We are delighted to announce the arrival and unveiling of the Museum’s latest major exhibit, a former Royal Air Force Hawk T.1 training aircraft, XX238.
XX238 flew with various units in its RAF service including 4FTS and 6FTS, Central Flying School, 19 Squadron, 74 Squadron and 208 Squadron before entering storage at RAF Shawbury in 2008. XX238 also used by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Requirements and Air Directional Unit (FRADU) for a brief period in the early 2000’s. Based at RAF Finningley with No. 6 Flying Training School between 1993 and the bases closure in 1996, XX238 will form a key role in fulfilling the museum’s aim to tell the story of Aviation in Doncaster and South Yorkshire. The aircraft is virtually complete and has been gifted to the Museum through the RAF Heritage programme, which enables major artefacts to be donated to qualifying museums.
This is the first major item that has been gifted to the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum by the MoD and we would like to thank Dame Rosie Winterton DBE MP for her steadfast support and encouragement in our bid to obtain this. The museum would also like to place on record their thanks to RAF Heritage, the staff at ASMU, RAF Shawbury and Chris Wilson and the team from Jet Art Aviation, Selby for their assistance with the project. After arriving at the museum on October 3rd, our team of volunteers have undertaken many hours of work to prepare the aircraft for display, and their efforts cant be understated.
An unveiling event took place on Sunday the 5th of November after reassembly work was completed, with Dame Rosie Winterton officially unveiling the aircraft to an audience of assembled visitors, volunteers and supporters,complete with a ‘Guard of Honour’ formed by the local 61stBentley Air Scout unit.
On the acquisition of Hawk XX238, museum curator Naylan Moore said: “With one of the museum’s collection and display policies being to promote the history of aviation in Doncaster and South Yorkshire, an ex-RAF Finningley Hawk has been something we have desired for a long time. We are grateful for the opportunity to add XX238 to our collection, and it shall complement our other aircraft previously based at RAF Finningley well.”
XX238 has now been positioned for display inside the museums main hangar, and visitors are able to view the aircraft up close during the museums opening hours. During special events, the cockpit will be opened for visitors to climb inside, more information on events at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum can be found on our website.