An historic artefact which helped propel aviation into the jet age will go on public display in Gloucester thanks to the RAF Charitable Trust.

The blade, part of the propeller fitted to the experimental turbo-prop Gloster Trent Meteor I EE227, belonged to the late Fred Crawley who donated it to the RAF Charitable Trust, of which he was a Trustee. It is to go on display at the Jet Age Museum. (www.jetagemuseum.org)

Museum archivist Richard Hentschke said: “This turboprop blade has a significant place in the history of the Jet Age, and therefore also for the Jet Age Museum. The world’s first turboprop aircraft was a modified Gloster Meteor used as a testbed for the Rolls-Royce Trent engine. With five-bladed propellers fitted to its two modified Derwent jet engines it pioneered the type of propulsion used by many short and medium range airliners today.”

RAFCT Director Justine Morton said Fred was a long term supporter both of the charity and of the Royal International Air Tattoo. He donated a large number of interesting aviation related items to the charity and donated a significant sum of money that was to be used to benefit the many volunteers who help stage the Air Tattoo each year.

She said: “Fred was very happy for the mounted blade to be loaned to the new Jet Age Museum at Gloucester Airport so people could view it as he recognised it was a significant piece of Gloster Aircraft Company’s history.”

Jet Age Museum historian and Trustee Tim Kershaw said Meteor I EE227 had seen RAF service with 616 Squadron before being transferred to Rolls-Royce at Hucknall for the new engines to be installed. It first flew on September 20, 1945, with Gloster’s chief test pilot Eric Greenwood at the controls.

Mr Kershaw added: “Gloster had schemed the project in January 1944 as Gloster Meteor I type aircraft with Rolls-Royce W2B/37 propeller combination installation after Sir Stanley Hooker’s research team showed the potential fuel economy for speeds below 450mph (724kph) of a jet engine fitted with reduction gear and an airscrew. Although Greenwood suffered 18 complete engine failures in 21 flights, the programme continued until March 1948. It led to Rolls-Royce developing the highly successful Clyde and Dart turboprops.”

The Jet Age Museum is devoted to the preservation, conservation and public display of Gloucestershire’s world-class aviation heritage and holds a major collection of Gloster Aircraft Company aircraft, artefacts and archives.

www.airtattoo.com/the-trust

On Monday 27th March, the Director of the Allied Air Forces Memorial & Yorkshire Air Museum, Ian Reed ONM FRAeS, was at Châteaudun Airbase on the outskirts of Paris, to sign the contact and see off the departure of the convoy of 4 transporters on an epic 850km journey bringing the iconic Mirage IV BR (No. 45) strategic nuclear bomber gifted by the French Government to its new home at Elvington in Yorkshire.

This unique Anglo/French Project occurs just as British Prime Minister Theresa May begins the formal BREXIT process, an irony not lost on our colleagues both sides of the Channel (La Manche).

Sally Greenaway, Head of Visit York, said: “This unique gift recognises the historic links and friendship between France and Britain and we’re thrilled the Mirage IV will be making its home at the Yorkshire Air Museum. As the only example in the world of this aircraft type on display outside of France, this adds yet another unique offer for our 6.9 million visitors to York and is sure to create lots of interest not just in the UK but also overseas”.

Tens of thousands followed the journey on social media, whilst others lined the route through England as the transporter carried it’s load up the M25, M3, M25, M1, A1(M), A64 and finally the B1228 to Elvington.

This is the culmination of 12 years of negotiation and is already being followed by tens of thousands of supporters across the world by social media, TV and Press. There is a dedicated website for up to date media information with pictures, background history and supporters: http://mirage.yorkshireairmuseum.org

April 1 2017 marked 99 years since the Royal Air Force was founded. With the services 100th anniversary approaching next year, the RAF Museum is hard at work preparing for the historic occasion by delivering a £26m RAF Centenary Programme, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Forged in the crucible of the First World War, the story of the Royal Air Force has shaped the modern world. By inspiring technological development, pioneering cultural change and pushing the boundaries of human achievement, the RAF has touched the lives of millions around the globe.

The RAF Museum is a national award-winning museum telling the story of the RAF past, present and future, through its people and collections at sites in both London and Cosford. 2018 is a once in a life-time opportunity to mark the 100th anniversary of the RAF as well as recognising the on-going impact and contribution the service plays on the world today.

Through a national collection of aircraft and artefacts, the Museum will honour this important milestone through a £26m major transformation of its visitor experience at its London site. Work is already underway to deliver the exciting plans that will celebrate and commemorate this anniversary as well as looking to the future, by creating a Royal Air Force legacy that endures and enriches future generations.

