In 1949/50 the A V Roe Company in Manchester modified six Tudor 8 jet airliners into the type 706 Ashton ‘Flying Laboratories’. The unique Ashton fuselage section from airframe WB491 is the only significant part of the type that survive in the world, and it is in urgent need of the completion of its recent repaint, which is to the upper fuselage roof section.

As with similar projects in the past the safest way to do this is by erecting a scaffolding work platform alongside the fuselage, which allows our staff and volunteers to access the aircraft in a safe and secure manner.

In these challenging times we would like to seek your support to help fund the hire costs of the scaffolding. We anticipate that the scaffolding system will be in situ for up to four (4) weeks; the fund that we are trying to raise will also cover the cost of the weekly safety inspections.