UK Aviation Museum News – Page 72

Museum Makes Appeal to Black RAF Personnel

RAF Museum appeal

In two World Wars black people from the Caribbean, Africa and from Britain volunteered to serve in the Royal Air Force. These volunteers fought, and died, for the ‘mother country’ and for freedom, and thereby helped to preserve the values and the heritage they shared with their white comrades. The tradition of service to the Crown continues today, and the RAF is proud to welcome new generations of black volunteers into its ranks.

In the exhibition ‘Pilots of the Caribbean: Volunteers of African Heritage in the Royal Air Force’, the Royal Air Force Museum will tell the inspirational story of these volunteers, commemorating and celebrating their vital contribution to the defence of Britain, her Empire and the Commonwealth.

The exhibition will also highlight the Royal Air Force’s success in embracing diversity and also demonstrate how the rich, cosmopolitan nature of modern Britain owes much to the black men and women who wore air force blue.

Peter Dye, Director General of the Royal Air Force Museum states:

‘From First World War pilot William Robinson Clarke, to the young volunteers of today, Afro-Caribbean men and women have played an integral part in the development of the Royal Air Force and the defence of our freedoms and liberties. In this exhibition, the Royal Air Force Museum aims to celebrate their contribution to the development of modern Britain, while providing all young people with a series of role models to inspire and guide them in realising their own ambitions and dreams.

Although, we have a wealth of archive materials to draw from we would welcome stories and photographs from former, and serving, black Royal Air Force personnel and their families. If you are able to assist in the Museum with this appeal, and would like your story to be told, please email the Museum’s Research Department at research@rafmuseum.org, in the first instance, or call us on 020 8358 4873.

‘Pilots of the Caribbean : Volunteers of African Heritage in the Royal Air Force’ will open at the Royal Air Force Museum London on 1st of November 2013 before transferring to the Museum’s sister site at Cosford during Summer 2014. Both sites are open daily from 10am. Admission to both sites are free of charge.

http://www.rafmuseum.org

Come with us Back to the Forties at IWM Duxford

Duxford Back to the Forties

Enjoy two-for-one admission if you come dressed to impress in your Forties finery

Join us for our brand new event, Back to the Forties, on Sunday 29 September, as we time-travel back to Britain on the Second World War Home Front.

Come dressed in your 1940s finery, clutching your Back to the Forties voucher, which you can download from the IWM website at http://www.iwm.org.uk/events/iwm-duxford/back-to-the-forties and enjoy two-for-one entry to Back to the Forties and the whole of IWM Duxford (Sunday 29 September only).

We’re also holding a Best Dressed competition; our sartorial experts will be scrutinising entrants to find that perfectly authentic Forties look.

You’ll meet a range of wartime characters, including Land Army girls, a char lady, a wartime bobbie, a member of the Home Guard, an ARP Warden and civilians going about their daily life. Watch out for the wartime spivs who will try to charm you into buying their black market wares!

There’ll be the opportunity to sing along with your favourite 1940s songs as we hear from vocal entertainers Marina Mae, Nina Rae and Pete Wayre. Learn some nifty dance moves from our lindy hop dancers and find out how to look your best despite the clothing coupons with Harry and Edna’s Fashion on the Ration display and our Make-do-and-Mend activities.

Learn how to cook up a storm despite the ration book, discover how to put out an incendiary bomb with the National Fire Service, have a go at wartime games and visit the Women’s Voluntary Service with their indispensable tea wagon.

Listen to the authentic snap and crackle of the wartime 78s played by our gramophone DJ and be inspired to do your bit for the war effort with rousing speeches by the great wartime leader, Winston Churchill.

Living history groups bring to life the British and American forces on the Home Front. See a recreated RAF Operations Room as it would have been in the midst of the Battle of Britain in 1940, with live demonstrations showing who was in charge and how the operations room functioned as aircraft were called to ‘scramble!’

There will also be a display of RAF navigational equipment; an RAF airfield observation post, with period equipment and an RAF vehicle with Bomber Command markings; and an RAF aircrew poised to be called into action at any moment.

See a British Red Cross tent with medical equipment and tools, Home Front items and Fred, the resident casualty, who has certainly been in the wars!

There’s a display of a 1940s jeep and equipment used by British airborne troops and also of American airborne troops during D-Day.

GI 41-45 represent the 41st American Armoured Infantry on check point duty, complete with jeeps, tents and sandbags. USAAF B-17 Crews present a static dispersal point as they await their next bombing mission.

See members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force manning a Chain Home Radar Receiver Station and enjoy the gallic delights of a period 1940s French café.

