Storage Areas

With the large collection of aircraft at Motat, there is of course a huge amount of material in storage for restoration projects and future displays. Just to give a general idea of the storage areas and what is behind the scenes I'll include a few photos of the main four storage areas.

Belfast Hanger - above the shop floor on a mezzanine floor section of the hanger is a storage area for smaller items including the control surfaces for the Avenger, various parts for the Mosquito and an assortment of aircraft radios. The main problem here seems to be the ever present threat of bird droppings that seems to be present in all large aircraft hangers.

Rugby Shed - so named as it come from a nearby rugby club I understand, this old wooden building contains the Ceres wings, DC3 elevators, a restored flap for the Sunderland, and a large collection of other smaller items. There are also some other engine items and spare parts for the Sunderland including engine cowlings, hatches and turrets.

Old Workshop - what once was the main restoration hanger is now used for storage of larger items such as the DC-8 engine, various turret parts and a half completed display of undercarriage parts. The Avenger wings are stored here in stands awaiting their time for restoration and fitting to the main fuselage in the Belfast Hanger.

Engine Bay - also known as the Mosquito store as this is where the Mosquito fuselage was based for many years, this small Nissan hut has a whole variety of objects in store. Some of the more interesting include spare parts for the Sunderland and Mosquito, three Hastings engines, a box of Iroquois helicopter rotor blades, various aircraft tyres, and a Merlin engine stand.