At London, new landscaping will welcome visitors to discover a new green heart of the community, reflecting the historic RAF Hendon airfield. New, innovative galleries will explore the first 100 years of the RAF, its roles today and entice visitors to imagine its future contribution and technology. Plus, a new digital sharing project will promote conversation with a global audience and help connect people to the RAF story, sharing information onsite and online.

The development plans will also include new exhibitions at Cosford, exploring the first 100 years of the RAF and new aircraft displays which are already underway, to enable the RAF’s story to be more comprehensively represented to Museum audiences in the Midlands. The Cosford site will also be the focus of ‘My RAF Story’, which promises to be the largest collection of publicly sourced RAF stories.

The new exhibition halls at London will be opening in Summer 2018 as part of the wider calendar of national RAF events. Until then it’s business as usual at both RAF Museum sites, open daily from 10 am….along with aircraft moves, exhibition construction, re-landscaping, design work and public events…..and not forgetting that admission is FREE!

Aviation fans can keep up to date with the centenary aircraft moves and on-going developments by signing up to the Museum’s free e-Newsletter http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/contact-us/newsletters.aspx

1st – 23rd April

There is some speggtacular Easter Family Fun at Brooklands this April with an Easter Trail that will keep visitors entertained every day from 1st – 23rd April. During this period visitors will be able to collect their free Trails on arrival, head off around the Museum to solve the hidden clues, and then back to the Shop to claim their FREE Easter-egg prize.

And there are loads of other Easter attractions at the Museum to keep visitors absorbed for the rest of their visit once they’ve solved the Trail clues. In fact, the offering is so varied that the Museum has created a special mini-calendar (see below) to remind visitors of the attractions available on each day.

Also from the 1st – 23rd April visitors can experience one of the three exhilarating rides in the 4D Theatre for HALF the normal price between 10am and 1pm – that’s just £2 for Adults and £1 for Children. Once seated and strapped in, the motion simulator provides a thrilling experience to make visitors feel as if they are taking part in the real-life action. ‘Race’ around the Brooklands track in the awesome Napier-Railton Special, ‘fly’ with the Red Arrows or ‘drive’ with legend Mike Hawthorn in his Jaguar at Le Mans in 1956. The rides run all day and last around 8 minutes each. For rides taken after 1pm, normal prices will apply (£4 and £2).

The Concorde Experience is a half-hour virtual supersonic ‘flight’ on the Brooklands Concorde and runs every day, but on each weekday from 3rd – 21st April, special Kids Tours will be running twice a day. And don’t forget to look out for the Museum’s larger than life mascot, Bertie Bear, who will be roaming the site looking for fans to have his photograph taken with weekdays 3rd – 13th April.

The Museum’s long-established and hugely popular rides in vintage-style cars and on London Bus Museum’s iconic double-decker buses will also be operating during weekdays from 3rd – 13th April. Car rides take in the challenging summit of Test Hill and the Members’ Banking, the steepest part of the original Race Track, as long as it’s not too wet or slippery. Or, for a more relaxed journey, hop on board a real double-decker bus for a bus trip through the surrounding streets. Car and bus rides will run in the mornings and afternoons with a short break for lunch and are subject to crew and vehicle availability.

The Brooklands Learning Team will be running two FREE drop-in workshops for youngsters: from 3rd – 7th April they can find out about how forces and friction work by making Bertie Bear bounce up and down on his elastic string while from 10th – 14th April and again on 17th (Easter Monday), they can look for various objects around the museum in Brooklands Bingo with the first one to fill in their sheet and shout ‘Bingo’ being the winner. All materials will be provided for these workshops and no pre-booking is necessary.

Add to this a visit to the Museum Shop to pick up a souvenir and a “refuel” in the Sunbeam Café and Brooklands Museum offers the recipe for a perfect Easter day out. Normal admission prices apply: Adults £11, Seniors £10, Children (5-16 yrs) £6, Family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children) £30. The Concorde Experience is £5 for adults, £3 for children. A minimum donation of £1 per passenger is requested for car and bus rides. The main visitor entrance for the Museum is via Mercedes-Benz World, on Brooklands Drive off Wellington Way between Weybridge and Byfleet.

For full details of events, directions and general Museum information, please telephone 01932 857381 or visit www.brooklandsmuseum.com. The Museum is open daily from 10am.

Date: 19-20 May 2017

Time: 6.00pm to 9.00pm

Cost: £12.50 per person

Two Second World War German front line fighter aircraft, the Messerschmitt BF109G-2/Trop and the Focke Wulf Fw190A-8/U-1 have been announced as highlights at the forthcoming ‘Open Cockpits Evening’ taking place at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford on 19-20 May 2017.

With just 300 tickets available per evening, organisers are anticipating the event will be hugely popular with aviation fans eager to get a look inside two former Luftwaffe aircraft. In addition, a wide range of transport aircraft, jet fighters and unique research airframes from each of the Museum’s display hangars and within the Museum grounds will be open on the night for close viewing.

