Wheelchair lift specialist supports historic aircraft accessibility project
Passenger Lift Solutions (PLS) is working with the Blackbushe Heritage Trust to develop a wheelchair-accessible boarding solution for two historic passenger aircraft being restored at Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire.
The mobility and access specialist, which supplies wheelchair lifts and access solutions for minibuses and coaches, is helping the Trust explore how modern accessibility equipment can be incorporated into two Vickers aircraft dating from the 1940s.
The Blackbushe Heritage Trust has been donated a Vickers Viking and Vickers Valetta, which volunteers are painstakingly restoring to recreate the experience of air travel from Blackbushe during the 1950s.
Once restoration is complete, visitors will be able to board the aircraft, explore their restored interiors and original equipment, and listen to authentic recordings of aircraft engines and air traffic communications.
Ensuring wheelchair users can share that experience has been a priority for the Trust from the outset.
Blackbushe Airport already welcomes many disabled visitors to its café and viewing area overlooking the active airfield. The airport is also home to Aerobility, a charity that provides disabled people with opportunities to fly and become involved in aviation.
PLS CEO Adam Beck recently visited Blackbushe Airport to meet the heritage team, view the aircraft and discuss how wheelchair access could be incorporated into the project.
He said: “What struck me during my visit was the passion of the heritage team and their determination to make these aircraft accessible to wheelchair users. They want people to be able to get on board and experience them properly, rather than simply viewing them from the outside.
“And what an experience it is. The engineering, the materials, the build quality and even the smell inside these aircraft take you straight back to another era.
“It is a challenging, unusual and genuinely interesting accessibility project. For us, this isn’t about supplying another passenger lift. It’s about applying what we do every day in accessible vehicles to something completely different.
“We are really pleased that the Trust has chosen PLS to help bring this part of British aviation history within reach of more people.”
PLS is working with the Trust on an accessible boarding solution that will combine a PLS passenger lift with a purpose-designed step structure.
The equipment is intended to provide modern levels of accessibility and safety while maintaining the heritage appearance of the attraction. The surrounding structure will be designed and finished to resemble the mobile aircraft steps used by passengers during the 1950s.
The Blackbushe project is the second unusual heritage accessibility project PLS has been involved with this year.
A PLS Access Lift was recently installed in Blackpool 645, a heritage tram at the National Tramway Museum, as part of the museum’s work to make the historic vehicle accessible to wheelchair users.
PLS and the Blackbushe Heritage Trust will continue working together to finalise the lift and step design as restoration of the aircraft progresses.
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