aviation - the past, present and future of flight

WHAT YOU WILL SEE

As you enter the museum, you are greeted

by the earliest Bristol aircraft from World

War One, albeit replicas of the F2b Fighter

(A7288) and Scout D (A1742). There is also

a replica Babe (G-EASQ] from the immediate

post-war period, together with vehicles of

the era. The Bristol Fighter replica was built

by GKN and Rolls-Royce apprentices for the

BAC 100 exhibition in 2010.

A cutaway nose of a Bristol Beaufighter,

on loan from the RAF Museum, represents

World War Two. It will be joined by a Bristol

Bolingbroke (Blenheim) when restored.

The Britannia airliner is represented by

the nose section of G-ALRX and visitors

can view the cockpit. This was the second

prototype, which first flew on December

23, 1953, but unfortunately made a forced

wheels-up, crash-landing on February 4,

1954 on the mudflats of the River Severn

at Littleton-upon-Severn, a short distance

from Filton. The cause was an oil-fed engine

fire. All occupants scrambled out safely and

were rescued. The airframe was cut up and

recovered to Filton, this nose section going to

the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental

Establishment Boscombe Down, Wiltshire,

where it was used as an instructional airframe

for many years.

The Bristol helicopter division is next on

the tour, represented by Bristol Sycamore

HR.14, XL824, displayed in RAF Central

Flying School colours. It came from the RAF

Museum’s store at Stafford.

Nearby is the beautifully restored Bristol

173 (XF785/G-ALBN), which has its cabin

interior illuminated, and is on loan from the

RAF Museum.

Visitors may think the rotor blades have

been chopped in half to fit the allocated

VISITING AEROSPACE

BRISTOL

Address: Hayes Way, Patchway, Bristol BS34

5BZ. Please note that the postcode does not

take you to the exact entrance of the museum.

Tickets: 01179 315315 or email boxoffice@

aerospacebristol.org

Note: Aerospace Bristol tickets entitle you to free

return visits for a year from the date that your

ticket is first used

Website: aerospacebristol.org Check before

travelling.

34 Aviation News incorporating Jets April 2018

Left: Visitors can view the cockpit of a

Britannia airliner in this nose-section which

was taken from an aircraft that crash landed

in mud flats of the River Severn.

Below left: The Sea Harrier, was powered by a

Bristol Siddeley (later Rolls-Royce) Pegasus

jet engine built at Filton.

Above left: Bristol Sycamore HR.14, XL824,

displayed in RAF Central Flying School

colours.

Left: A surface-to-air Bloodhound missile is

a dominant feature of this part of Aerospace

Bristol. Aerospace Bristol

32-35_bristolDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 34 01/03/2018 18:57