The Fleet Air Arm Museum is located adjacent to Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton, 11 kilometres north of the town of Yeovil in the English county of Somerset, and 64 kilometres south of the city of Bristol. The museum showcases the history of British naval aviation and houses a large collection of military and civilian aircraft, aircraft engines, models of Royal Navy ships and aircraft, and paintings and drawings on naval aviation subjects. Visitors may view naval helicopter operations at RNAS Yeovilton from the museum's outdoor observation platforms. Inside, the museum is divided into four exhibition halls, with Hall 1 providing an overview of the development of naval aviation, from its beginnings to the present. Hall 2 is principally dedicated to naval aviation in the Second World War. Hall 3 is outfitted to resemble the flight deck of the carrier HMS Ark Royal (1955-1979), with a collection of carrier aircraft parked around a mock-up of the carrier's flight deck, complete with the ship's island command centre. Hall 4 contains a variety of iconic or experimental aircraft, with the centrepiece being a Concorde supersonic airliner.
Photos taken 26 August 2009
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| The Fleet Air Arm Museum, as seen from the museum's car park. |
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| Displayed outside the Fleet Air Arm Museum is a bower anchor from the fourth HMS Ark Royal (R09), an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Ark Royal was commissioned on 22 February 1955 and decommissioned on 13 February 1979, being scrapped in 1980. This anchor was installed here in 1989 by the Friends of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. |
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| A sheet anchor from HMS Eagle (R05), an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Eagle was commissioned on 1 March 1952 and decommissioned on 26 January 1972. She was scrapped in 1978. This anchor was installed here in 1989 by the Friends of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. |
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| The sign atop the Fleet Air Arm Museum's entrance. |
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| Inside the museum's Hall 1, devoted to telling the story of the development of naval aviation from its earliest days. In the foreground is a replica of a Short S.27, which was the first aircraft to takeoff from a moving ship, being launched on 9 May 1912 from a ramp installed on the bow of the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Hibernia. |
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| Another look at Hall 1 from the viewing deck, with an assortment of British carrier-borne aircraft over the years of the 20th century. In addition to the Short S.27, a Fairey Firefly (1947), a British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA.2 (1988), and a Sopwith Pup (1916) can be seen in the photo. |
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| A Sopwith Pup fighter (front) and Supermarine Walrus amphibian (rear) in Hall 1. |
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| A replica Sopwith Pup fighter aircraft, serial number N6452. The single-seat Sopwith Pup, manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company, entered service in October 1916 and was flown by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) during the First World War. Easy to fly, the Pup was ideally suited for aircraft carrier deck landing and takeoff experiments and training. It was in a Sopwith Pup that Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning became the first person to land an aircraft aboard a moving ship, landing aboard the carrier HMS Furious on 2 August 1917. RNAS squadrons also operated over the battlefields of the Western Front, but as the Pup became outclassed by new German fighters, the RNAS withdrew the Pup from service in 1917. This replica Pup was built and first flown in 1983. |
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| A Supermarine Walrus amphibious biplane, serial number L2301. The Walrus made its first flight on 21 June 1933 and entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in the years before the outbreak of the Second World War. Walruses were carried aboard several classes of British cruisers and battleships during the war, being launched from catapults. While early models of the Walrus had metal hulls, the Walrus II featured a wooden hull due to wartime rationing of strategic light alloys. The Walrus was primarily used for gunnery spotting, scouting and maritime patrol, air-sea rescue, and general transport. L2301 was built in 1939 and delivered to the Irish Air Corps. On 9 January 1942, the aircraft was stolen by four Irish nationalists intending to fly to France to join the German Luftwaffe; intercepted en route by Royal Air Force Spitfire fighters, L2301 was forced to land at the RAF Station at St Eval, after which the Irishmen and the aircraft were returned to Ireland. In the post-war period, L2301 was sold to Irish airline Aer Lingus, which never flew the aircraft, and then to an RAF Wing Commander who allowed members of No. 615 Squadron to fly the aircraft recreationally. Recovered from a dump at Haddenham airfield in 1963 by Fleet Air Arm crewmen, L2301 was presented to the Fleet Air Arm Museum and was restored between 1964 and 1966. |
