Brooklands Museum in Surrey donates
generator
to Sunderland Trust
A complete example of the Sunderland flying boat’s
‘fifth engine’ is now on display at Pembroke Dock’s
Flying Boat Centre Workshop, thanks to a generous
donation by a major UK aviation museum.
Brooklands Museum in Surrey donated a generator to
fit the Sunderland auxiliary power unit - the APU.
This is the engine which, located in one of the
aircraft’s wings, provided power when on the water.
The generator was brought to Pembroke Dock by Bob
Hodgkinson, of the Brooklands Museum team, and his
wife Jenny. Soon afterwards it was fitted by Mike
Hurley and volunteer colleagues at the Workshop.
Said Mike: “Our APU, which came from the Imperial
War Museum at Duxford some time ago, lacked a
generator. Thanks to Brooklands we have made up the
complete engine and it is an impressive item. Now we
can tell visitors about the Sunderland’s fifth
engine and show them the real thing.”
Bob Hodgkinson’s father, Vic, was a wartime
Sunderland pilot who was stationed at Pembroke Dock
with No 10 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.
Many items from Wing Commander Vic Hodgkinson’s
collection are now in the Sunderland Trust’s
Archive.
At Brooklands Bob works in the team which looks
after the Museum’s Concorde - like the Sunderland an
iconic aircraft. In his working career Bob was an
engineer maintaining the Concorde fleet for British
Airways.
In addition to the generator Brooklands Museum also
donated two Sunderland prints. One went on immediate
display at the Sunderland Trust’s new Fleets to
Flying Boats Centre in the Royal Dockyard - one of
many items on view on the ground floor.
Caption:
Fixing the generator on the engine is Mike Hurley
with, left to right: Bob Hodgkinson, Roy Williams,
Martin Blow, Graham Clarkson, Jenny Hodgkinson and
John Evans.
PICTURE: Martin Cavaney Photography.