We’ll also have a glorious array of period vehicles, both military and civilian. Proving that it wasn’t all war work and no play, we’ve also got a 1940s picnic scene complete with period vehicle.

Wing Co Joe’s Café will be getting into the wartime mood with some vintage decorations and a specially created Dig for Victory menu, including leek and potato soup, corn beef hash and stout gravy, chicken broth and dumplings and Dig for Victory vegetable crumble.

Ladies can indulge in some fabulously forties hair and make-up demonstrations and make some vintage purchases at our pop-up shops.

Join us for a trip back in time to the Second World War Home Front and remember, it’s unpatriotic not to look your 1940s best!

www.iwm.org.uk

Handley Page Hastings repaint at Newark Air Museum

Handley Page Hastings Newark Air Museum

The recent spell of reasonably settled weather has enabled the Newark Air Museum Restoration Manager and a small team of museum volunteers to make good progress with the restoration work on Handley Page Hastings TG517.

Most of the difficult to reach sections of the fuselage have now been cleaned, de-corroded and repainted. Work has also been completed on the undersides of the wings and is now underway on the engine nacelles, propeller sand upper wing surfaces.

The Handley Page Hastings TG517 was flown in to join the collection, landing on the runway at the former RAF Winthorpe airfield on 22nd June 1977 and is greatly valued part of the themed display of training aircraft at Newark Air Museum.

TG517 saw service during both the Berlin Airlift (Operation Plainfare) and the Icelandic Cod War (Operation Heliotrope). The aircraft is regularly opened to the public, where they can see the T5 equipment fit that it operated with at the RAF Bombing School at RAF Lindholme and then at RAF Scampton, where it trained Vulcan crew members to operate radar bomb-sight equipment mounted in the distinctive ventral radome.

Everyone at the museum is hoping for continued spells of good weather so the repaint can be completed before the winter months.

http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/

IWM Duxford-based Catalina takes on a round-Britain trip

Commemorating a 100 year old flight in the aircraft’s own 70th birthday month.On Wednesday 21 August, Catalina G-PBYA, operated by Plane Sailing Air Displays Limited and based at IWM Duxford, undertakes a remarkable aviation challenge.

Honouring the daring flying expeditions of the pioneer aviators, the Catalina will undertake, in its centenary year, the 1913 Circuit of Britain flight, which was flown by pilot Harry Hawker and mechanic Harry Kauper, both Australians, in a Sopwith Waterplane.

The Catalina celebrates its 70th birthday this month, making it the oldest UK-based airworthy amphibian.

In 1913, the Circuit of Britain Race was the firstmajor British competition for seaplanes. It was supported by Lord Northcliffe, the proprietor of the Daily Mail, who was a great fan of aviation races. Shell Aviation provided the lubricants for the original race and will be doing the same 100 years on.

The route in 1913, as reported by Flight magazine, started and finished at Southampton Water, with eight control points en route. These were the Royal Temple Yacht Club in Ramsgate, the Naval Air Station in Yarmouth, the Grand Hotel in Scarborough, the Palace Hotel in Aberdeen, the Naval Air Station in Cromarty, the Great Western Hotel in Oban, the Royal St George Yacht Club in Kingstown, Dublin and the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club in Falmouth.

While the airspace in 2013 is somewhatmore restricted then 100 years ago, the crew of the Catalina intends to follow the 1913 route as closely as possible. The full route is outlined below. The crew will take off from IWM Duxford onWednesday 21 August to complete the 1600mile route over approximately five days. They will be flying over some key historic sites, including Kingston, where the Sopwith Factory was based; Hook in Chessington, where Harry Hawker is buried and Brooklands Aerodrome (now Brooklands Museum), where Harry Hawker learnt to fly and tested aircraft for use in the First World War. The Catalina will also orbit the Classic Boat Museumat Cowes, which has on display a 1/8 scale replica of the Bat Boat tested by Harry Hawker in 1913.

The Catalina crew aspires to succeed where Harry Hawker and Harry Kauper did not.

Harry Hawker was the Chief Test Pilot for the Sopwith Aviation Company, while Harry Kauper was an experienced mechanic and Foreman of Works at Sopwith.

Although four aeroplanes were originally entered for this aerial challenge in 1913, of their competitors, Samuel Cody was killed in a flying accident on 7 August, while F K McLean withdrew his Short S.68 aircraft due to engine trouble. The Radley-England Waterplane was withdrawn for the same reason. Only the two Harrys took off on the day of the race.

