Sunday the 25th of April saw the end of all the preparations surrounding the new engine for the TFC Bearcat. Neatly cowled, on an engine stand and accompanied by all the paraphernalia of engine replacement therapy, the truck which was to take everything out to Switzerland was loaded and despatched for the channel.

The plan was for the engine to take about 48 hours to make the journey to the Swiss airfield where the Bearcat has been accommodated over the winter months, but for the engineers who were to apply the new engine to the remainder of the aeroplane to take slightly less than half that time to the same airfield by minibus via a shorter route.

The Bearcat has been the guest of the Swiss Air Force over the winter, housed on the military side of a combined Air Force/Civilian airfield. As the Swiss Air Force were to embark on an exercise during the week, the Bearcat will have been moved to the civilian side of the field and worked on there.

The Fighter Collection would like to record its grateful thanks to all who have been involved in the care and attention the Bearcat has received since her unscheduled stopover.

The plan is for the engine to be refitted and ground run before the end of the week (up to the 30th of April) and then airtested thoroughly the following week, prior to the trip back home again. We hope to have the machine back under the roof of the TFC T2 at Duxford within a fortnight from the first airtesting, and we will keep you posted on the progress that the aircraft makes on her journey home...