Specialist teams abseil from roof of RAF Midlands Museum to clean Vulcan bomber display

Specialist teams have abseiled from the ceiling of the RAF Museum Midlands building to give their display planes a spot of maintenance. 

Eight aircrafts, including a Vulcan bomber, were given a light dusting as part of an annual clean and inspection at the Cosford museum in Shropshire.

The planes included a Canberra, Meteor, Sabre, Hunter, Lightning, Dakota and Javelin.

The aircraft are on display as part of the museum’s National Cold War Exhibition, and are suspended from the ceiling, hanging up to 100ft in the air. 

The cleaning team climbed the rafters of the building and abseiled down to the display planes. 

No cleaning solutions were used on the planes, teams simply used large soft fibre mops to give the aircraft a dusting. 

The also inspected the suspension cables supporting the aircraft in their display positions.

Tom Hopkins, Curator at the RAF Museum Midlands, said: "The Museum's commitment to preserving objects within our collection extends beyond mere display.

"It involves each aircraft and vehicle undergoing a regular inspection by our skilled Technicians and Volunteers."

He continued: "However, when it comes to the aircraft suspended from the ceiling of our National Cold War Exhibition, a unique challenge emerges.

"These iconic aircraft, reach up to 100 feet in places, and navigating such dizzying heights requires a specialist team equipped with the necessary skills and equipment.’

The museum is the only place in the world where visitors can see all three British V-Bombers, the Vulcan, Victor and Valiant, all in one place.

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