Their first attempt ended at Yarmouth with a cracked cylinder head and pilot exhaustion. They started again on 25 August andmanaged to fly to just north of Dublin, but crashed in the sea when Harry Hawker’s foot slipped off the rudder while landing. The aircraft was destroyed and Harry Kauper broke his arm. Harry Hawker got a soaking, but was otherwise unharmed. While the Daily Mail prize money of £5,000 could not be given, a consolation award of £1,000 was donated. Shell commissioned Mappin & Webb to make amodel of the Sopwith Waterplane, which was presented to Harry Hawker.

The 2013 Catalina commemoration is led by pilot Jeff Boyling, who, like Harry Hawker, was born in Australia and shares a passion for aeronautical adventure. Bymarking this occasion, Jeff hopes to inspire younger generations with the wonder of flying and to keep the golden era of aviation alive today. Jeff said: “Flying the Catalina G-PBYA is a huge privilege and honour. It is wonderful that this historic aircraft can pay tribute to a great aviator who was a real pioneer. May the memory of Hawker live on.”

Why not come down to IWM Duxford and see Jeff and the Catalina team depart in grand style as they take off for this challenging aerial expedition on Wednesday 21 August?

We’ll be tracking the Catalina’s progress on the Imperial War Museum Duxford facebook page and also via our twitter feed at https://twitter.com/I_W_M

Autumn events at Newark

Here at Newark Air Museum, a registered charity, we’re already making plans for our Autumn 2013 special events…

1 August to 31 August 2013 – Fuel Tank Trail

Throughout this August children visiting the museum will be able to take part in a Fuel Tank Trail around the museum to search for aircraft fuel tanks. Entry to the Fuel Tank Trail will be FREE to each child that has paid to visit the museum with their parents, grandparents and guardians. There will be a small sweet based prize for each correct entry received during this period.

7 September 2013 – Autumn Aviation Book, Die-Cast & Model Sale

Following several recent bequests and donations of aviation books the Newark Air Museum has decided to host a special Autumn Aviation Book, Die-Cast & Model Sale on Saturday 7th September 2013 from 10am until 5pm in the Dambusters Hut at the main museum site. {Special discount admission rates apply}

12 October 2013- Indoor Aeroboot Table Top Sale

46 sellers tables all hosted inside Display Hangar 2 amongst the aircraft at the museum site in eastern Nottinghamshire. {Special discount admission rates apply}

Full details about these and other museum activities can be found on the news pages of the website, which is regularly updated www.newarkairmuseum.org

A fantastic day of nostalgia at Spitfires, Merlins and Motors today

Duxford IWM Merlins & Motors 2013

Thousands of visitors enjoyed a day of thrilling nostalgia today (Sunday 28 July) as IWM Duxford celebrated the iconic Supermarine Spitfire, the unmistakable Merlin engine and the golden age of motoring.

Visitors were able to get up-close to a number of Spitfires on display this morning and have their burning questions about all things Spitfire-related answered by members of the Spitfire Society.

Visitors were also able to see Aircraft Restoration Company’s Spitfire Mark V and the Old Flying Machine Company’s Spitfire IX MH434 take off for air displays at Silverstone and land back later in the day.

Old Flying Machine Company’s Spitfire IX MH434 is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and is also celebrating 30 years of being based at IWM Duxford. It also took to the skies in the afternoon as part of a series of Spitfire flying displays.

Visitors could also see Merlin engines running in a dynamic display, and meet a range of costumed characters, including an authentic Second World War ground crew, a Squadron Leader in 1940, a Sergeant Pilot in 1944 and a female Air Transport Auxiliary pilot. There was also the rare opportunity to sit in a real Spitfire!

Glorious classic and contemporary cars gleamed in the summer sunshine, including a wonderful display of vintage Rolls-Royce cars. Burma Star veterans chatted to visitors about their wartime experiences in the Forgotten War exhibition in Land Warfare.

In the afternoon, the Spitfires that had been on static display in the morning, took to the skies for solo displays.

It was a fantastic day of iconic aircraft, wartime nostalgia, stunning motors and some fabulous flying!

www.iwm.org.uk

(image copyright IWM)

Battle of Britain at Night with the RAF Museum

Dates: Sat 14th & Sun 15th September

Time: 6pm – 11pm

Entrance: FREE

Battle of Britain Weekend is held on the weekend of the 14th and 15th September and the Museum will have plenty of activities for visitors during both days including concerts, re-enactments and film showings. The Royal Air Force Museum is running its first evening Battle of Britain event themed with all things 1940s on the Saturday night – 14th September.

Guests will be able to wander around the Historic Hanger and Bomber Hall and gaze in awe at our Bomber aircraft such as the giant Avro Lancaster whilst enjoying listening to 1940s music.

