Race to save planes that RAF Cosford no longer wants

The Boulton Paul Association has been told that Shropshire's RAF Museum no longer wants the aircraft, more than a year after taking delivery of them and eight months after officials showed the group plans for an extension in which the exhibits would be displayed.

Terry Herrington, secretary of the Wolverhampton-based association, said: "We feel very let down. To envision the destruction of a collection built up over 20 years, involving many thousands of hours of dedicated work, for which we were awarded The Queens Award for Voluntary Service, is heartbreaking to our members."

Mr Herrington said that as recently as last December the Association was told by RAF Cosford that the plans were in place and the planes would form the centre piece of the West Midlands Aviation section of the display.

He said: "Now we have been informed that more than half of the collection must be moved by the association to other locations or be scrapped. With very limited finances, we are unable to pay for storage or finance transport to other locations. At present, we have been told there is no rush to remove the items, which gives us time to find other homes although this could change at any time. We are appealing for help in providing storage or possible display in other museums."

Air Vice Marshall Peter Dye, director general of the RAF Museum that includes the sites at both Cosford and Hendon, first promised to take the whole of the Boulton Paul collection in August 2012, seven months before the museum was disbanded when GE, the owner of the site of the original Boulton Paul Aircraft factory in Wobaston Road, Pendeford, decided to prepare the land for sale following the move by Moog to the new i54 development.

Among the aircraft now at risk are a full scale replica of the Defiant - a bomber destroyer manufactured during the late 30s and later converted into a night fighter - and the Balliol trainer plane developed after the Second World War.

Boulton Paul switched to Wolverhampton shortly after its formation in 1935. The firm built planes until the 1960s before concentrating on hydraulics and flying controls. The company was involved in several mergers and take overs before becoming part of Moog.

Plans to expand the museum at Cosford as part of celebrations for the RAF centenary in 2018 have since been dropped in favour of redeveloping its sister museum in Hendon.

Peter Elliot, head of archives at both Hendon and Cosford, saidd: "The RAF Museum respects the good work done by the BPA and their ambition to preserve their collection. Meetings have been held over the past two years at which the RAF Museum expressed an interest in accessioning this collection. However, since those initial discussions the Museum has carried out a comprehensive strategic review resulting in a tightly defined core purpose: to tell the story of the RAF.

"With this in mind, the RAF Museum is committed to accessioning those parts of the BPA collection which are closely relevant to the RAF story and which are not already represented in the national collection. The RAF Museum will support the BPA in finding new homes for those artefacts that do not become formally accessioned."