Fleet Air Arm Museum

infobox Museum
name= Fleet Air Arm Museum


established= May 1964
location= RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, England
map_type=Somerset
latitude= 51.0136
longitude= -2.6448
director= Graham Mottram
website= [http://www.fleetairarm.com/ Fleet Air Arm Museum] The Fleet Air Arm Museum is located convert|7|mi|km|0|lk=on north of Yeovil, and convert|40|mi|km|0 south of Bristol. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, as well as models of Royal Navy ships, especially aircraft carriers. Some of the museum has interactive displays. It is located by RNAS Yeovilton, and the museum has viewing areas where visitors can watch military aircraft (especially helicopters) take off and land. The museum's aircraft collection numbers 94. [ [http://www.fleetairarm.com/restorationindex.htm Welcome to the official web site for the Fleet Air Arm Museum ] ]

Exhibits

The museum has a variety of exhibits divided up into several "halls".

Hall 1

Hall 1 contains the World War I, Interwar and Falkland displays. The hall displays has a number of period aircraft. There are documentary videos about the period playing on a continuous loop. It has a model of the World's first aircraft carrier (HMS Argus). One section of the hall is set aside for the Falklands War display, which includes newspaper cuttings, relics from the war, models of British ships and pictures of Fleet Air Arm personal who died in the war. A British anti-submarine helicopter is displayed with damage from the conflict.

Hall 2

Hall 2 contains World War II aircraft, with parts set aside for a Kamikaze exhibit. The Kamikaze exhibit contains models of Japanese aircraft, an Ohka and ships. It also contains final letters home from Kamikaze pilots. Also in Hall 2 is a Korean War exhibit, containing video testament by a Korean War veteran, a Russian Mig and a model of Britain's largest ever aircraft carrier (HMS Eagle). By the entrance to Hall 3, there are many more models of British aircraft carriers with a history of aircraft carrier design.

Hall 3

Hall 3 is the centrepiece of the museum. Instead of a traditional museum hall, the whole hall has been converted into a mock-up of the British fleet carrier HMS Ark Royal as it would have appeared in the 1970s. The entrance to this hall is by a simulated helicopter ride from Hall 2. The hall itself is made to look like the flight deck of HMS Ark Royal and period aircraft are displayed as if they are on the deck. Two massive screens simulate the landing and take-off of aircraft like Blackburn Buccaneers and F4 Phantoms. There is also a tour through a number of rooms made up to mimic the ship's tower. This is complete with video introductions.

Hall 4

Hall 4's main attraction is the second Concorde prototype, although most of the aircraft in the hall are experimental aircraft and other important milestones in the British aerospace industry since World War II. It includes video introductions to the aircraft and the technology.

Other Halls

Aside from the four main halls, there are smaller exhibits containing interactive displays and pictures. One of these is the "Merlin Experience", which explains advanced anti-submarine warfare techniques. Since the museum is adjacent to the RNAS air station, visitors can also view some of the operations of the modern-day aircraft from specially placed viewing areas throughout the museum.

Other Services

The museum also carries out various restoration projects, the last project was a Corsair KD 431 which in the summer of 2006 was unveiled as it would have appeared in 1944. Visitors can see (but not enter) the restoration hanger between Hall 3 and Hall 4. Restoration is currently taking place on a Grumman Wildcat, or Martlet as it was known to the British.

The Fleet Air Arm Museum is the home to an extensive collection of military records. The museum catalogues and restores these documents.

The museum's shop is one has the most extensive selections of naval merchandise in the area. The selection includes various themed books and documentaries such as "sailor".

There is an outside "adventure playground" for children in the museum's grounds, as well as two cafés.

ee also

Flying Start Challenge

References

External links

* [http://www.fleetairarm.com/ Fleet Air Arm Museum]