The Museum will be offering guests the chance to dress up in RAF uniforms from the period and have their photographs taken. There will be drinks available from our Wessex Bar and guests are encouraged to dress from the period to make the event a really immersive experience.

We will be offering a Battle of Britain lecture for anyone that wants to separate the myth from the reality and find out about the personalities and the key events that shaped the battle. We’ll also be showing unseen Battle of Britain footage from our archive and guests will be able to experience a B-17 in our 4D Theatre.

Girls will also be able to attend a 40s Hair and Make-Up Class. Bringing their own make-up with them, our freelance artist will teach everyone how to do 40s hair and make-up styles and girls can try their hand at their new skill straight away, ready for the impromptu dance floor in front of the Lancaster.

Our last event, ‘Dambusters at Night’ in May welcomed nearly 300 visitors so Battle of Britain at Night is in response to a large number of attendees who begged for another opportunity to visit late, bring friends and have a jolly good time.

Entry to Battle of Britain at Night is free of charge to visitors but there will be a £10 charge for the Hair and Make-up Session which should also be pre-booked to secure a place. This event is for over 18s only. The event will start at 6pm and will end at 11pm.

www.rafmuseum.org

Model show set to be a scorcher

RAF Cosford Vulcan Bomber model

20th and 21st July 2013

Gates open 8.30am

With the hot sunny weather looking set to continue into the weekend, organisers of the Large Model Aircraft Rally at Cosford are busy preparing for a scorcher of a show. The event which attracts in excess of 10,000 visitors each year is likely to see numbers soar as modellers and aviation fans from across the country enjoy the sunshine at this air show in miniature.

Taking place at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford on 20th and 21st July, there is plenty for visitors to sit back and enjoy. The show is jam packed with two full days of flying and will see huge models of some of the world’s most iconic aircraft performing for the crowds over the airfield. Other activities keeping the whole family entertained include a children’s entertainment area and a wide range of trade stalls, selling all the essential modelling equipment you could ever need, plus lots of non-modelling related items.

With temperatures remaining in the high 20’s, organisers are advising visitors to come prepared for the hot weather with plenty of sunscreen and hats. Or why not cool down with an ice cream or a refreshing drink from one of the many on site caterers. For anyone wishing to take a break out of the sunshine, why not peruse the award winning RAF Museum where you can see many of the aircraft on which the models are based. Plus, visitors will have the chance to view the last surviving Dornier 17 recently salvaged from the bottom of the English Channel.

Dave Johnson, Event Organiser says:

“As show organiser, I would like to extend a warm welcome to visitors at this year’s event which is sure to be our biggest model air show ever. We have aircraft, some MEGA LARGE in excess of 20ft including a 1/5th scale Vulcan bomber, plus models coming from as far afield as Germany. With all the other attractions and the great weather forecast, it’s going to be a fantastic weekend.”

For anyone looking to take full advantage of the sunshine, camping slots are available for the weekend, giving you full access to all the weekends action and the opportunity to enjoy a warm summers evening at the RAF Museum, exclusively for this event. On site camping including entrance to the show is only £45.00 for the weekend. Contact Dave Bailey for more details on camping at dave.bailey08@tiscali.co.uk or call 07827 675665.

Tickets on the gate cost just £10 per adult and £8 per senior citizen. This time for the first year, children under the age of 16 are FREE, making this the perfect affordable summer’s day out for the whole family. Gates open at 8.30am and flying starts a 9.00am. Unfortunately, free admission to the Museum is not possible this weekend.

For further information about the show and for on the gate prices, please call the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford on 01902 376200 or visit the Museum website at www.rafmuseum.org.

Models of cancelled concept aircraft now on display

RAF Museum Concept Models display

Now on display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford is a collection of original aircraft concept models designed by some of Britain’s biggest aircraft manufacturers during the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. These pioneering designs never made it off the drawing boards. Visitors to the Museum will now have the chance to see some of the revolutionary ideas up close, as they go on display in the Museum’s Test Flight Hangar.

The collection brings together ten original pieces of aircraft design, including one by Barnes Wallis creator of the Wellington Bomber and the famous bouncing bomb used during the Dambusters Raid. Wallis’ design for Vickers known as the Type 010 or ‘Swallow’ was one of the more unusual projects of the 1950’s. This large swing-wing aircraft was designed with the ability to travel at both supersonic and subsonic speeds whilst the engines could rotate and tilt, acting as control surfaces. The proposals were not seen as practical by Government officials although the Air Staff seemed interested and despite Wallis’ best efforts, the Swallow was cancelled in 1957.