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| A Westland Lynx helicopter, serial number XZ699. First flown on 21 March 1971, the Lynx is a twin-engined helicopter that was procured by both the British Army and the Royal Navy, as well as several export customers. The Royal Navy version of the Lynx, which entered service in 1981, featured tricycle undercarriage, a deck restraint system, folding main rotor blades, an emergency flotation system, and nose-mounted radar. The Fleet Air Arm's Lynx helicopters were used in the search and rescue, maritime patrol, and anti-submarine warfare roles and saw service in the 1982 Falklands War, where they helped maintain continuous anti-submarine patrols in defence of the British task force lying off the islands. Although no Lynx helicopters were lost in combat during the Falklands War, three were lost when HMS Coventry, HMS Ardent, and SS Atlantic Conveyor were sunk by Argentine aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm retired its Lynx helicopter fleet in 2017. |
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| Westland Lynx XZ699 originally entered service with the Fleet Air Arm on 31 March 1980 and served with 702 and 815 Naval Air Squadrons before being upgraded to HAS.3 standard in 1986. In August 2004, XZ699 was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum and restored between February and September 2006. |
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| A Westland Dragonfly helicopter, the version of the American-designed Sikorsky S-51 built under licence in the UK. Westland Aircraft built 72 Dragonfly helicopters for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm between 1949 and 1954. Entering service in 1950, the Fleet Air Arm used the Dragonfly for training, air-sea rescue, and transport. The Dragonfly was the first British-built helicopter to be used by the Royal Navy and the first to operate from a British ship in 1951. The Dragonfly was replaced in Royal Navy service by the Westland Whirlwind helicopter in the late 1950s. |
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| Sea Harrier FA.2, serial number XZ499. The FA.2 was a 1988 upgrade of the FRS.1 variant delivered to the Royal Navy between 1978 and 1988. The FA.2 featured the Blue Vixen pulse-doppler radar and was fitted with the American AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). |
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| A model of HMS Furious, which was originally intended to be a Courageous-class battlecruiser. During construction, the design was modified to add a large hangar for 10 aircraft on the forecastle, topped by a 160-foot (49-metre) flying off deck. On 2 August 1917, Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning of the Royal Naval Air Service landed a Sopwith Pup on Furious, becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. Dunning died five days later when his aircraft crashed into the sea off the ship's starboard bow while attempting another landing. Ultimately, Furious's design proved unsatisfactory as aircraft had to manoeuvre around the ship's superstructure to land. Between June 1921 and September 1925, Furious was rebuilt as a true aircraft carrier with a continuous flight deck measuring 576 feet (175.6 metres) in length. Furious was paid off in April 1945 and scrapped in 1948. |
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| Fairey Firefly, serial number VH127. This aircraft was built as an FR.4 fighter reconnaissance variant in 1947 and initially served at a Royal Naval Air Station in West Sussex. In 1951, VH127 was converted into a target towing aircraft and continued to serve until 1962. It was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in 1972. |
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| A model of the Royal Navy ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance. Constructed for the Lauritzen Lines in 1956 and named Anita Dan, the ship was acquired by the UK Government in 1967 and converted into an ice patrol vessel by Harland & Wolff of Belfast. Named after the sailing ship used by Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton on his ill-fated 1914-1916 expedition, HMS Endurance patrolled the waters of Antarctica and around the Falkland Islands in the southern hemisphere summer. HMS Endurance was to be retired as part of the proposed naval cuts announced in the 1981 UK Defence White Paper, with no replacement vessel planned. These cuts contributed to Argentina's belief that an invasion of the Falklands would not be contested by the Britain. After the Argentine invasion, Endurance joined the Royal Navy Task Force and participated in combat operations, including the landing of Special Boat Service troops on South Georgia and launching helicopters to attack the Argentine submarine Santa Fe. Endurance also took the surrender of ten Argentine troops on South Thule in the South Sandwich Island. Following the Falklands War, Endurance was saved from the planned spending cuts and continued in service. Mounting mechanical reliability issues and a determination that the ship's hull was unsound for a return to Antarctic waters led to Endurance's decommissioning in 1991 and subsequent scrapping. During her service life, Endurance carried two Westland Wasp helicopters between 1967 and 1987, adding a Westland Wessex helicopter during the 1982 Falklands War; following Endurance's 1987 refit, the Wasps were replaced by two Westland Lynx helicopters. |
