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In Pictures: RAF Cosford fighter planes undergo spring clean

BBC Alex Picken at RAF CosfordBBC
Alex Picken scaled to the top of the museum to dust off the Hawker plane

Fighter aeroplanes displayed at RAF Cosford have undergone their annual safety checks and clean.

Eight aircraft including a Vulcan bomber have been given a light dusting while suspended from the ceiling, up to 30.5m (100ft) in the air.

Ropes and harnesses are used by a team of experts to get to the displays which are suspended from a hangar roof.

The museum in Shropshire houses the largest Cold War exhibition in the UK, including a segment of the Berlin Wall.

Work will be carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Worker at the RAF Cosford museum
Workers carrying out a spring clean at RAF Cosford
A team of industrial rope access specialists.
A Canberra, Meteor, Sabre, Hunter, Lightning, Dakota and Javelin have all had a dusting to look their best for visitors

Other spruced up aircraft include a Canberra, Meteor, Sabre, Hunter, Lightning, Dakota and Javelin.

Alex Picken, an ARA level 3 rope access technician is part of the Rappel team scaling the large aeroplanes to carry out the spring clean.

"These are antiques and we don't want to cause them any damage so we use a simple duster, we don't use any cleaning substances," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"You'd be amazed at the amount of dust that comes off the planes."

Tom Hopkins, curator at RAF Museum Midlands added: "All the aircraft and vehicles within the RAF Museums collection undergo a regular inspection by our technicians and volunteers, however those suspended from the ceiling of our National Cold War Exhibition are 100ft (30.5m) high in some places and require a specialist team to carry out the work at dizzying heights."

Workers at the RAF Cosford museum
Cleaning work has focused on the suspended aircraft displayed within the Museum's National Cold War Exhibition
Plane display at RAF Cosford
The plane displays are suspended up to 100ft from the museum's roof
Worker at the RAF Cosford museum
Cleaning work at the museum is taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday
Presentational grey line

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