Many of the designs were far in advance of their time and only a few made it into construction before later being cancelled by the Government. Those which never made it any further than design concept were ambitious and many had their setbacks, as was the case with the Supermarine Type 559. This interceptor featured two de Havilland Gyron engines with afterburners and two de Havilland Spectre Junior rocket engines, whilst its design featured a Canard layout where the tail-wing was moved to the front resulting in fins being placed on the main wing tips. It would have been a fully integrated weapons system, with technologies beyond its years had it made it into service.

RAF Museum Cosford Curator, Nick Sturgess said:

“The models demonstrate the forward thinking of British aircraft designers during the 1950’s and 60’s, when Britain was at its peak of the aviation industry. There are some ambitious ideas and many of the designs are very futuristic looking, even by today’s standards. Some of the models look like they could be out of a science fiction movie and no doubt, ideas like this would have inspired the likes of Gerry Anderson.”

These new additions to the Test Flight Hangar gives the Museum the chance to bring from storage some items relating to aircraft designs held in the Museum collection. Models range in size from 2ft to 4ft and are made from, wood, plastic and metal, each with their own caption boards detailing the design concept and the expected results.

Other models on display include: The Bristol Type 204 – a state of the art bomber; the Bristol Type 178 – a rocket fighter designed to intercept high flying, supersonic bombers; the English Electric P.10 – a high speed reconnaissance aircraft that would have spied on targets before and after a V-Bomber raid; the Hawker P.1103 – thought to be capable of intercepting a supersonic bomber at 60,000ft within 20 minutes of take-off, the Fairey Delta 3 – a high level interceptor designed to catch incoming Soviet bombers; the Saunders-Roe SR.177 – the planned successor to the experimental rocket powered SR.53 which was cancelled during construction; The Avro 730 – an ambitious reconnaissance aircraft cancelled during construction; the Armstrong-Whitworth 681- a post war transport aircraft capable of carrying vehicles or 60 paratroopers and finally the Fairey Project 75 – designed to be a lightweight aircraft with a short take off run.

Anyone wishing to take a look at this unique collection, the concept models are now on permanent display, located in the Museums’ Test Flight Hangar. Admission is free of charge. For more information on the Museum please visit www.rafmuseum.org or call 01902 376200.

Model aircraft take to the Shropshire skies

Model Aircraft Show RAF Cosford

20th – 21st July 2013

On site camping

Gates open 8.30am

Intricate models of some of the world’s most iconic aircraft will be taking to the skies over Shropshire next month for a weekend of flying entertainment. Model enthusiasts from across the country will travel to the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford for this famous air show in miniature.

Taking place on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st July, the Large Model Aircraft Rally at Cosford is an absolute must see for any aviation enthusiast. Set to be one of Shropshire’s biggest events this Summer, organisers are expecting over 10,000 visitors to attend the two day show. Visitors to this year’s Cosford Air Show will have seen a glimpse of what the event is all about, as members of the Large Model Association performed for the crowds during the morning before the main flying began.

Models flying this year cover the complete spectrum of aviation, including aircraft from the early 1900’s right through to the latest Red Arrows Hawks in miniature. Models range in size from small scale aircraft right through to the huge 1/5th Scale Avro Vulcan with 4 jet turbines, brand new to the show this year. Another first at this year’s event will be a squadron of World War 2 fighters and bombers from Germany, with special pyrotechnic effects recreating a bombing raid.

Alex Medhurst, RAF Museum Cosford General Manager says:

“Many of the models have taken years of dedication to build and apart from the obvious difference in size, they look just like the real thing. The great thing about this event, it’s not just modellers who will enjoy it, other activities keeping the whole family entertained throughout the day include: a children’s entertainment area; trade and food stalls selling everything from modelling equipment to hot snacks and refreshing drinks; plus, access to the Museum where you can see many of the aircraft flown during the show in full size.”

Anyone wishing to attend the event can save money by purchasing tickets in advance at a discounted rate. Advance tickets are on sale at the Museum, priced at just £8 for adults and £7 for senior citizens, saving £2 per person on the gate price and for the first time this year; children under the age of 16 are FREE. Gates open at 8.30am and flying starts a 9.00am.

Exclusively for the Large Model Aircraft Rally, visitors are able to camp on site, meaning you can make the most of the weekend’s flying and activities by being at the centre of all the action. On the Saturday evening there will be entertainment for the campers in the form of an aerobatic glider display with fireworks. On site camping available from Friday 19th to Monday 22nd July, including entrance to the show both days is only £40.00 when booked in advance. Any visitors interested in camping should contact Dave Bailey for more details on 07827 675665 or email dave.bailey08@tiscali.co.uk.

For further information on the event and how to purchase advance tickets, please call the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford on 01902 376200 or visit the Museum website at www.rafmuseum.org.