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| Displayed in Hall 2 is a Fairey Fulmar fighter-reconnaissance aircraft. The Fulmar first flew on 4 January 1940 and entered service with the Fleet Air Arm's No. 806 Squadron in July 1940. Six hundred Fulmars were built between January 1940 and December 1942 and the type was involved in the chase of the German battleship Bismarck and in the North African Campaign, where it escorted convoys to Malta and provided cover for torpedo bomber missions. The Fulmar had a maximum speed of 236 knots (438 km/h, 272 mph) and carried eight 0.303" or four 0.50" Browning machine guns mounted in the wings, as well as two 100-pound or 250-pound bombs. Fulmars were also deployed to the Far East against Japanese forces, but fared poorly against Japanese the A6M Zero fighter. Relegated to a training and reconnaissance aircraft towards the end of the war, the Fulmar was withdrawn from service in February 1945. This Fulmar on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, serial number N1854, was the prototype and first Fulmar production model and is believed to be the only surviving Fulmar in the world. |
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| A Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, suspended from the ceiling in Hall 2. Designed in the early 1930s as a fleet attack aircraft, the Swordfish had a fabric-covered airframe and a biplane design with open cockpit that was obsolete even when it entered service with the Fleet Air Arm's 825 Naval Air Squadron in July 1936. Despite these shortcomings and its slow speed of 124 knots (230 km/h, 143 mph), the Swordfish served throughout the Second World War and was responsible for sinking more Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft. Fleet Air Arm Swordfishes were notable participants in the destruction of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941 and famously inflicted serious damage on the Italian navy during the 11-12 November 1940 attack on Italian battleships anchored at Taranto. The principal armament carried by the Swordfish was a single 1,670-pound aerial torpedo, though the aircraft was also capable of carrying a 1,500-pound mine or 1,500 pounds total of bombs; later variants were fitted with eight 60-pound RP-3 rockets. In addition to serving with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, Swordfishes were also operated by Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands. As more modern aircraft entered service as the war progressed, the Swordfish was relegated to anti-submarine and training duties later in the war. Nearly 2,400 Swordfishes were built between 1936 and 1944 and the type was retired from service on 21 May 1945 and replaced by the Fairey Barracuda monoplane torpedo bomber. This Swordfish, serial number HS618, is a Mk. II, which featured metal lower wings to permit the mounting of rockets from 1943. |
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| A Fairey Albacore, serial number N4389, in Hall 2. The Albacore was intended as a replacement for the Fairey Swordfish and was designed for the spotting and reconnaissance, as well as level, dive, and torpedo bombing roles. Eight hundred Albacores were built between 1939 and 1943, with 826 Naval Air Squadron taking delivery of the Fleet Air Arm's first Albacores in March 1940. With a crew of two, the Albacore had a maximum speed of 140 knots (259 km/h, 161 mph) and carried a single 1,670-pound aerial torpedo or 2,000 pounds total of bombs. During the Second World War, Albacores was used from bases in the UK and also saw extensive service in the Mediterranean, where they participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and the Second Battle of El Alamein, and supported the landings at Sicily and Salerno. The Albacore was retired in 1949. |
