Puma arrives at Newark Air Museum
Earlier today (Wednesday 7th February 2018) the latest addition to Newark Air Museum’s collection of airframes arrived at the museum site in eastern Nottinghamshire, close to the county border with Lincolnshire. Today’s arrival was an incomplete Aerospatiale Puma HC Mk 1 helicopter registration XW208.
The helicopter was transported by local contractor Gillivers Haulage, the short distance from RAF Cranwell, Lincs.; where it had been used to train Loadmasters in slinging techniques and load securing methods.
“This particular acquisition comes some seven years after the museum first made an attempt to secure a Puma for its collection, back in 2011,” commented Dave Hibbert, Museum Trustee & Acquisitions Officer. He continued, “RAF Pumas have been regular visitors to our Southfield Site and they have always been quite popular at the museum.”
He concluded, “We are already actively following up leads across the UK to locate the missing parts, and while it is viewed as a long-term project we are really proud to secure this early example of an under represented type of helicopter.”
Puma XW208 was off-loaded alongside Display Hangar 1 on the museum’s Northfield Site, while in this location it will be worked on as and when additional parts are secured for the project.
Tags: 2018, February, Newark Air Museum, News