This independent museum is situated very close to one of
Ronaldsway Airport's taxiways and the main runway, allowing a
close-up view of aircraft. It tells TWO exciting stories - the
aviation heritage of the Isle of Man from the earliest days of
flight AND the Isle of Man and its people at war.
Displays
include:
The history of civil flying from 1902 – balloons,
air races, pleasure flights and commercial aviation at Ronaldsway
Airport and Hall Caine Airport.
1914-18: The Island’s role
in the First World War. This moving exhibition tells in detail the
stories of young men who left the Island to fight in far-off
lands, their tales from the battlefronts and the tragedy of the
loss of over 1100 lives from the Island’s small community.
Royal Naval Air Station Ronaldsway. Opened in 1944 as HMS Urley, a
training base for the Royal Navy’s torpedo bombers, Ronaldsway
became the Island’s busy airport.
The stories of some of
the pioneers of flying who have a Manx connection.
A
hundred years of links between the Island and the Royal Air Force.
Manx people have served with the RAF ever since its formation in
1918 and the RAF itself has had a strong presence on the Island
with three airfields, four radar stations and a bombing range.
Relics of some of the hundreds of wartime aircraft crashes in
and around the Island, with the stories of the people involved.
Women at War – the largely unsung role of women at war, both
in the armed services and at home, with their uniforms and
memorabilia.
The Home Front – The Isle of Man Home Guard
and Air Raid Precautions.
The museum’s memorial garden is
sheltered by a wooden fence which features thoughtfully positioned
glass panels through which aircraft can be seen on the nearby
taxiway and runway. The garden features two granite memorials to
the Polish and Canadian airmen who dies in flying accidents in the
Isle of Man in World War Two.
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