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| A single-seat Vought Corsair FG-1A carrier-based fighter-bomber, serial number 14862, in Hall 2. Designed by the American company Chance Vought, the Corsair first flew in May 1940 and over 12,500 aircraft in 16 different models were manufactured between 1942 and 1953. This made the Corsair the longest production run of any US piston-engined fighter. The Corsair entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in November 1943 and immediately began carrier air operations, even before the type had been cleared for such operations by the US Navy. A number of fatal crashes due to design aspects of the aircraft were gradually remedied through modifications and the Corsair saw service in Europe and the Pacific theatres of the Second World War. This Corsair FG-1A was licence-built by the Goodyear Corporation and known as a Corsair Mk IV in Royal Navy service; it was one of 400 Corsair Mk IVs delivered to the Royal Navy and one of 2,012 Corsairs of all variants flown by the Fleet Air Arm. As the Fleet Air Arm's Corsairs had been provided under the US Lend-Lease agreement, at the end of the war the UK was required to either purchase them, destroy them, or return the aircraft to the US. As the cash-strapped UK government could not pay for the Corsairs, the Royal Navy's aircraft were dumped into the sea off Brisbane, Australia. |
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| Another view of the Vought Corsair FG-1A on display in the Fleet Air Arm Museum. It was in a Corsair that Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve pilot Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, serving with 1841 Naval Air Squadron aboard HMS Formidable, sank the Japanese destroyer Amakusa on 9 August 1945 with a single 1,000-pound bomb before crashing into the sea after being hit by anti-aircraft fire. Hampton Gray was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross, being the second fighter pilot to win a VC during the war and the final Canadian casualty of the war. |
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| A Grumman F6F-5 Wildcat carrier-borne fighter aircraft, serial number 79779. The single-seat Hellcat first flew in June 1942 and entered Fleet Air Arm service in 1943. Eventually, 1,263 Hellcats would be provided to the Fleet Air Arm under the US Lend-Lease agreement. Hellcats served in training and non-operational units in the UK, as well as operational squadrons in the European, Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theatres during the Second World War. The F6F-5 model Hellcat was an improved version, with a redesigned engine cowling, bulletproof windscreen, new ailerons, strengthened tail surfaces, and a 2,200-horsepower Pratt & Whitney radial piston engine. The Hellcat holds the record for destroying more enemy planes (5,223) than any other Allied naval aircraft while in service with the US Navy, US Marine Corps, and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during the war. Over 12,200 Hellcats were manufactured between 1942 and 1945, with the last Hellcats being retired from the Uruguayan Navy in 1960. |
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| A Fairey Firefly TT.1, serial number Z2033. The Firefly first flew in December 1941 and was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm in March 1943, though the aircraft did not enter operational service until July 1944. The first unit to operate the Firefly was 1770 Naval Air Squadron aboard HMS Indefatigable, with the aircraft carrying out reconnaissance flights and ant-shipping strikes along the Norwegian coast. Fireflies operated as fighters and anti-submarine warfare aircraft in the Far East and Pacific theatres while serving with the British Pacific Fleet. Over 1,700 Fairey Fireflies were built between 1941 and 1955, with the Royal Navy retiring the type from service in 1956. |
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| A side view of the Firefly TT.4, serial number Z2033, with wings folded back. This aircraft was built in January 1946 as a target towing aircraft and retired from service in 1949. After being put on display at the Skyfame Museum and then the Imperial War Museum, Z2033 was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in July 2000. |
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| A Grumman Avenger ECM.6B, serial number XB446, painted in D-Day markings. Designed by the American Grumman company, the Avenger torpedo-bomber first flew in August 1941 and entered service with the Fleet Air Arm's 832 Naval Air Squadron in January 1943. The Fleet Air Arm eventually operated 1,070 Avengers during the Second World War, which were used in both the European and Pacific theatres. In 1953, 100 US Navy TBM-3E Avengers were transferred to the Fleet Air Arm under the US Mutual Defense Assistance Program, being fitted with British equipment. These aircraft were replaced by the Fairey Gannet and transferred to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) from 1954. With the dissolution of the RNVR in 1957, the surviving Avengers were transferred to the French Navy. Over 9,800 Grumman Avengers of all types were built, over three-quarters by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors. XB446, built by General Motors as a TBM-3 model and originally in service with the US Navy, was one of the Avengers transferred to the Fleet Air Arm in May 1953. The ECM designation denotes the aircraft was fitted with electronic countermeasures equipment. In April 1968, XB446 was donated to the Fleet Air Arm Museum. |
