1990 was to start with a major setback
when, on the night of 25th January, 100 mph winds hit the Museum damaging seven aircraft
and turning the Westland Dragonfly on its
side. However, the Museum site
was soon tidied up, although it was to take a long time
to repair the
damage caused to the aircraft.
In March the first "Open Cockpit Day" was held, at which
the public were allowed access to the cockpits of some of the exhibits, with volunteers on
hand to explain how it all worked and answer questions. The popularity of this
event with the public
meant "Open Cockpit Days" have become a regular
feature of the
Museum
calendar of events.
In order to increase revenue the Museum cafeteria was
opened and was an immediate success. A motion simulator was also donated, offering rides to
the public, which proved highly popular and brought in much needed revenue.
Acquisitions during 1990 included a Hiller UH-12C and Westland Mote
remotely piloted helicopter.
1991 was to prove to be
a busy year with no less than 11 airframes arriving representing seven models, including
several from overseas. The first arrivals of 1991 were two Whirlwinds
including the very first production example, XA862, but unfortunately in poor
condition.
In May the first French designed and first turbine powered helicopter to enter production,
the Sud Ouest Djinn,
was collected by a
team from the museum. The first Eastern
European helicopter was to join the
collection in June,
a Polish SM-2.
Another major first for 1991 was the Weston-super-Helidays event
held over the weekend 27/28th July, on the three-quarter mile long beach lawns in
Weston-super-Mare. Organised by Helicopter International magazine and
staffed by volunteers as a charity fund-raiser, with all monies raised going to
the Museum. The event
was an instant success with the public, who were
able to watch nearly 30 helicopters
coming and going throughout the
weekend, with most going on static display for the public
to inspect at close quarters. Bristow Helicopters donated the use of a Sikorsky S-76 for
pleasure flights from the beach, which was a big attraction to the thousands of visitors
and helped raise much needed money for the Museum. With participation
and support from
almost every European air arm and civil owners throughout
the UK this unique event has been held annually ever since.
The remaining aircraft to arrive in 1991 were four Royal
Danish Air Force Sikorsky S-55Cs,
Whirlwind HAR.10 XP404 and in November a Piasecki HUP. The HUP was
shipped from the USA in
October arriving at Liverpool docks in November, from where
Museum volunteers collected it.
1992 saw the arrival of the WG30 Series 300 prototype,
donated by Westland Helicopters. In August the first US Army helicopter to join the
collection arrived in the form of a Bell UH-1 "Huey" that had served in both the
Vietnam and Gulf Wars, a true warbird. The other aircraft to arrive at Weston in 1992
was
a second Skeeter AOP Mk.12, XL811. The Museum also concluded
long negotiations to buy a
Mil Mi-4, although it was not to arrive at the
Museum until 1993.
The success of the Helidays events and the availability of
grant aid from the Area Museum Council and local Authority meant the Museum was soon able
to finance the
first permanent purpose built hangar on the site. This would be
used by volunteers to restore exhibits and also to store some of the more
fragile aircraft. On 2nd
April 1993 this new building was officially opened by
The Lord Glenarthur and named the
Raoul Hafner Memorial Building, after the
British rotary-wing pioneer and helicopter
designer, in the presence of his
widow and daughter.
1993 the Cierva
Rotorcraft III was donated to the museum, followed in April by
the Sud Aviation Super
Frelon, the largest exhibit the Museum has yet obtained. Donated by Aerospatiale it was
transported by Bristow Helicopters via road and ferry from the
South of France, and was
the largest helicopter to be transported by road.
The summer of 1993 saw the arrival of Bristow Helicopters
last airworthy Whirlwind, G-AODA, which they had donated to the museum. An example
of the very first Russian
helicopter to enter production, the Mil Mi-1, arrived
at the Museum in
September to become the third East European helicopter
on display.
1994
saw the arrival of another Wessex variant, this time an HAS Mk.1, previously operated by the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the 8th
pre production example.
Notable restoration work completed included the Sycamore, XG547,
and the Mil Mi-1, completed during June and July
respectively. The Mil
Mi-1 was unveiled
in late July by Nadejda Mil, one of
Mikhail Mil's daughters.
1995 was to be one of the busiest ever on the acquisitions
front, with two of the museum's star attractions arriving. In January the museum received
a second Westland Wasp and also one of the most historically important
modern day helicopters, the
World Helicopter Speed Record holder,
G-LYNX.
This Westland Helicopter's
Lynx demonstrator and development
aircraft was loaned to the Museum, having completed
engine trials work, with
the promise it will eventually become part of the Museum
collection.
February was to see the arrival of the first ever Mil Mi-24 Hind to
be displayed in a British museum. This mighty Russian designed attack helicopter soon
proved a hit with the public, attracting many visitors and much interest. The
aircraft was from the former
East German army, and a team from the
museum travelled to Basephol Air Base spending a
week
removing the engines, rotor head, tail boom, and stub Swings in preparation for transport back to the UK.
