Location | Staverton, Gloucestershire |
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Coordinates | 51°53′44″N2°10′29″W / 51.89553°N 2.17475°W |
Type | Aviation museum |
Website | http://www.jetagemuseum.org/ |
The Jet Age Museum is the trading name of the Gloucestershire Aviation Collection, an all-volunteer, charitable organisation dedicated to the preservation of Gloucestershire's aviation heritage. The aviation museum is located on the north side of Gloucestershire Airport, between Gloucester and Cheltenham. It houses a number of aircraft, aero engines, cockpits and other related exhibits. It is themed on the early development of jet aircraft, in particular the role played by the Gloster Aircraft Company and other local firms such as Dowty Rotol and Smiths Industries. The museum is also the custodian of the Russell Adams photographic archive.
The organisation was formed in 1986 and established as a company limited by guarantee.
The museum first opened to the public at the Gloucester Trading Estate, the former Brockworth aerodrome. With the aid of grants and public donations, it began to amass a collection of aircraft. The museum's first significant public opening began with a temporary exhibition in a hangar adjacent to Gloucestershire Airport. This had to close in 2000 after it was announced the former wartime hangar was to be demolished. [1] [2] The aircraft were dispersed to a number of locations in Gloucestershire including, briefly, at the former GAC 'shadow' factory at Bentham. A workshop was established at Brockworth Court and the remaining airframes eventually made their way back to Gloucestershire Airport, where they were placed in open storage. [3] [4] In 2005, an Avro Anson in the collection was sold for restoration. [5]
The museum made a number of unsuccessful bids to the Heritage Lottery Fund to construct a purpose-built facility before finally submitting plans for a building at Gloucestershire Airport. In January 2011 plans were approved for a new building to house the museum's collection. [6] [7] One year later, an agreement was reached for a 45 year lease of the land the building sits on. [8]
The museum opened provisionally from 24 August 2013 and officially in May 2014. [9] [10] A Gloster Meteor was added in 2013 and a Gloster Javelin purchased from RAF Leeming in 2014 was moved to the museum a few months later. [11] [12] [13] With these acquisitions, the museum had a significant number of aircraft on display outside and as a result announced a fundraising campaign for an extension in 2019. [14]
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneered by Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been under way since 1936.
The Gloster E.28/39, was the first British turbojet-engined aircraft first flying in 1941. It was the third turbojet aircraft to fly after the German Heinkel He 178 (1939) and Heinkel He 280 (1941), the Italian Caproni Campini N.1 of 1940 being a motor jet and not a true turbojet.
The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s. It was a T-tailed delta-wing aircraft designed for night and all-weather operations and was the last aircraft design to bear the Gloster name. Introduced in 1956 after a lengthy development period, the aircraft received several upgrades during production to its engines, radar and weapons, including support for the De Havilland Firestreak air-to-air missile.
Brockworth is a village and parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, situated on the old Roman road that connects the City of Gloucester with Barnwood. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of central Gloucester, 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Cheltenham and 11.5 miles (18.5 km) north of Stroud. The population taken at the 2011 census was 7,387. The population increased to 9,422 at the 2021 Census.
Hucclecote is a suburb in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, comprising a ward in the City of Gloucester. It is located on the periphery of the city, between Barnwood and Brockworth, along Ermin Way, an old Roman road connecting Gloucester with Cirencester and the Cotswolds.
The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963.
Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British aircraft manufacturer.
The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a British turbojet engine that was produced by Armstrong Siddeley in the 1950s. It was the ultimate development of work that had started as the Metrovick F.2 in 1940, evolving into an advanced axial flow design with an annular combustion chamber that developed over 11,000 lbf (49 kN). It powered early versions of the Hawker Hunter and Handley Page Victor, and every Gloster Javelin. Production was also started under licence in the United States by Wright Aeronautical as the J65, powering a number of US designs. The Sapphire's primary competitor was the Rolls-Royce Avon.
The Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial is an aviation museum in Elvington, York on the site of the former RAF Elvington airfield, a Second World War RAF Bomber Command station. The museum was founded, and first opened to the public, in the mid 1980s.
A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle, artillery piece, or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main entrance to a site, especially a military base. Commonly, gate guardians outside airbases are decommissioned examples of aircraft that were once based there, or still are.
Newark Air Museum is an air museum located on a former Royal Air Force station at Winthorpe, near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. The museum contains a variety of aircraft.
The City of Norwich Aviation Museum is a volunteer-run museum and charitable trust dedicated to the preservation of the aviation history of the county of Norfolk, England. The museum is located on the northern edge of Norwich International Airport and is reached by road through the village of Horsham St Faith.
The Midland Air Museum (MAM) is situated just outside the village of Baginton in Warwickshire, England, and is adjacent to Coventry Airport. The museum includes the Sir Frank Whittle Jet Heritage Centre, where many exhibits are on display in a large hangar. It also has a small hangar, and a fenced-off green area where many aircraft are on display in the open.
Wilfred George Carter CBE FRAeS was a British engineer, who was the chief designer at Glosters from 1937. He was awarded the C.B.E. in 1947 and was appointed Technical Director of Gloster Aircraft in 1948 remaining on the board of directors until 1954. He continued to serve Glosters for a number of years after his retirement in a consultancy role until 1958. He designed the first British jet aircraft.
A heavily modified Gloster Meteor F8 fighter, the "prone position/prone pilot" Meteor, was used by the Royal Air Force in 1954 and 1955 to evaluate the effects of acceleration/inertia-induced forces while flying in a prone position. Along with the Reid and Sigrist R.S.4 "Bobsleigh", the Gloster Meteor was engaged in a proof-of-concept experimental programme that proved in practice that the difficulties in rearward visibility and ejection outweighed the advantages of sustaining higher g effects.
The Tangmere Military Aviation Museum is a museum located on the former site of RAF Tangmere, West Sussex. The museum was opened in June 1982. Many aerospace exhibits covering the First World War to the Cold War are on display including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and aircraft engines.
Royal Air Force Moreton Valence or more simply RAF Moreton Valence is a former Royal Air Force installation located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) southwest of Gloucester, Gloucestershire and 24 kilometres (15 mi) northwest of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England.
Richard Walter Walker FRAeS was a British aerospace engineer, and main designer for jet aircraft of Gloster Aircraft Company.
Neill Michael Daunt OBE was a British test pilot; the first person to fly the Gloster Meteor in March 1943, Britain's first production jet aircraft. He was the second person to fly the Gloster E.28/39 "Pioneer" in November 1942. He had many severe accidents that he was lucky to survive, including one for which he had no recollection.