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| A Supermarine Seafire F Mk 17 single-seat fighter-bomber reconnaissance aircraft. The Seafire was the navalised version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter and entered service with 807 Naval Air Squadron in 1942. The first approximately 140 Seafires were converted Spitfires, with a a total of 2,646 Seafires eventually being built. The Seafire was powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine and carried two 20mm cannons, four 0.303" guns, and eight 60-pound rocket projectiles. The Seafire's first operational successes were during the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942 and the aircraft also flew ground support missions during the Salerno landings in September 1943. In 1944, Seafires participated in the attacks against the German battleship Tirpitz and also saw service in Japanese waters until the end of the war. Seafire Mk 47s were briefly used during the Korean War by 800 Naval Air Squadron, after which the type was withdrawn from frontline service. |
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| The museum's Seafire F Mk 17, serial number SX137, was built in Yeovil, England in 1945 and served with the Fleet Air Arm until 1954; it was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in August 1958. |
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| A Hawker Sea Fury fighter, serial number WJ231. The single-seat Sea Fury first flew in February 1945 and entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1947. Its Bristol Centaurus engine gave a maximum speed of 400 knots (740 km/h, 460 mph) and armament consisted of four wing-mounted 20mm Hispano autocannons, up to 16 3" rockets, and 2,000 pounds total bombs. The Sea Fury was the last propeller-driven fighter aircraft operated by the Royal Navy and had a short service life, being retired in 1955. A total of 864 Sea Furies were built between 1945 and 1955. WJ231 is a FB.11 model, of which 615 were built for the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and Royal Netherlands Navy. WJ231 is painted as the aircraft flown by Lieutenant DT McKeown of 802 Squadron aboard HMS Ocean. |
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| A scale model of the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, originally built as a Courageous-class large light cruiser in 1915-16 and converted into a carrier between 1924 and 1930. The 25,370-tonne carrier was 239.8 metres in length overall, with speed of 30 knots (56 km/h, 35 mph). She carried a complement in 1931 of 1,283, comprising 793 ship's crew and an additional 490 personnel of the embarked air group. In April 1940, Glorious was recalled from the Mediterranean to participate in the unsuccessful Norwegian Campaign. Intercepted en route back to the UK by the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Glorious was sunk on 8 June 1940 with the loss of 1,207 officers and men and only 38 survivors. The air group aboard Glorious comprised up to 48 aircraft, with Fairey Swordfish being carried at the time of her sinking. |
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| The ship's bell from HMS Victorious (R38), the third of four Illustrious-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy. Built in Newcastle-upon-Tyne between May 1937 and September 1939, Victorious was not commissioned until 14 May 1941 due to the priority given to convoy escort vessels required for the Battle of the Atlantic. Her wartime service included the action against the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941, Arctic convoy protection duties, and the famous August 1942 Operation Pedestal convoy to relieve besieged Malta. Loaned to the US Navy in 1943, Victorious served in the US Third Fleet in the southwest Pacific and, back in Royal Navy service, took part in attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944. After service with the British Eastern Fleet against Japan in 1945, Victorious underwent a major reconstruction between 1950 and 1958. Decommissioned on 13 March 1968, Victorious was scrapped the next year. During her service life, Victorious's air wing operated a wide range of aircraft, including the Fulmar, Swordfish, Albacore, Martlet, Sea Hurricane, Spitfire, Avenger, Corsair, Barracuda, Dragonfly, Scimitar, Whirlwind, Skyraider, Sea Vixen, Sea Venom, Gannet, Wessex, and Buccaneer. |
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| The ship's bell from HMS Eagle (R05), an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Laid down in Belfast in October 1942, construction was slowed by more pressing wartime needs and Eagle was only launched in March 1946. A review of the Royal Navy's post-war aircraft carrier requirements caused further delays and Eagle was completed in October 1951 and commissioned on 1 March 1952. HMS Eagle participated in various NATO naval exercises and in the Suez Crisis of 1956 before undergoing reconstruction and modernisation between 1959 and 1964. With the UK Government's 1966 decision to phase out the Royal Navy's fixed-wing carrier fleet, HMS Eagle was decommissioned on 26 January 1972 and laid up in reserve. Used as a source of spare parts for her sistership HMS Ark Royal, Eagle was finally sold for scrap in 1978, which was completed in 1980. During her service life, HMS Eagle's air wing consisted of 60 aircraft as built, 45 aircraft following the 1964 refit, and 39 aircraft at the time of her retirement. Aircraft types carried aboard Eagle included the Attacker, Firefly, Firebrand, Wyvern, Skyraider, Sea Hawk, Sea Venom, Buccaneer, Sea Vixen, Scimitar, Fairey Gannet, and Sea King. |
