Had a visit to Gatwick Aviation Museum today and had a great time.
Sadly I discovered that Peter Vallance passed away a few years ago but the Museum appears to be in good hands. Thanks to a legacy from Peter they have built a new building to house the aircraft and made some significant changes for the better. They have reduced their aircraft to 12 with a view to long term preservation of the types in ground running condition.
To date they have the Shackleton running with 3 engines and plan to run up all four fairly shortly. As the museum opens Friday to Sunday they will plan to do so on an open day.
Additionally they have run up the Lightning and plan to repeat this again - they told me to keep an eye on their website for details.
Photography inside is surprisingly good with lots of natural sunlight and well place lighting. They prefer to have their aircraft uncluttered and well spaced out so photography is good. Tour guides were excellent - one was an ex-RAF engineer and one was an ex-Shackelton pilot who toured us inside the Shackleton and recounted his experiences.
Outside they have - Shackleton, Sea Prince, Buccaneer and Hunter
Inside - Lightning (ex Saudi AF) , Harrier GR3, Hunter, Venom, (ex-Swiss AF), Sea Vixen, Sea Hawk, Meteor T7.
With an objective of getting all into ground running condition this is indeed a museum to keep an eye on.
http://www.gatwick-aviation-museum.co.uk/#
please note that "ground running" is my take on their ambition to have all aircraft engines in running condition
Visit to Gatwick Aviation Museum
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tankbuster
- Posts: 2316
- Joined: Sun 17 Jul 2011, 5:04 pm
Re: Visit to Gatwick Aviation Museum
Thanks for posting. I'm dropping my daughter off in a couple of weeks and may pay a visit.
Trevor C
recent and not so recent pictures here https://trevorc28a.wixsite.com/trevspics
recent and not so recent pictures here https://trevorc28a.wixsite.com/trevspics
Re: Visit to Gatwick Aviation Museum
tankbuster wrote:Thanks for posting. I'm dropping my daughter off in a couple of weeks and may pay a visit.
Hi Trevor please note open Friday to Sunday. I have enquired regarding becoming a volunteer helper so may end up serving tea and coffee
Re: Visit to Gatwick Aviation Museum
Visited earlier in the year when they reopened and it's a truly brilliant museum now. If you haven't been yet then it's well worth a visit - https://aviationhighlights.co.uk/portfolio/gatwick-aviation-museum/