Helicopter Sculpture for Museum
A very unusual donation has
been made to The Helicopter Museum by UK housing developer, Barratts
which in the past used helicopters as part of its television advertising
to sell new homes nationwide.
The first UK house builder
to use TV advertising, Barratt Homes commissioned the advertising in
1977, initially using a Bell JetRanger and then an Agusta A109A to
promote their low-cost housing. The promotion featured actor Patrick
Allen and made the company nationally famous by the early 1980s, as well
as becoming the UK's largest house builder.
Although the advertisements
had stopped by the mid-1980s the iconic helicopter image remained and
continued to feature in some of the company's local housing promotions
until recently. This included use of a helicopter sculpture used at some
of the company's development sites in the South West of England.
It is this sculpture,
essentially a full-size skeletal JetRanger, which has been kindly
donated to the museum following completion of a housing development in
Paulton, Somerset. The museum, a registered charity now plans to erect
the sculpture as part of a future redevelopment on the main road site
frontage.
Restored Lynx
Returns to Museum
The World’s Fastest Helicopter returns to The Helicopter Museum
at Weston-super-Mare in July, following a four year restoration
to its original 1986 World Speed Record configuration by
apprentices at the AgustaWestland factory in Yeovil, Somerset,
having been away from the museum for
nearly 4 years whilst undergoing the restoration work.
G-LYNX joins two other Lynx variants
that also returned to
the museum in the same week with
XX910, the second dedicated Navy Lynx prototype first
flown at Yeovil in April 1974, having been restored by
volunteers at RNAS Yeovilton who under took the restoration to
display standard, all completed in 5 months.
The
museums Lynx-3 was recently loaned to
RNAS Yeovilton to help celebrate the 40th anniversary
of the Lynx helicopter at the stations air day.
Early Navy Lynx Helicopter For Restoration
An early naval prototype of the Westland Lynx
helicopter left the Helicopter Museum at Weston-super-Mare the 16th
February for RNAS Yeovilton where volunteers have undertaken to
restore it to display standard. The aircraft will then feature in
the Station's annual Air Show on 9th July before returning to the
museum for permanent display.
"XX910" was the second dedicated Navy Lynx
prototype, first flown at Yeovil in April 1974 and used for radar
and avionics trials at various sites, including Boscombe Down until
1977.It was then transferred to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at
Farnborough for further test work until declared redundant in the
1980s.Although used for occasional ground trials thereafter it was
slowly stripped of parts and eventually abandoned in 2000,when the
remains were acquired by The Helicopter Museum. Since then the
aircraft has been in storage awaiting restoration.
XX910 also has two claims to fame. On 28th August
1976 it was the first Lynx ever to perform a loop during practice
sessions for the 1976 Farnborough Air Show and in November 1976 it
flew HRH Prince Charles to HMS " Sheffield" in the Solent and
return.
Another First for The Helicopter Museum
The Helicopter Museum at Weston-super-Mare in
Somerset has secured another First for a UK aviation collection,
with the addition of an ex-Italian Guardia di Finanza Agusta
A109GdiF helicopter. The aircraft is the first all-Italian aircraft
and second addition this year to the Museum’s helicopter collection.
The helicopter was unveiled by UK Tourism Minister John Penrose and
officially handed over to the Museum by Graham Cole,
AgustaWestland’s Managing Director during a ceremony held at the
Museum on 8th October.
Following a first flight in 1971 the twin-engined
A109 was the first all-Italian helicopter to enter large scale
production, and the first to adopt the sleek lines and styling
common among more modern helicopters of today.
The Guardia di Finanza, which is a parapublic
organisation equating to a national customs and immigration force,
purchased its own variant of the A109 during the 1980s to patrol
Italy’s borders and territorial waters.
The acquisition by The Helicopter Museum was
supported personally by the Chief Executive Officer of manufacturer
AgustaWestland, Giuseppe Orsi, and the company also sponsored
shipment of the helicopter from Frosinone, Rome, where it has been
stored since withdrawal from service last June.
Rare Helicopter and Aircraft
Demonstration at Weston Helidays
Following discussions with the United States Air Force based at RAF
Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, and a successful request to the US
Embassy the United States Air Force will conduct an Aerial
Re-fuelling Demonstration at the 20th Anniversary
“Helidays” event.
The
demonstration will take place on Friday 23 July 2010 at 1200 midday
local time when a Lockheed MC-130P “Combat Shadow” tanker aircraft
and a Sikorsky HH-60G “Pavehawk” rescue helicopter will demonstrate
the in flight re-fuelling capability of both aircraft.
The
MC-130 will be provided by the 67th Special Operations
Squadron, 352nd Special Operations Group, RAF Mildenhall
and the HH-60 will be provided by the 56th Rescue
Squadron, 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath.
Following the demonstration, the HH-60 will break off from the
tanker and land on the beach lawns for the duration of the
“Helidays” weekend.
Rare Russian Helicopter for The
Helicopter Museum
The Helicopter
Museum (THM) at Weston-super-Mare in Somerset has secured another
rotary-wing coup with the acquisition of the first Russian Mil Mi-8
transport helicopter to go on display in the UK.
The 18m (60ft) long
aircraft, previously in service with the Polish Air Force, arrived
at the museum by road on 5th February.
The THM example is
a rare Mi-8PS VIP variant, initially delivered to the Polish Air
Force in the 1970s for government use and eventually retired by
2005.
Transporting the
Mi-8 to the UK however has seen the Museum invest almost £10,000, a
cost that it now needs to recover. Sponsors or donations will be
gratefully recorded and can be sent to the Treasurer, British
Rotorcraft Museum, Locking Moor Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset,
UK, BS24 8PP.
The Mi-8PS acquired
by THM is serial 10618, delivered to the Polish Air Force in the
1970s for service in a VIP configuration with 36 Special Air
Transport Regiment, based at Warsaw – Okecie.
‘618 was one of 11
painted in a smart red/white national colour scheme for service with
36 SPLT, subsequently ‘618 was modified for a military Command and
Control role and reallocated to 37PST assault regiment at Leznica
Wielka near Lodz. Here it was repainted into a camouflage colour
scheme and later reverted to a military transport role before being
finally retired by 2005.
West’s Largest Helicopter represented in
World’s Biggest Helicopter Museum
The
Helicopter Museum has
taken delivery of parts recovered from the Boeing XCH-62 Heavy Lift
Helicopter (HLH), cancelled as a project in 1975. Designed to carry external loads of up to 20,000 kg (20 tons) around
the battlefield, the HLH featured a 27 m (89 ft) long fuselage with
tandem rotors each spanning some 28 m (92 ft), and stood around 12 m (38 ft)
high.
Helicopter Museum Chairman
Elfan ap Rees managed to salvage some key components including the 5.5 m
(18 ft) long main landing gear and nose wheels for display in the museum,
all of which is now on display
.
Shipment of the parts was organised and sponsored jointly by
manufacturer Boeing and Columbia Helicopters, with support from the UK Museum, Libraries & Archive
Council PRISM fund and Helicopter INTERNATIONAL and HeliData News
publisher Avia Press Associates.
In November 2009 Mike Kurth, MD of Boeing Defence
UK, visited The Museum to unveil the new exhibit which exhibit
includes the landing gear components.
