Southampton museum to create new exhibit using ex-QinetiQ aircraft
BAC One-Eleven 500 ZH763, which has been under threat of scrapping at Newquay since the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre closed its doors on 31 October 2022, has been acquired by the Solent Sky museum in Southampton. The front 60ft of the fuselage will be transported to Southampton and installed alongside the front wall of Solent Sky, where it will be modified to enable wheelchair access to the cockpit, with a café in the rear of the passenger cabin.
Built in 1980 at Hurn — 28 miles south-west of Southampton by road — the aircraft was delivered to British Airways as G-BGKE and was based at Manchester Airport for 11 years. During 1991 it joined the Defence Research Agency, acquiring the serial ZH763 and flying on radar trials work from Boscombe Down, Farnborough and Bedford. Latterly stationed at Boscombe, it made the last ever One-Eleven flight in the UK on 26 April 2013 when it was delivered to Newquay.
