Product category:
Pneumatic Valves and Controls
News Release from: SMC Pneumatics (UK)
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 17 November 2003
Support for aircraft restoration
There is an enthusiastic group of people in Wolverhampton working hard at preserving some of the UK's national treasures.
There is an enthusiastic group of people in Wolverhampton working hard at preserving some of the UK's national treasures This isn't architectural restoration; is is a wonderful heritage aircraft project, which is located on the Smiths Aerospace Actuation Systems site, Wobaston Road, Wolverhampton
The Boulton Paul Association, as it is called, was formed in 1991, with the aim of preserving the history of Boulton Paul Aircraft, including Boulton and Paul as it once was, Dowty Boulton Paul as it became, or Smiths Aerospace Actuation systems Wolverhampton, as it is now.
It is a voluntary organisation with charitable status, open to anyone who is interested in the history of aviation, and includes former employees, as well as local aircraft enthusiasts.
The association's first project was to create a large exhibition of the company's history, which was displayed at the RAF Museum Cosford in 1993, and now forms the backdrop to its current projects.
The association obtained its first significant artefacts in 1993 when the Pennine Aircraft Museum donated the cockpits of two Balliol trainers, which had been sold for scrap nearly 40 years before.
In a workshop provided by the company the restoration of these cockpits began.
The current aim is to create a full-scale model of a Balliol using one of these cockpits at its heart.
A Merlin engine from a Balliol has since been obtained and is being stored for display alongside.
A full-scale model of a Defiant has also been built using a number of original parts.
The Defiant is the most famous aircraft in the history of the Company and a significant number of the parts of another Defiant, which crashed in 1941, have been collected and are displayed in a re-creation of the crash site.
A full-scale model of the World War One Boulton and Paul P6 biplane has also been constructed.
Alongside these major projects the association collects and preserves any artefacts relating to the company's history, from old machine tools to the advanced power control units made today.
Beside the central core of its Boulton Paul collection, the association seeks also to display the historic contribution of other elements of the Smiths Group to British aviation.
The small Dowty undercarriage and Rotol collections are displayed alongside the Smiths Instruments cockpit collection.
The association maintains a close relationship with local ATC squadrons, and as a result houses displays from the finest collection of Slingsby wooden ATC gliders in the country, as well as the Jet Provost which forms the centrepiece of the Dowty undercarriage collection.
More than an aircraft museum, the project seeks to show how aircraft were made at Boulton Paul.
The restoration workshop, an integral part of the display includes historic machine tools dating back to the 1920s, examples of pioneering metal aircraft structure, and current restoration projects.
SMC Pneumatics is proud to be associated with the project, and is supporting the restoration of the Defiant project by supplying a number of pneumatic actuators.
The Boulton Paul Aircraft Heritage Project is open every Sunday from 1000 to 1600, and Wednesdays and Fridays from 1400 to 1700 (except Christmas and New Year).
Admission is GBP 3 for adults, GBP 2 for OAPs, and free for accompanied children.
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