Western Aerospace Museum

[Deleted]

Some shots from the museum, located at Oakland Airport, California.



AV-8 159381



Bede BD-5B N325A



Sunderland G-AKNP

Thanks for looking,

GC

[viscount]

Very interesting to see a Short's flying boat in a Californian Air Museum.

From all the cabin windows it is a Short Sandringham conversion of a Short Sunderland, however to confuse further it is painted as a Short Solent!

********************** added later ***************

A quick dig around www.wikipedia.org shows that it is infact not a Sandringham, but one of only two surviving Solents (the other is preserved in Auckland, NZ). The Sandringhams preserved are at Solent Sky, Southampton; Polk City, Florida and another currently in store at Le Bourget for Musee d'Air.

Quite a rarity. I may have flown in a Sandringham, but I've never seen a Solent. Nice one.

[Deleted]

We too were quite surprised!

AvDb has the con. no. as S.1295 and the series as a Solent 3.

After BOAC she became VH-TOB with Trans Oceanic Aiways and then N9946F with South Pacific Airlines then passing on to Howard Hughes in August 1959.

Cheers,

GC

[Deleted]

Some more ex USN machines at Oakland.



A-6 152810



A-3 147666



A-4 158195

Thanks,

GC

[gwoof]

Mmmmmm nice.

That EKA-3B visited Mildenhall in 1982 as ND 635 of VAK-308 ;D

[Deleted]

Just adding some more history to the Solent.

AvDb has noted that she was originally built as the 4th production Shorts Seaford.

I believe only 8 Seafords (Sunderland Mk IV) were built. The Seafords were powered by Bristol Hercules engines instead of the earlier Bristol Pegasus.

Not an expert on piston engines so unsure if 'NP is fitted with original Hercules engines or retro fitted with Pegasus. Don't think it is the P & W R1830 that were fitted to later models?

Thanks,

GC

[Deleted]

One more from Oakland:



A-7 70-0945

Two more shot on the opposite side of San Francisco Bay, the first at Moffett Field NAS and the second at San Jose Municipal:



P-2 128393



B727 N7015U


Cheers,

GC