The Kent Battle of Britain Museum received the first phase of the project in June 2023
Read MoreChairman
At the age of seventeen Dave became a Trustee of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum, where P7056 will be displayed. Dave has come to know hundreds of Word War Two airmen from around the world and is committed to maintaining their memory as well as being a practical preservationist of WWII aircraft.
Life President
Group Captain Tom Eeles served in the RAF for 44 years and totalled over 8000 hours of flying in twenty-eight different aircraft types. He is also the son of Air Commodore Henry 'Harry' Eeles, commander of 263 Squadron when first equipped with the Westland Whirlwind during the Battle of Britain.
Life Vice Chair
Jim is the son of 263's second Whirlwind Squadron Commander, John Munro. A Whirlwind fan all his life as a result, Jim has researched a documentary film about the forgotten aircraft and the men who flew it - including many interviews - and has been a material and financial supporter from the outset
Chief Engineer
Pete, an enormously experienced professional precision engineer, picked up the challenge of actually fabricating and assembling the airframe in his own time, in his own garage workshop. He walks the fine line between obsessive genius and obsessive madman but the results speak for themselves.
Secretrary
Like many of us Chris caught the Whirly bug from the Airfix kit. Scratching the itch meant time the Public Records Office and the IWM. The idea was to write a book but children came along and the information was filed away - until he came across the project online and offered up his research - and soon volunteered to put us on an official footing.
Treasurer / Researcher
Matt fell off Pete's line into 'obsessive madman' long ago, and also blames it on Airfix. A researcher in the darker corners of aviation history, Matt is never to be trusted with a rivet gun, never mind an English wheel (or a CMS). Once we had gathered in enough information to start work Matt was appointed treasurer to keep him out of trouble.
Engineering Design Lead
Gunnar appears sane, so it is a mystery why he has taken on the virtual re-engineering of an extinct aircraft to the point at which it can be authentically built again . He combines enormous insight with a mastery of CAD - his actual day job in Norway. Like Pete, his fees would amount to hundreds of thousands already, if he asked for any.
Membership Secretary
Growing up in Lincolnshire in the 60s the aura of the RAF and Bomber Command - as Pete says - 'just soaks into your skin'. Pete learned to drive his Dad’s Austin Maxi on the wartime concrete of Woodhall Spa airfield. A chance meeting with George Wood, Whirlwind pilot, at a meeting of a group building a flying Typhoon sparked an interest in the Whirlwind and on hearing of the project Pete signed up to help.
Engineer
Mike started working life as an apprentice at Hawker-Siddeley, working on Nimrods and Victors;. Retiring after a career in the aero-industry Mike was determined not to waste a lifetime’s expertise and so he formed the Aircraft Restoration Group which has been responsible for replicas and rebuilds across the UK. It was Mike who first took on the task of rebuilding a Whirlwind.
Project Archivist / Historian
Rob was born in England some 20 years after the Whirlwind was retired from service. His passion for Second World War aviation began at an early age and ‘263 and 137 Squadrons: The Whirlwind Years’ – his first book – was the culmination of many years research. His ultimate ambition is that in addition to having the only Westland Whirlwind in the World, the Project will house the biggest archive of Whirlwind documents and photos – both to be housed in the Kent Battle of Britain Museum.
All of the people on this page have an input into the ongoing build. Also, we have had considerable assistance from Matt Painter (with laptop), Rene Peters, Paul Fitzgerald, Jeff Beaumont, Jerry Brewer, Steve Vizard (right), Patrice Moreau, Steve Smith, Brian Marsh, Niall Couduroy, Colin Smithson, and several others. Also in the memory of founder member and the driving force that made it all real when others said it couldn't be done - Stuart Hawkins (left).
We are going the extra mile with P7056 - including items that were previously unknown, undocumented or just plain obscure.
Read MoreWe are committed to replicating every detail even if forgotten for 80 years,, no matter how inexplicable, and regardless of whether the viewing public are likely to ever see it. One example of this is the curious warning placard behind a door within a door.
Read MoreThe Whirlwind Fighter Project have been honoured to receive the Robert Pleming Memorial Prize from Aviation Heritage UK, the supporting professional body behind the British aircraft restoration and preservation scene. More details to follow.
Read MoreA little bit of digging into navigation procedures and a fly-through on Google Earth has refined Matt's thoughts further on the likely location of the 'Dartmoor Pair'.
Read MoreThe Whirlwind was said to have been let down by its engines. This never added up to the WFP's Matt Bearman and in an article originally published in The Aviation Historian quarterly Matt unearths some surprising facts,
Read MoreA couple of buttons from 1942 represent real Social History- Pete Smith, WFP C.E, reflects on the real meaning of some eighty year old components.
Read MoreThe WFP is investigating a wartime tragedy and a mystery that has exercised Aviation Historians for decades - what happened to the Dartmoor Whirlwinds?
