jak55631@ihuxx.UUCP (kostreva) (02/25/86)
I will be spending some time in England, Germany, and Austria this summer and was wondering if anyone in netland had any information on the aircraft museums located there. I have found no problem getting information on the "traditional" sights such as castles, cathedrals, etc., but on this subject information is hard to find. Hendon and Biggleswade are towns in Britain which I understand have aircraft museums. I also get the impression that the Deutsches museum in Munich has a section devoted to aircraft. Does anyone have information on these or other museums? I don't plan on spending all my time in these museums, but I wouldn't mind spending several afternoons indulging in this interest of mine. I have written to the Smithsonian on this subject, but as yet have heard nothing. Any information provided would be of great interest to me. Thank You Very Much.
bonham@calgary.UUCP (Mike Bonham) (02/26/86)
> I will be spending some time in England, Germany, and > Austria this summer and was wondering if anyone in > netland had any information on the aircraft museums > located there. While in England this fall I visited the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton airfield (just outside Yeoville, of course), which is southeast of Bath and close to Salisbury and Stonehenge. This museum has a large collection of British naval aircraft from the 1930's to the present. While I was there they had two additional special displays: one on the Pacific theatre of World War II, and one on the Falklands war. They also have a hangar displaying Concorde 002, Britain's SST prototype. The Pacific display consisted mostly of text and photo displays, with paraphernalia like Japanese ceremonial swords and flags. They have a Baka manned rocket bomb you can climb around and look at, various marks of Seafire fighters, and a Corsair (I recall they had a Grumman in British roundels too -- a Wildcat?). The Falklands display occupied about half of one large hangar -- it included a British helicopter, a Harrier and several Argentine aircraft shot down or captured -- a Bell 204, Pukara ground-attack twin, and an light observation aircraft. The main collection is housed in rather dim surroundings. Because most are carrier-based aircraft, they were able to fold the wings and pack 'em in. You get to see a lot of different airplanes, but access to each is restricted (you have to keep to a path) and you don't get all the views you want. Aircraft are bright and shiny, most are probably not flyable. Some appeared to have been liberally coated with fresh paint rather than restored properly. In addition to aircraft, they have models of carriers and displays of medals, push-the-button-and-watch-the-lights action displays, and a large section devoted to recruitment. The emphasis on Join-the-Navy plus the heavy dosage of Falklands propaganda gave me the least agreeable feelings about this museum, but it IS sponsored by the military after all. The other aircraft museum I visited was Hendon field, inside London. This is the official Royal Air Force museum. They have many aircraft, from 1910 onwards, including a good selection of RFC biplanes from WWI, many types from WWII, the 50's and 60's. Special displays were: the Sidney Camm collection of fighter A/C which he designed while chief designer at Hawker-Siddeley, (Fury biplane, Hurricane, Typhoon, Tempest & several more), The Battle of Britain collection, (Spitfire & Hurricane set up in simulated revetment -- a walk-in diorama) plus German A/C JU88, JU87, Bf109, He111, and a Bomber Command display with a Wellington (!!!), Mosquito, Lancaster, Halifax and a B17 in U.S. colours. Many dioramas, models and paraphernalia displays make it very educational and present a comprehensive history of the British and Commonwealth Air Forces. Again you are restricted to walking only on the pathways provided, but things are set up so you can usually get a good view. The Shuttlesworth Museum at Biggleswade is one I didn't get to but wish I had! These aircraft are restored to mint, flying condition. In summertime they have flypasts every weekend. This is reputed one of the best aviation museums in the world. I would like to see reviews of other aviation displays in this newsgroup. What does the net think? -- __|__ __/___ Mike Bonham __|__ /___ Dept. of Computer Science ___|___ | | University of Calgary /___, |____| Calgary, Alberta, CANADA / \./ /| T2N 1N4 __/ \__ _/ `__| ..!{ubc-vision,ihnp4}!alberta!calgary!bonham
levy@CAMELOT (Benjy Levy) (02/28/86)
Its not really an aricrft museum, but when I was last in Zurich (1982) there was an assortment or vintage aircraft suspended from the ceiling of the airport there. One in particular, I had just finished reading about in a book in the worlds worst aircraft. I wonder is it is still there... Benjy
ajc@ptsfc.UUCP (Al Cuevas) (03/01/86)
In october I visited the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The museum is devoted to science and technology and has quite an extensive aviation section. Plan on spending at least half a day there as it is quite interesting and there are a number of unique WWII German airplanes to see. One of the most interesting is the push-pull fighter. If you get to the Frankfurt flughaven (airport) be sure and look at the terminals. They have more WWII airplanes including a ME-262 jet. The Old Controller....Al
rl@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Robert Langridge%CGL) (03/01/86)
In article <968@ihuxx.UUCP> jak55631@ihuxx.UUCP (kostreva) writes: >I will be spending some time in England, Germany, and >Austria this summer and was wondering if anyone in >netland had any information on the aircraft museums >located there. > Near Cambridge, England are both the Shuttleworth Collection and Duxford Aerodrome. Both have excellent collections and put on flying displays, usually late summer to early fall, I believe. Bob Langridge rl@ucsfcgl (ARPA, UUCP, BITNET) Computer Graphics Laboratory +1 415 476 2630 University of California +1 415 476 1540 San Francisco CA 94143-0446 +1 415 476 5128
aglew@ccvaxa.UUCP (03/02/86)
English aviation museums: Try to see the Shuttleworth Collection. I'm afraid that I don't know exactly where it is, but perhaps knowing the name will help you find it. While you're there, take a look at the Blackburn monoplane which they bring out once a year and try to fly - the oldest flying aircraft in the world. They don't mention it, but that was my grandfather's plane. My grandfather, Francis Glew, bought it from his brother-in-law Cyril Foggin, and flew it around to exhibitions and the like. We have several old magazine photos of this `intrepid aviator' standing beside his crashed monoplane. One crash was too much, so grand-dad put it up in the barn. Quite a few years later, grand-dad overheard Shuttleworth in the local pub asking about aircraft, said "we've summat down at the farm", and sold it to him for 10 quid. It turns out that the problem was a hairline fracture in the engine, which couldn't have been repaired at the time. This plane has appeared in a few British first-day covers, and the like, but they always say that it was "found in a barn in Leicestershire" without mentioning the daring young man turned old farmer who'd preserved it in such good condition. (Other stories: grand-dad always claimed to be the first to fly the air-mail from London to Newcastle, in that plane - we aren't sure about this. Great-uncle Foggin was taught to fly by Bleriot - seems he was the only French-speaking person in a small English town.)
ptodd@tekchips.UUCP (Philip Todd) (03/05/86)
The Science museum in London has a very interesting aviation section, including, if my memory serves me rightly, the original Vickers Vimy bomber which Alcock and Brown used in the first nonstop trans-Atlantic flight. Also a Messershmit rocket interceptor amongst other interesting items. [Warning - this information is about 10 years old]