Aviation and aerospace museum Aerospace Bristol has begun conserving and reassembling the last remaining Bristol Freighter aircraft in Europe.
The Bristol Freighter Type 170, with serial number NZ5911, is one of just 12 freighters still in existence and the only one remaining in Europe.
Designed and built in Bristol in the late 1940s and early 1950s by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, the freighter had twin 2000 hp 14-cylinder piston engines matched to four-bladed propellers, alongside a wide opening clamshell nose door and a 108 ft wingspan.
It was capable of carrying cargo ranging from vehicles to livestock and was later adapted for passenger travel as the “Wayfarer”.
The aircraft was also the first post-war aircraft to receive an unrestricted Certificate of Airworthiness and played an important role in advancing aviation technology and operations worldwide.
It served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s No. 41 Squadron from 1955, operating across Southeast Asia during the Cold War and Vietnam War era in the 1970s.
The aircraft was returned to Bristol in 2018 following a major international recovery effort led by Aerospace Bristol volunteers and supported by partners including the Association for Industrial Archaeology.
Having spent decades in storage in New Zealand, it is now being slowly brought back to life next to the very location at which it was originally designed and built.
The aircraft will be carefully moved out from its current museum hangar, to be reassembled and displayed safely outdoors, as it will be too big to be accommodated inside once its wings are reattached.
The final phase of conservation will include extensive corrosion removal, weatherproofing and a long-term conservation plan to ensure the aircraft’s protection.
The project will be delivered by a dedicated team of between 20 and 50 highly skilled volunteers, many of whom are former aerospace engineers and ex-employees of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Together, they are expected to contribute more than 10,000 hours to the work.
Once complete, the aircraft will form the centrepiece of a new outdoor exhibition, enabling visitors to get up close to the Freighter via viewing platforms and access points to the cockpit. The display will be supported by interpretation materials, live talks and opportunities to talk to the volunteers behind the conservation.
