ABOVE: Vampire WZ450 will be on permanent display in her new home from early next year
A storage facility in Bath opening in the coming year is to benefit from an unusual addition to its premises – with a purpose-built entrance hall accommodating a newly-preserved de Havilland Vampire T.11 trainer.
Ironic, really, that an aircraft with virtually no space inside its cockpit – as anyone who has sat in the side-by-side ejection seats shoehorned into a space not designed for them will testify – is now helping fly the flag for Vanguard storage, renowned for its careful restoration of an unusual series of ‘gate guardians’.
With Vampire WZ450 now soaring within a secure indoor space, its custom-designed setting (notably, secure from the outside elements) stands in stark contrast to other airframes’ final resting places. With a fuselage section built partly of laminated wood (a throwback to de Havilland’s previous ‘wooden wonder,’ the venerable Mosquito), outside exposure is less than ideal for de Havilland’s early jet designs. (Aside from the elements themselves, 2022’s Storm Eunice damaged Grove Technology Park’s pole-mounted Venom beyond repair).
Thankfully, however, a storage building would seem an ideal area to offer something as large as an aircraft a permanent home – with family-run Vanguard Self Storage eyeing an option to combine a military passion with airframe conservation. “We have a passion for them, and typically we’re interested in British military history,” ventures Managing Director Will McCullagh, who does admit that his company’s display aircraft do help offer a unique angle among the potentially “boring” business of self-storage. Why aircraft? “You can hang an aircraft but not a tank,” he laughs.
Although the group’s first aircraft (adorning the roof of its West London head office) was a replica Spitfire, constructed from steel and fibreglass, the acquisition and preservation of ‘real aircraft’ has remained an important part of the company’s remit. London’s Staples Corner branch is the proud home of WT555, the first production Hawker Hunter, while Bristol plays host to Lightning XP475. Both purchased in the 1990s, these were “extensively restored” before being displayed – a process similar to WZ570’s.
The Vampire is one of the three latest airframes (including a Boulton Paul Balliol and a Sea Hawk) acquired from the now-defunct Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre. Originally built at the de Havilland factory in Dorset’s Christchurch in 1952, she served with 202 AFS and 223 OCU (predominately at RAF Pembrey). Transferred to storage at Adlington Airfield in 1959 (as one of the ‘Woodford Vampires’), she was ultimately passed to a group of enthusiasts at Sleap for restoration from an admittedly sorry state in 2022. Partly restored, she was moved to Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre for further work, although was subsequently purchased by Vanguard and extensively restored by North Weald Heritage Aviation. She was delivered to Bath in Autumn 2024 while the new building was still in construction.
Despite encountering “no major challenges” across the acquisition, transportation, restoration and installation of the WZ450 – something McCullagh attributes to ongoing relationships with specialist teams – one minor pushback came in the form of a local resident who voiced an objection over a so-called machine of war on public display. However, the team is “delighted to have given her a new permanent home,” with no detail spared as to her placement – even tweaking the aircraft’s height after its initial installation. “From the road, and the angle you looked at it, there was a steel that slightly interfered with the nose,” explained McCullagh.
Although Vanguard’s former business included specialist installation work – including hanging all of the IWM Duxford’s aircraft – with that element sold in 1999, a company called Unusual Rigging has been drafted in for the ceiling suspensions (as well as annual inspections).
With Vanguard to officially open the new facility in the new year, the company is already eyeing future aircraft additions to augment its ongoing expansion. This includes the nose of Vampire XK362, also currently being rebuilt into an entire airframe. A Sea Harrier will also serve as the ideal gate guardian for the Portsmouth site (along the Mile End Road), with McCullagh also eyeing the ultimate evolution of de Havilland’s twin boom design – the Sea Vixen – as high on his future wish list.
Despite only one ex-RAF Vampire remaining airworthy – the T.11 WZ507 of the Kemble-based Vampire Preservation Group – it’s inevitable that not all will be returned to the skies. As such, provision for their long-term preservation is definitely something to be celebrated – so if you’re in the Bath area in the new year, do swing by and see WZ450 unwrapped and in her new home. 
IMAGE CREDIT: VANGARD SELF STORAGE
