After a short set of negotiations the Newark Air Museum has completed the purchase of Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1 XS726 from Everett Aero of Sproughton, Suffolk. Funding for the acquisition has been provided thanks to the generosity of two long-standing museum members, Mike and Kathy Smith.

On Wednesday 24th September 2014 the airframe was delivered to the museum’s site in eastern Nottinghamshire, which is close to the border with Lincolnshire by a team from Everett Aero. As part of the purchase agreement the wings were refitted to the aircraft by the Everett Aero personnel.

The Dominie fills an important gap in the museum’s themed display of training aircraft. The type was used to teach the skills of systems management, air leadership, decision making and teamwork to various aircrew members including: weapon systems officers and operators, air engineers and air loadmasters.

Dominie’s were retired from RAF service in early 2011 and at that time the museum was unsuccessful in an attempt to purchase one of the airframes that had been operating from nearby RAF Cranwell. The acquisition of Dominie T1 XS726 fulfils this aim and is in line with one aim of the museum’s stated Collecting Policy of acquiring:

“Aircraft used in a Training role.”

The airframe retains its original configuration and is essentially complete. Once reassembled by the museum staff and volunteers XS726 will eventually be moved inside Hangar 2 at the museum. Here it will be displayed alongside several other training airframes, like the Varsity, Jetstream, Bulldog, Gnat and Jet Provost. XS726 is expected to retain its current training scheme markings.

Dominie T1 XS726 was delivered to the RAF on 25th October 1965 and served at RAF Cranwell and with both 3 and 6FTS. Its final training role was as an instructional airframe (9273M) at RAF Cosford and it was delivered there on 24 June 1997. XS726 was moved to Sproughton in 2007.

www.newarkairmuseum.org

Tags: 2014, Newark Air Museum, News, September