Other acquisitions included the remains of the Murray M-1
experimental helicopter, a complete Bensen B-8M gyrocopter, former British Army
examples of the Sioux and Scout, a Bo.105D airframe and a Kamov Ka-26.
The Kamov
Ka-26 is an
important example of the smaller of the two main
Russian design bureaus helicopter
designs.
1996
was to be a very busy year on museum development
activities. January saw the opening of the new display hangar, now named the Cierva
Memorial Building, in honour of Don Juan de la Cierva, the designer and founder of the
practical autogyro. At the same
time the last remaining complete WG-13 Lynx prototype XW839 was saved from meeting
a sad end on the fire dump
of RNAS Yeovilton, arriving in
January for display. The visitors to the museum now exceeded 16,000 per year and to cope,
several site improvement projects were started, including expansion of the museum car park and
shop.
During August Ron Bower and John Williams arrived at the
Museum in their Bell 430 prior to setting off on a record breaking westbound
around-the-world flight a few days
later. They took with them a small bear, Helix, who
subsequently became the first bear to fly around the world by
helicopter and now lives
permanently at the museum. At the close of 1996
an ex US Army Hughes OH-6A was finally
secured for the Museum after an
earlier attempt failed, although delivery from Alabama was
deliberately delayed pending completion of new undercover facilities.
1997 saw recognition
of the collection of
rotorcraft at the Museum duly acknowledged by the National Aviation Heritage
Committee, which deemed 10 of the museum’s rotorcraft
of such historical importance
they were designated "Benchmark" artifacts worthy of
recognition in a national aeronautical collection. The aircraft selected include the Bristol
Sycamore Mk.3, Cierva
CLTH-1, Fairey Rotodyne, Saro Skeeter, Westland Dragonfly,
Whirlwind, Wessex and Lynx.
In January 1997 the Museum took delivery of seven
Westland 30 airframes, declared redundant by
the manufacturer after several years in
storage in the United States of America.
Restoration of the Super Frelon started in
early 1997 and, with sponsorship from Olympic Airways, it was restored in the
Olympic Airways colour scheme in which it operated in
1968 and 1969. Other long
term restoration projects were also coming to fruition, with the
Scout XP165
completed that year in its Empire Test Pilots colour scheme.
1998 was to be one of the most
important years in the Museum's history, although the results of 1998
efforts would not be realised until 1999/2000. In early 1998 the Museum
submitted a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to provide additional buildings and improved
displays for the growing
collection. In December the Museum learnt of its successful bid
for Heritage Lottery
Fund money, allowing work to start in April 1999. The funding has
allowed the Museum to have virtually
all of its exhibits displayed
inside one building, out of the corrosive and damp
English weather and
to purchase the site 4.5 acre site previously leased from Westland.
On the restoration front in August 1998, the restoration of the Westland
Dragonfly was completed after nearly eight years of work by volunteers.
The following month it travelled
to Farnborough Airshow to form part of
the Historic Aircraft Park
display, commemorating 50 years of the SBAC
Farnborough Airshow and marking
50 years of Westland Helicopters.
A relatively quiet year on the acquisitions front,
1998 was to see three new arrivals, namely a Bo.105 fuselage, another Westland 30 and most
significantly a Mil Mi-2.
1999 saw a lot of activity during the year
with the the work progressing on the new
building and site development. By May
the helicopters had been moved to make way for the footings to be dug and by the
end of the summer the majority of the steel work had
been completed. In December
the work was nearing completion with all the wall and roof
cladding in place,
and helicopters from the collection being re-located in the exhibition
building.
Acquisitions did not stop with the OH-6
finally arriving in November, and also the arrival of the first EH101 helicopter
in a museum any where in the world. This was the third of
the prototypes to be
built and was donated by GKN Westland.
2000 saw the final work being completed
on the new exhibition building, including lighting, a CCTV security system, and the
sealing of the concrete floor. The major task
of setting out the helicopters continued and the major
job of fitting main and
tail rotor blades progressed throughout the summer.
Further expansion of the site,
including enlarging the
car parking area, was also well under way.
2000 was not short of new acquisitions
with the arrival of two Whirlwind examples, a Navy HAS Mk.7
anti-submarine helicopter and the HCC Mk.12 Queen's flight VVIP
helicopter. In December the Navy Lynx prototype, XX910,
also arrived
from DERA Farnborough and awaits some restoration work
before
going on
full display.
The development and growth of the museum
will always continue and 2001was no
exception. The restoration team having
completed the work on the Westland Wasp and Bell 47H rolled them out for public
display making room for the Bristol Belvedere, the
largest of the museums
exhibits, to be moved in to the restoration hanger. The museum
also took
delivery of the second Queens Flight aircraft in the collection the Westland
Wessex HCC Mk.4. This was purchased at auction
with the assistance of fast track
grant-aid from The National Heritage
Lottery Fund. The grant was the first time the
fund had ever been used to
purchase a helicopter. The year closed with the
museum taking delivery of a new
gate guardian in the form of a Westland
WG30-200 painted in bright
yellow search and rescue colours.
