The Duxford Aviation Society

Handley Page HPR7 Dart Herald G-APWJ Designed as a DC-3 replacement the Herald was first flown in 1956 with four piston engines, it was later re-designed with two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines. G-APWJ was delivered to British United (Channel Island) Airways in June 1963. In 1970 it was re-registered to British United Airways, who operated it until 1980 and then sold it to Air UK Ltd. It served with Air UK until 1985 when it was retired. During its 22 years of service WJ flew 33,900 hours, carrying almost two million passengers, for most of its working life it flew on the Blackpool, Isle of Man and Channel Island routes. Air UK donated the aircraft to the Aviation and it was flown to Duxford on 7th July 1985. The size of the doors mean that this is a very difficult aircraft to open to public inspection but this has not prevented the crew from doing a first class internal restoration, which is still ongoing. The exterior has been repainted once but this will eventually need to be redone in order to give the crew a chance to treat the new patches of corrosion that are now beginning to become apparent.