Read MoreGroup Captain Arthur H. Donaldson, DSO, DFC, AFC, RAF, Ret. reflects on operating the Whirlwind
Read MoreA member from Jersey corresponds on the memorial to two Whirlwind pilots shot down there, and a salvaged propeller.
Read MoreGunnar Olsen, another childhood victim of Airfix, on how he became the project's CAD Engineer.
Read MoreP7056 took part in a fake invasion of occupied France. Painted in white stripes 263 Squadron attacked shore installations - at the height of Squadron morale.
Read MoreWe are a non-geographical organisation, and for obvious reasons do not publicise the precise location of P7056 while under construction, although it will be housed and displayed by the Kent Battle of Britain Museum, Hawkinge.
Please use the link below:
Our Membership Secretary, Peter Lancaster, is notified when a membership subscription is purchased and will be in touch. Please ensure that you leave the correct contact details.
Should there be no contact please check that the payment was successful - PayPal does not always notify of incomplete transactions..
Alternatively, please email us at p7056club@gmail.com
* There are annual members who have chosen not to renew their membership as the project has progressed. The Kent Battle of Britain Museum staff have a list of CURRENT members - who, with their WFP membership card, will gain half-price entry.
Life membership costs £250.
As well as the benefits of the Annual Membership, permanent membership brings the undertaking from the project that their name and a short inscription/dedication be added onto the inside of one of the open undercarriage doors of P7056 for permanent display.
Please use the link below:
Alternatively, please email us: p7056club@gmail.com
Please note that, as of 9th Feb 2023, we have had to change our membership email account - as above.
Our membership secretary, Peter Lancaster, is notified when a membership subscription is purchased and will be in touch. Please ensure that you leave the correct contact details
Should there be no contact please check that the payment was successful - PayPal does not always notify of incomplete transactions..
Thank you.
THANK YOU
Reports to and minutes of AGM held at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Hawkinge on October 6th 2023 are below:
Learn MoreThe reports to and minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on the 20th of November at the KBOB museum Hawkinge are below.
Learn MoreThe reports to and minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on the 9th of October at East Kirby are below.
Learn MoreThe reports to and minutes of the Annual General Meeting held online on the 27th of September are below.
Learn MoreThe reports to and minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at East Kirby on the 5th of October are below.
Learn MoreMinutes of the first AGM after establishment of the WFP in 2011, held in Yeovil n 2014, below:
Learn MoreGeneral Category | Types of Personal Data in that category | Retention Periods |
Identity Information | This is information relating to your identity such as your name (including any previous names and any titles which you use), gender, marital status and date of birth | Data where provided will be kept for the duration of Membership. We will never ask for gender, marital status or Date of Birth. |
Contact Information | This is information relating to your contact details such as e-mail address, addresses, telephone numbers | Data where provided will be kept for the duration of Membership. |
Account Information | This is information relating to your account with us (including username and password) | Data where provided will be kept for the duration of Membership. |
Payment Information | This is information relating to the methods by which you provide payment to us such as [bank account details, credit or debit card details] and details of any payments (including amounts and dates) which are made between us. | This will not be kept by the WFP. All such data is handled by a third-party processor (PayPal). |
Transaction Information | This is information relating to transactions between us such as details of the goods, services and/or digital content provided to you and any returns details. | Data where provided will be kept for the duration of Membership. |
Survey Information | This is information which we have collected from you or which you have provided to us in respect of surveys and feedback. | Any surveys will be anonymous and personal information will not be kept. |
Marketing Information | This is information relating to your marketing and communications preferences. | Data where provided will be kept for the duration of Membership. |
Website, Device and Technical Information | This is information about your use of our website and technical data which we collect (including your IP address, the type of browser you are using and the version, the operating system you are using, details about the time zone and location settings on the device and other information we receive about your device | This information will not be kept. |
Purpose | Legal Reason(s) for using the personal information |
To enrol you as a member | In order to provide membership enrolment pack. |
Order updates | Advising you of any updates in relation to your order |
Membership updates | Advising you on the status of your membership |
Audit and accounting | Financial Audit including overseas transactions |
Record keeping in the case of life members | To enable inscription on airframe. (where this has been requested) |
To maintain member benefits | In order to provide goods, ongoing benefits, services and/or digital content |
A simple way to support and promote the project is though our unique, exclusive project T-shirt. How it works is the link below takes you to an online shop that prints only on demand. When you place your order, the manufacturing and shipping costs are taken out ant then the remainder, between 20 and 30 percent - goes straight to the WFP materials fund. It's a high quality cotton shirt, available in a choice of colour - though we think the grey works best we know metalheads will prefer the black ( https://www.zazzle.co.uk/whirlwind_black_all_proceeds_to_the_wfp_t_shirt-256431334269745700 ). Look carefully at the image on the front - it's more than the well-known photo. The 'tour dates' on the back are actual strikes by 'our' Whirlwind.
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