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Hooton Park Hangars

Hooton Park Hangars, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, September 2026
Occupying one of three large Belfast truss hangars at this historic old airfield, this is a varied collection of mainly British aircraft, most with a close connection to Hooton Park, having been built, assembled, or flown here or hereabouts.

The hangars, and much of the remainder of the airfield, are owned by the Hooton Park Trust (HPT), which owns some of the items in the collection, but the majority are owned by The Aeroplane Collection (TAC). TAC started life in 1962 as the Northern Aircraft Preservation Society (NAPS), recognised as being the first voluntary aircraft preservation organisation in the UK. Production of its monthly magazine, Control Column, led to the formation of the British Aircraft Preservation Council (BAPC) – now Aviation Heritage UK. One hangar is used by the aircraft museum, while another is used for caravan and cherished vehicle secure storage, the whole trading under the name Hooton Park Hangars.
Hangar 16, the hangar housing the aircraft, (there are no aircraft outdoors), had partially collapsed when the trust took it over in 2014, and the entire roof was rebuilt with 34 new Belfast trusses constructed on site. Once it was repaired, the collection, of which many aircraft had been placed in storage or distributed on loan to other museums, could at last be brought together.
Opening times are limited to the summer season, running from April to October, and are every Saturday, when only the hangar and the small shop are available. It also opens on the last Sunday of each summer month, when the whole thing comes alive, with a cafe, an Air Raid Experience, a Print Museum, and a vintage shuttle bus service which runs between the site and Hooton railway station.

Several interesting aircraft have arrived recently, so I thought it was about time I visited, which I did on Saturday 12 September.

By the way, Martin Hearn Ltd was a major engineering company based at Hooton Park during WWII. It was a small operation before the war, but from 1939 to 1945 they repaired Ansons and Mosquitos, and assembled about 10,000 aircraft that were shipped from the USA and Canada to Liverpool docks, and to help the effort they established a branch at Hesketh Park Aerodrome to the north of Southport. After the war they built over 70 Slingsby gliders and took on general engineering work, including maintenance of RAF Canadair Sabres, before closing down in 1955.

Aircraft Reg'n Thumbs Notes
ABC Scorpion 2    
ADEN cannon    
Alvis Leonides    
Auster J1 Autocrat G-AIGP Restoration is nearly complete – just the cowling text "Wright Aviation School of Flying Hooton" to be done. (TAC)
Avro Avian IIIA G-EBZM NAPS' first aircraft, obtained in November 1962. Ex Liverpool & District Aero Club at Hooton, Giro Aviation at Hesketh Park, and Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) (TAC)
Avro Triplane replica BAPC.6 'Bullseye Avroplane'. Built by Avro apprentices in 1952.Ex Shuttleworth Collection and MOSI. (TAC)
Beagle A61 Terrier 2 VW993 G-ASCD Built as an AOP6 by Auster, later converted to an A61 amd was PH-SFT for a while, later went to Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington. (TAC)
Bedford TK Airfield Tender RAF 10826  
Bensen-B-7MC G-APUD Built by Ken Wallis from a kit – the first of his autogyro series. The MC in the name relates to its McCulloch engine. Ex MOSI. (TAC)
Comper CLA7 Swift G-ACGL Built here, originally flown by Alex Henshaw, now on loan from the RAF Museum Midlands, Cosford who had it restored in 2011.
De Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth II EM840 G-ANBY Had several owners after WWII and was stored at Hesketh Park. Restored by the Assault Glider Trust. (HPT)
De Havilland DH89A Dragon Rapide G-ADAH "Pioneer" of Allied Airways (Gandar Dower) Ltd. Also served with Hillman's Airways and others. Bought by NAPS for £20 in 1970. Ex MOSI. (TAC)
De Havilland Goblin turbojet    
De Havilland Vampire T11 XD624 Built at Ringway Airport in 1956 and sold by the MoD in 1970, it passed through various museums including Manchester Airport Viewing Park. (TAC)
De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk 22 G-AOUO Lycoming-engined glider tug conversion called the 'Supermunk'. Ex WB730 and RAF Gliding and Soaring Association (RAFGSA). (TAC)
De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T10 fuselage WG477 G-ATDP Liverpool University Air Squadron markings. (TAC)
English Electric Canberra PR7 nose WT520 Spent most of its life in Germany. The rest of it was scrapped in 1991. (HPT)
Fairey Gannet cockpit simulator BAPC.309 Never part of an actual plane. (TAC)
Gloster Meteor T7 WH132 Restoration was completed in June – a major task was new cockpit glazing. Marked as 'WH127' which was based here 1952-57. (HPT)
Luton LA4 Minor (Parker CA-4 Parasol) G-AFIU Clive Parker built this modified Minor in 1938 but registration not used until 1982. It's believed to have flown, but not a lot. (TAC)
Mignet HM14 Pou-du-Ciel G-ADYO BAPC.12 Built by SO Whiteley of Rishworth, Oldham, in 1936 and donated by his son in 1964. Ex MOSI (TAC)
Miles Gemini 1A G-AKDK Air Atlantique and Classic Air Force at Coventry intended to restore this, but TAC seem to be getting on with it. (TAC)
Miles Messenger 2A G-AHUI A resident at Hooton 1954-57. A composite with parts from several other airframes. The wings, from G-ALAH (ex RH377), are currently being restored. (TAC)
Percival Proctor IV G-ANVY RM169 Exported as SE-CEA – languished in a barn in Sweden for many years, returned to the UK around 2010. (TAC)
Rolls-Royce Dart    
Rolls-Royce Nene 101    
Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly 1 KL110 Assembled here in 1943 by Martin Hearn, it's Britain's oldest surviving military helicopter, marked as 'KK995'. On loan from the RAF Museum.
Slingsby Tutor BGA.466 Built here by Martin Hearn.
Slingsby Tutor BGA.469 Built here by Martin Hearn.
Slingsby Tutor BGA.473 G-ALPU Built here by Martin Hearn. (HPT)
Sopwith Baby replica BAPC.137 Built in 1978 for Leisure Sports' Thorpe Park fleet, this was 'lakeworthy' but not airworthy. Sold in 1987. Marked as '8188'. (HPT)
Supermarine Spitfire IX full-scale model BAPC.581 Built by David Price in his garden near Carlisle and completed in 2021, this has recently been marked as 'EN133'. (HPT)
Supermarine Spitfire PRXIX PM651 Operated from RAF Woodvale, near Southport, for the Temperature and Humidity Monitoring (THUM) Flight. On loan from the RAF Museum Midlands, Cosford.

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