year- we wouldn’t be here without you!

Please do keep following us for Museum news and local history stories and more during our closed period.

See you in 2026!

Best wishes the SAM Team

Well that’s a wrap on our weekend openings! A lovely final Sunday with a group tour from the Lancia Stratos Owners Club and a couple of visiting Stearman (Stearmen? Stearpersons?) including the Aerosuperbatics wing-walking machine. A lot noisier than our usual quietly reserved Tiger Moths! 🙂

Your last chance to visit us this year is on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon this week between 1200-1600hrs 🫡

A TIGER’S GAUNTLET

This splendid photograph, not published before, shows a visiting Gloster Gauntlet fighter at Sywell Aerodrome.

The first pre-production Gauntlet flew in 1933 and after period of development entered production in 1934 with entry into service in May 1935. Some 246 were built and equipped not only the Royal Air Force but also the air arms of Finland, Denmark, South Africa, Rhodesia and Australia .

The squadron markings on this example indicate that she was part of 74 ‘Tiger’ Squadron RAF which equipped with Gauntlets in April 1937 as part of the new Fighter Command.

They were retained until February 1939 when the squadron began to convert to the new Supermarine Spitfire Mk1, just in time for the outbreak of War that September.

That the machine is camouflaged is likely to indicate this photograph was taken during or after the Munich Crisis of September 1938 – note the side panel was either not painted or is a replacement unit.

The Gauntlet actually remained in (second line) RAF service during most of WW2 and in Sudan, F/L Mitchell achieved the only recorded aerial victory in the Gauntlet, when he shot down an Italian Caproni Ca.133 transport aircraft. The type was retired in 1943.

The only remaining Gauntlet (a MkII) is an ex-Finish Air Force example GT-400 and is occasionally flown albeit with an Alvis Leonides radial engine instead of its rare original Bristol Mercury.

A lovely recent find on eBay for our Jetstream display …

Cal-State Air Lines was a commuter airline that was created in 1968, to provide airline service between Southern and Northern California. With a base at Long Beach Airport and a pair of Beechcraft B-99 turboprops, Cal-State started service on November 11, 1968, from Long Beach to Los Angeles and to seven cities along the central coast of California as far north to Oakland and east to Las Vegas.

Over the next year the airline had its sights on continued growth and started looking for an aircraft to fulfill its needs. Although the commuter aircraft market was still in its infancy, a new entrant specifically for commuter operations was the new Handley Page Jetstream, a fully pressurized, turboprop carrying 18-passengers and perfect for the route segments flown by Cal-State.

In 1969, Cal-State made an unprecedented order for ten of the Jetstream turboprops for delivery beginning in 1970. Planned to be the first airline to fly the new Jetstreams, Cal-State Air Lines was soon disappointed as escalating developmental costs as well as continued problems with the turbine engine proved disastrous to the commuter.

Although the first Jetstream was finally delivered in October 1969, the aircraft was parked and stored in Reno, Nevada, pending business changes with a weakening revenue stream and lower passenger numbers.

Six Jetstreams were eventually delivered however the planes were placed in storage as operating costs became too great. By May 1970, Cal-State could no longer financially survive being in operation and ceased operation in later that month. The six, Jetstreams never flew revenue passenger service for Cal-State however found use with other commuter carriers.

N1035S was bought by successor company Jetstream Ltd in 1970 and flown back to the U.K. as the company demonstrator whilst production ramped up at Sywell.

This contemporary model is of Five Sierra - OUR aircraft in its earliest guise!

departedwings.com/The%20Airlines/Cal-State/Cal-State.htm

Photo courtesy Brian Mells (c)

Another new small display for the Museum built by one of our trustees🙂

This 1/72 scale diorama shows a snapshot of the busy Brooklands Aviation hangar at Sywell in the 1950s with three famous residents.

Brooklands’ Auster J/1 Autocrat G-AJRB (the legendary ‘RB from the Arctic Models 3D printed kit), de Havilland DH.89a Rapide G-AJHO (Brooklands’ ‘hack’ -our full size Rapide cockpit replica is marked in these colours- Airfix kit with Arctic Decals markings) and Comper Swift G-ABUS (as air raced from Sywell by the Linnel brothers- Arctic Decals/ Dekno kit).

SAM Sidequest- Visiting another member of the Jetstream Aircraft Owners Club!

One of our volunteers took a trip to Speke (now John Lennon) Airport near Liverpool to have a look round the super collection of aircraft gathered by the Speke Aerodrome Heritage Group (SAHG)

They have ‘on fleet’ Percival Prince G-AMLZ, HS.748 G-BEJD, Bristol Britannia G-ANCF, Grumman Yankee G-SEXY, Gloster Meteor WH291 (owned by our old friend Mike Davey) and star of the show Bae Jetstream. 41 G-JMAC.

The last iteration of the Jetstream line- in fact the fourth prototype built in 1992 she makes an interesting comparison with our own 1969 Handley Page 200 series example - and of course is virtually a completely different aeroplane in all but name but is in stunning condition and very well looked after by the team.

We also had a chance to look round the wonderful Art Deco former Terminal Building built in 1935 (the same year as the Northamptonshire Aero Club Clubhouse, now The Aviator at Sywell) and to see where our Rapide cockpit once stood when she was complete and on display!

Huge thanks to Rob Taylor and the SAHG team for a wonderful tour- why not check out their Facebook page below and book a tour if you’re in the area it’s well worth a visit!

www.facebook.com/SpekeAero/?locale=en_GB

A RED ECLIPSE - PUSS AND LEOPARD AT SYWELL

The de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth flew in September 1929 and later modified with a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage and as such redesignated the DH.80A

The first production aircraft flew in March 1930 and was promptly sent on a sales tour of Australia and New Zealand. Orders came quickly, and in the three years of production ending in March 1933, 259 were manufactured in England.

An additional 25 aircraft were built by de Havilland Canada. Most were fitted with the 130 hp Gipsy Major engine that gave slightly better performance. The machine was a somewhat radical departure from contemporary biplanes and seated 3 in comfort with a maximum speed of 128mph.

The Puss Moth was replaced on the production line in 1933 by the de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth that, with a plywood fuselage, was both cheaper to build, and lighter weight. Being lighter, the Leopard Moth had better performance on the same Gipsy Major engine. Some 133 were built before production stopped in 1936.
1931 Puss Moth G-ABLS (C/N 2164) seen here at Sywell on 12th July 1970 happily remains airworthy.

1934 Leopard Moth G-AIYS seen on the same day also still graces the skies with an owner in Guildford.

Photos kindly supplied by Gordon Riley.

(*an eclipse is a the collective noun for moths!)

SAM Sidequest- The oldest model shop in the U.K?

Not a museum post but something which may be of interest to our modelmaking followers! Just over the Northamptonshire border - Buckinghamshire in Wolverton is Al’s Hobbies- it began as a model shop in 1927 as Lake Brothers and still has most of its original shop fittings!

At nearly 100 years old this is the oldest continuously operating model shop in the country and maybe the world…

Fantastic atmosphere - and some of the stock seems to have been there as long as the shop has! Well worth a visit if you’re passing- it really has a special feel 🙂 note this is not a paid promo post we just loved it!

Look out for more ‘SAM Sidequests’ on this page from time to time 🙂