Tangmere Aviation Museum

[Jessie The Jeep]

While on holiday down south, I popped into the Tangmere Aviation Museum. A very friendly little museum with very helpful and knowledgeable staff. Well worth a visit.

 

Here's a few pictures from my visit.

[Jessie The Jeep]

and the last few.

 

Steve

[Lord Burley]

I'ts a shame a lot of that stuff is left in the open for the airframes to degrade.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The museum is due to move due to a new housing estate being built on the airfield, and they said they should be getting a new hangar out of the deal.

[Lauren Child]

Good lord this has brought back memories.

 

I'd been trying to find out which museum this was for years. I visited when I was younger, as we happenned past it when out for a sunday drive (and I got very excited when we saw signposts for it).

 

There used to be a huge cylinder outside that was some kind of old radar or radio beacon. They also had a number of simulator rides that were very memorable. They were built by the veterans who ran the museum and I had great fun chatting to them about how they were made. This was probably one of the moments that got me into engineering.

 

There were three simulators. One was a spitfire cockpit on a rig that went around when you tilted the joystick. One was the front of a lancaster bomber that you could fly bombardier in. An aerial photo was on rollers beneath the dome, so you could look through the bomb sight and release when on target. The last was a helicopter that had been made from steel tubing. It was on pneumatics and had full mobility so you could take off, land, and bank left and right.

 

Niether my father or brother remember it, but seeing the photo's I'm sure thas was the place. I've been wanting to re-visit for *ages*

 

Thank you Jessie!

 

:yay::yay::yay:

Edited June 19, 2008 by Lauren Child

[David Ives]

when they move will they move the old buildings as well as they add the atmosphere of the old wartime section of soe

[AlienFTM]

Last set of pics, top right.

 

Is it me wearing my stupid hat or is that a Spitfire? Cos if it is, I have some issues.

 

The wing shape screams at me that it is a Mark 1. The flat-sided canopy and twin-bladed screw screams early Mark 1.

 

But the colour scheme screams Mark 6 PR (high tail fin and extended wingtips for increased high-altitude performance) and the number of exhaust stubs screams something between a Mark 5(? which saw a whole raft of improvements) and a Mark 11 (because the Mark 12 saw the replacement of the Merlin with the Griffin engine. I have a link suggesting that some six Mark 8s were retrofitted with Griffins but even so ...).

[AlienFTM]

Deleted

Edited June 20, 2008 by AlienFTM
Double tap

[Jessie The Jeep]

The Spitfire is a full scale replica of the prototype Spitfire K5054, hence the early features and blue finish.

 

Regarding the buildings, I'm not sure if they're gonna get one massive hangar, or relocate the current ones, plus another new one.

 

Steve