The Messerschmitt BF109G-2, designed by Willi Messerschmitt, is a legend alongside the British Spitfire, American P51 Mustang and the Japanese Zero. First flown in 1935, the Bf109 was obsolescent by the second half of World War Two yet it remained the backbone of the German Air Force’s day fighter force and was flown by many of her allies. In production right up to the end of hostilities, more than 33,000 were built second only to the Russian ‘Sturmovik’ as the most prolific military design, and post-war versions served with the Czech, Israeli and Spanish Air Forces, the latter until the mid-1960s – with Rolls Royce Merlin engines. Compact, rugged, fast and heavily armed the Bf109 has the distinction of being flown by the highest-scoring fighter aces in history. The museum’s rare example is a recent edition to the aircraft display at Cosford following its arrival in November 2016 and this is the first time the aircraft will be opened up to the public to have a closer view inside (no internal access).

Also new to the ‘Open Cockpits Evening’ line-up is fellow German fighter the Focke Wulf Fw190 – a single-seat single-engine multi-role fighter-bomber, capable of carrying a larger bomb load than its counterpart the Messerschmitt Bf109. Entering Luftwaffe service in August 1941, the Fw 190 proved superior in many respects to the Royal Air Force’s main frontline fighter, the Spitfire V. It took the introduction of the much improved Spitfire IX in July 1942 for the RAF to gain an aircraft of equal capability. One of its more unusual roles was as part of the twin-aircraft drone combination, code-named mistletoe or Mistel where a single engine fighter was mounted on top of a twin engine bomber, and on lining up with the target the fighter detached itself, leaving the bomber, packed with explosives, to impact the target. Cosford’s Fw 190 is a unique survivor of a Mistel combination and was part of a combination with a Junkers Ju 88. Although not its original partner aircraft, the Museum’s Ju88 example is now on display alongside the Fw190. Visitors to ‘Open Cockpits Evening’ will be able to sit inside the cockpit of the Fw190 on the night.

RAF Museum Cosford Curator, Al McLean said:
“The event in May is a rare chance to see inside the two most iconic German fighter aircraft of the Second World War, positioned directly opposite their British counterparts.”

Other highlights for visitors on the night will include the British Aircraft Corporation TSR 2, BAe Harrier GR9A, General Dynamics F-111F-CF and the Lockheed Hercules C130K Mk3 to name but a few.

Ticket holders will also have exclusive after-hours access to the Museum from 6pm to 9pm to experience what it feels like to sit inside a military aircraft that’s seen action around the world and marvel at the advanced technologies on unique airframes. To make sure visitors get the most out of the event, there will be a team of Volunteers manning each aircraft on the night to answer any questions from visitors.

Tickets are now available to purchase through the museum’s website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford and cost £12.50 per person which includes parking. Minimum height restrictions of 1.07 metres will apply. The Museum will close at 5.00pm both days; however the Visitor Centre and Refuel Restaurant will remain open for ticket holders and will be serving a special ‘Open Cockpits Evening’ menu.

A second Open Cockpits Evening will take place on 15-16 September and will feature a different line-up of aircraft.

Various Royal Air Force aircraft were showcased at last monday’s Media Launch of the RAF Cosford Air Show 2017, giving a sneak preview of what’s to come on Sunday 11th June.

With RAF Cosford hosting the Royal Air Force’s only official Air Show, it comes as no surprise that all the RAF display teams are scheduled to perform at the show, including the world famous Red Arrows flying their nine Hawk jets. The Eurofighter Typhoon is also scheduled to perform a thrilling solo display, with Flt Lt Ryan Lawton showcasing the power and agility of the combat aircraft. The RAF’s Grob Tutor is returning to the Air Show circuit for 2017, and Sqn Ldr Andy Tagg was on hand at the Media Launch to show off the Tutor aircraft. Displays from the RAF Falcons and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will also form part of the six-hour flying display.

As well as dazzling displays in the air, there will also be an array of aircraft on static display across the airfield on Sunday 11th June which visitors will be able to get up close and personal with. Two of the aircraft types which are scheduled for static display at the Air Show, a Tucano T1 and Squirrel HT1, were present at the Media Launch today. The organisers said that more aircraft would be announced over the coming weeks.

With the Air Show fast approaching, and with no tickets available at the gate, those wishing to attend are being encouraged to purchase their tickets soon. Air Show Tickets, priced £25.00, are currently available from the Air Show website and selected retail outlets including the RAF Museum at Cosford and Hendon. Accompanied under-16s enter the Air Show for free, making the event a great family day out.

www.cosfordairshow.co.uk