Tag: March

Date: 8-12 May 2017
Time: 9am, depart RAF Museum Cosford

Two Trustees from the Royal Air Force Museum are set to walk a marathon a day for five days in order to raise funds for the Museum’s £26m RAF Centenary Programme.

Alan Coppin and Robin Southwell, both Trustees of the RAF Museum will walk between the Museum’s two public sites; from Cosford in the West Midlands to Colindale in North West London and aim to raise £100K along the way.

The 130 mile walk will take-off from the RAF Museum Cosford at 9am on Monday 8 May after a sleepover in the Officer’s Mess at RAF Cosford. Following a grueling 30 miles on day one, Alan and Robin aim to reach their first stopover point in Solihull by 9pm. There will be no rest for the wicked, as it will be another early start on day two for a 26 mile leg of the journey towards Leamington Spa in Warwickshire. Stopovers will also include RAF Halton and RAF High Wycombe on nights three and four respectively, before they eventually reach the RAF Museum London on the Friday evening, completing their marathon mission.

The money raised will go towards the award-winning RAF Museum’s million-pound transformation of the visitor experience at its London site in 2018, coinciding with the centenary of the Royal Air Force. This £26m major transformation will celebrate and commemorate this anniversary with a national lasting legacy for the Royal Air Force, sharing the story of the RAF through its people and collections.

The new landscaping will welcome visitors to discover a new green heart of the community in Colindale, reflecting the historic RAF Hendon airfield. New, innovative galleries will explore the first 100 years of the RAF, its roles today and invite visitors to imagine its future contribution and technology. Plus, a new digital sharing project will promote a conversation with a global audience and help connect people to the RAF story, ensuring it endures and enriches future generations.

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.

RAF Museum Trustee, Robin Southwell said:
“It’s an important time for the Museum and we are all excited at the opportunities that lie ahead. Our aim is to raise awareness and funds for the Museum’s RAF Centenary Programme and we are grateful for the support from the Royal Air Force.”

To sponsor the Trustees five marathons in five days and support the RAF Museum visit their donate page: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/5marathonsin5days/423881 or for more information about the fundraising walk and the RAF Museum’s Centenary plans, visit www.rafmuseum.org . The RAF Museum is a registered charity, number 244708.

Date: 17 March 2017
Time: 12.30pm
Cost: FREE
Location: National Cold War Exhibition lecture theatre at RAF Museum Cosford

On 17 March, the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford will be hosting the first Cold War Lunchtime Lecture of 2017 with a lecture entitled ‘Coping with Technological Uncertainty: Military Aircraft Procurement, 1945-1957’. In this lecture, Professor Keith Hayward, a consultant and writer on aerospace and aviation issues, will examine Britain’s military aircraft procurement process during the early period of the Cold War.
Each lecture in the series discusses a different topic related to Cold War air power and to kick start the 2017 series, Professor Keith Hayward will be discussing aircraft procurement from the period at the end of the Second World War through to the Sandys White Paper of 1957. This paper set forth the perceived future of the British military and had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry during a major period in the development of British aviation technology.

The lecture will begin by covering the immediate post-war hiatus in new developments driven by a mixture of austerity, technological uncertainty and prudence and will then consider the impact of the Korean Emergency and the hurried re-armament programme of the 1950s. It was during this period that the Hawker Hunter, Supermarine Swift and Gloster Javelin programmes came into focus, as well as the challenge and problems of acquiring a new generation of jet aircraft that culminated in the 1955 crisis and subsequent White Paper. Professor Hayward will consider the reforms in procurement that were introduced in the English Electric P1 programme and more controversially for OR339. The lecture will then conclude with a discussion around Sandys White paper with final thoughts about its intent and outcomes.

Professor Keith Hayward was formally Professor of International Relations at Staffordshire University, Head of Economic and Political Affairs at the UK aerospace trade association and until January 2015, Head of Research at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. He has consulted for several companies and government departments, including the UK Ministry of Defence and the Department of Business, Innovation and Science. He has acted as an advisor to the UK House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee and the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment. He has taken part in two recent collaborative studies of the space industry on behalf of the Commission of the European Union and the European Space Agency and is also the author of several books and over 100 articles and chapters on aerospace and aviation issues.

The Cold War Lunchtime Lectures form part of the RAF Museum’s Research Programme for 2017. ‘Coping with Technological Uncertainty: Military Aircraft Procurement, 1945-1957’, is the first of four lectures taking place at Cosford this year. The programme also consists of the Trenchard Lectures in Air Power Studies and the First World War in the Air Lunchtime Lectures, which are held at the University of Wolverhampton, the Royal Aeronautical Society in London and the RAF Museum in London respectively.

