The Helicopter Museum

Key Facts

The world’s biggest museum devoted to rotorcraft, comprising many helicopter and autogyro exhibits and memorabilia, as well as extensive displays on how a helicopter flies and the history of rotorcraft. A new display hangar has recently been added, together with further additions to the multi-national collection of exhibits.

On the A371 east of Weston, 3 miles from Weston-super-Mare seafront, and 2 miles from Junction 21 of the M5. See this location on Microsoft Live Search Maps

Open Wednesday to Sunday 10.00 am to 5.30 pm, April to October; Wednesday to Sunday 10.00 am to 4.30 pm, November to March. Also open Monday & Tuesday during Easter and school Summer holidays.

See official website for details.

Amenities:

Souvenir shop, Restaurant, Toilets.

Wessex 60 G-ATBZ	Lynx 3 ZE477
Mi-24 96+26	UH-1H 66-16579

Notes: Sycamore XG547 has moved to Belgium.

The Helicopter Museum, Locking Moor Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, BS24 8PP Tel: 01934 635227 Fax: 01934 645230. The Helicopter Museum official website. [Please note the correct phone number, not as given in a number of publications].

WG-30 srs 100 G-BGHF	Ka-25 D-HAOY
Wasp HAS.1 XS463	Whirlwind HAR.10 XD163
Belvedere XG452	Super Frelon F-BTRP
Mi-4 9147	Dragonfly HR.1 VZ962

Fleet Air Arm Museum, Photographs 2

Firefly TT.4 VH127	MiG-15bis 01420
Forward deck of ‘Carrier’	Aft deck of ‘Carrier’
Sea Vampire I LZ551/G	Sea Venom FAW.22 WW138
Attacker F.1 WA473	Scimitar F.1 XD317
Saro P.531 XN332	Gannet AEW.3 XL503
Seahawk FGA.6 WV856	Phantom FG.1 XT596

Fleet Air Arm Museum, Photographs 1

Hawker P.1127 XP980	Hunter T.8M XL580
HP.115 XP841	Sea Harrier FRS.1 XZ493
Sopwith Baby ‘N2078′	Sopwith Camel ‘B6401′
Sopwith Triplane ‘N5492′	Albatros D.Va ‘D.5397′
Fairey Flycatcher ‘S1287′	Wessex HAS.3 XP142 ‘Humphrey’
View of Hall 2	Fulmar II N1854
Albacore I ‘N4389′	Firefly TT.1 Z2033

More photos on the next page

Fleet Air Arm Museum

Key Facts

The Fleet Air Arm museum houses a very large and well presented collection of aircraft and memorabilia. Four display halls portray the development of naval aviation from World War I to the Gulf War. The centrepiece of the museum is the ‘Carrier’ display, in which visitors are ‘flown’ inside a Wessex helicopter onto the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Here they can examine the aircraft ranged on deck and follow a guided tour of the carrier’s ‘island’ – finishing up at FlyCo where all aircraft operations are controlled. In addition, the ‘Leading Edge’ gallery contains a Concorde prototype and examples of several post-war research aircraft. Across the road, the newly completed ‘Cobham Hall’ stores aircraft not currently on display and is open to visitors on a few days each year.
One curious feature of the aircraft display halls is the extremely poor lighting used to illuminate the aircraft. Natural light is almost completely excluded, and replaced by a small number of spot lights aimed at the aircraft. This makes the galleries seem very dark and gloomy. This is especially apparent in the World War Two gallery where virtually all of the aircraft have their wings folded back and are parked so close together that is impossible to step back and appreciate each one without colliding with another aircraft or disappearing into the gloom. Compared to other aviation museums such as Hendon or Cosford, the FAA museum must have some of the worst display lighting in the country.

On the B3151, south of the A303, north of Yeovil, Somerset. Signposted from the A37/A303 junction. See this location on Microsoft Live Search Maps

Open daily 10.00 am to 5.30 pm, April to October; Wednesday to Sunday 10.00 am to 4.30 pm November to March, plus Mondays and Tuesdays during school half-term breaks and public holidays. Closed over Christmas. Regular open days for Cobham Hall are held during the year.

See official website for details.

Amenities:

Toilets, Parking, Cafe, Souvenir shop, Access for the disabled.

Concorde 002 dominates the Leading Edge Hall	Another view of Leading edge
Wyvern TF.1 VR137	BAC 221 WG774

** under restoration.

Cobham Hall

In store at Cobham Hall:  Cobham Hall photos

Notes: –

Fleet Air Arm Museum, Box D6, RNAS Yeovilton, Ilchester, Somerset, BA22 8HT. Tel: 01935 840565, Fax: 01935 842630, e-mail: info@fleetairarm.com, website: www.fleetairarm.com

More photos on the next page

Fleet Air Arm Museum – Cobham Hall

Bell UH-1H AE422	Blackburn NA39 XK488
Saro P.531 XN332 coded 759	Sea Venom FAW.21 WW138 coded 227/Z
Sea Vixen FAW.1 XJ481	Skyraider AEW.1 WV106 coded 427/C
Storage rack of components	Fa 330A-1 100545
Sea Hawk and Supermarine 510	Bits of T-34C and Meteor
Whirlwind and Dragonfly helicopters	General view of storage area
UH-1H AE-422 and Meteor T.7 WS103 tail	View towards NA39 and restoration area

Fleet Air Arm Museum – Cobham Hall

Tiger Moth G-ABUL	Sea Prince T.1 WP313 coded 568/CU
Jet Provost T.3A XN462	Skyraider AEW.1 WT121 coded 415/CU
Beech T-34C Mentor 0729/411	Vampire T.22 XA129
Wasp HAS.1 XS527	Dragonfly HR.5 VX595
Whirlwind HAR.1 XA864	Gannet COD.4 XA466 coded 777/LM

More Cobham photos on the next page