Dr Ross Mahoney, RAF Museum Aviation Historian said:
“The early Cold War period was a time rapid technological change combined with austerity in Britain, which led to a number of challenges in the procurement of new aircraft. In this lecture, Professor Hayward, a recognised expert on Britain’s aviation industry, will explore this important period and the factors that affected aircraft procurement for the British military.”

This FREE lecture will be held in the museum’s National Cold War Exhibition lecture theatre at 12.30pm on Friday 17 March, lasting approximately 1 ½ hours. As spaces are limited, organisers advise visitors to book their tickets in advance via the Museum’s website to avoid disappointment.

For further information about the Museum’s research programme or to book your FREE ticket to the lecture, please visit the Museum website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford. The Museum is open daily from 10am and entry to the Museum is FREE of charge.

Date: NOW – 30 April 2017

Entrance: FREE

A brand new exhibition dedicated to a civil aviation giant is now on display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford. The exhibition entitled ‘Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus: A life of a Pioneering Aviator’ focuses on one of Britain’s forgotten heroes, Sir Alan Cobham, a true aviation pioneer, both in the air and on the ground.

The display was officially opened by Lady Cobham on Wednesday 23 March during a private event and will run until 30 April 2017. Cobham was a long distance aviator and an aeronautical innovator who became famous for his exploits in the interwar years. This exhibition showcases his diverse flying career and the contributions he made to the world of aviation, most notably the ‘Air to Air’ refuelling technique, still used by air forces across the globe today. He inspired countless members of the public to have successful flying careers, including Shropshire born Spitfire ace Eric Stanley Lock.

Cobham learned to fly during the First World War and later went on to set many long distance aviation records. He became the first person to fly from London to Cape Town and back in 1926 for which he received the Air Force Cross. In the same year at the age of 32, Cobham was knighted by King George V after the successful completion of his Australia flight, where he famously landed his seaplane on the River Thames outside the Houses of Parliament. He won many notable aviation trophies including the King’s Cup air race in 1924 and the Britannia Trophy in 1923, 1925 and 1926. All three Britannia plaques are on display as part of the exhibition, along with a medal case which includes Cobham’s Knight Commander of the British Empire badge and star.

Cobham was one of the biggest celebrities of his day and was well-known for his series of flying tours of the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa, which became affectionately known as ‘Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus’. These tours promoted aviation to the public and were a source of inspiration for countless pilots in the Second World War. Tours of the UK during the 1930s included several shows in the Midlands; Castle Bromwich Aerodrome in Birmingham, Harlescott Flying Ground in Shrewsbury, Stafford Common in Stafford and Kitchen Lane in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton were just some of the many locations to host the show.

Brave, visionary and innovative, Cobham was a record setter who inspired a generation. One such pilot who had his first flight with Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus, was Spitfire fighter ace Flight Lieutenant Eric Stanley Lock who was born in Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He was credited with 26 confirmed victories and received the Distinguished Service Order for ‘his magnificent fighting spirit and personal example which have been in the highest traditions of the service’.

In the years that followed his circus success, Cobham went on to pioneer the aeronautical technique of air-to-air refuelling with his company Flight Refuelling Limited. So advanced was the technology he developed, his ‘probe and drogue’ technique is still used today in its fifth generation. His legacy to aviation lives on through his aerospace company which still continues to pioneer aeronautical technologies.

This exhibition is a highly visual display of Sir Alan Cobham’s life and his many notable achievements, showcasing some of the ‘treasures’ from the collection including a Union Flag that was flown on Cobham’s de Havilland D.H.50J biplane during his Cape Town flight. Other items on display include a flying helmet, log book and personal letters to his mother. The exhibition also features film footage that will show how he turned aviation into a breathtaking spectacle. Visitors to the Museum can now view the exhibition in the museum’s Temporary Exhibition Gallery in Hangar 1 until 30 April 2017.

RAF Museum Curator, Daniel Albon said:

“Sir Alan Cobham was famous for saying “It’s a full time job being Alan Cobham” and after curating this exhibition I certainly think he was right! This exhibition was extremely well received at RAF Museum London and I am really excited that it is now launching at RAF Museum Cosford. We have some brand new objects and panels in this exhibition that I’m sure will be well received by visitors at Cosford.”

For further information please visit the Museum website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford or call 01902 376200. The Museum is open daily from 10am and entry is FREE of charge.