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| A diorama with a scale model of HMS Ark Royal (R09) near the entrance to the museum's Hall 3. Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird & Co. Ltd. at Birkenhead, being laid down on 3 May 1943 and commissioned on 25 February 1955. The 36,800-ton carrier was 803 feet 9 inches in length and carried 80 aircraft when completed. Her complement when built was 2,250 officers and men. Decommissioned in 1979, Ark Royal was scrapped in 1980. The model depicts units of Ark Royal's air group in the 1970s, comprising McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 supersonic fighters, Blackburn Buccaneer maritime strike aircraft, Fairey Gannet anti-submarine warfare aircraft, Westland Sea King helicopters, and a Westland Wessex helicopter. In 1967-70, HMS Ark Royal underwent a major refit to increase the size of her angled flight deck and install equipment necessary to operate the Phantom FG.1. Although sistership HMS Eagle was to have received a similar refit, the high cost of Ark Royal's conversion led to the decision to give Eagle a more modest refit. As a consequence, Ark Royal became the only Royal Navy carrier capable of operating the Phantom. |
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| From Hall 2, visitors access the museum's Hall 3 ('Aircraft Carrier Experience') by 'boarding' a Wessex helicopter that vibrates to simulate a carrier deck landing. When the helicopter's door opens, visitors proceed into Hall 3, which is mocked up to resemble HMS Ark Royal's flight deck during night operations in the 1970s. |
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| Low lighting, large projection screens displaying carrier flight operations, and sound effects create an immersive experience for visitors when viewing the various historical naval aircraft displayed on the mock flight deck of Hall 3. |
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| A Supermarine Scimitar F.1, serial number XD317, on the mock carrier flight deck in Hall 3. This single-seat aircraft was originally designed as a multirole fighter and first flew in January 1956; however, even before the Scimitar entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in June 1958, it had been superceded in the fighter role and was instead used as a low-level maritime strike aircraft. The UK Government originally ordered 100 Scimitars in 1952 but this was later reduced to 76. The Scimitar was powered by two Roll-Royce Avon 202 turojet engines, giving a maximum speed of 640 knots (1,190 km/h, 740 mph). In addition to four 30mm cannons with 160 rounds each, the Scimitar's four wing-mounted hardpoints could carry combinations of up to sixteen 2" or 3" unguided rockets; four AGM-12 Bullpup or AIM-9 Sidewinder missile; four 1,000-pound bombs or one Red Beard freefall nuclear bomb. |
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| The Supermarine Scimitar began operational training with 803 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Lossiemouth before the unit was embarked on the carrier HMS Victorious in September 1958. Eventually, the Scimitar would also equip numerous Fleet Air Arm squadrons on the carriers Ark Royal, Centaur, and Eagle as well. As a large, powerful aircraft used on relatively small carriers, the Scimitar suffered a high rate of landing accidents in its early years of service, with 39 of the 76 production aircraft (51%) being lost. Near the end of its service life, the Scimitar was used as an aerial tanker supporting other carrier-borne strike aircraft which would take off with reduced fuel load so as to carry more armaments and then top up their tanks from an orbiting Scimitar. The Scimitar was withdrawn from service in 1969. |
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| A Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B low-level maritime strike aircraft, serial number XV333. Designed in the 1950s to address the threat posed by a new class of Soviet light cruisers, the two-seat Buccaneer first flew in April 1958 and entered Fleet Air Arm service with 801 Naval Air Squadron in July 1962. This initial production model, the S.1, was fitted with underpowered engines and suffered a series of accidents. In 1965, the S.2, equipped with more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, entered Fleet Air Arm service and all Buccaneer squadrons were converted to the S.2 model by the end of 1966. The S.2 had a maximum speed of 580 knots (1,070 km/h, 670 mph) at 61 metres (200 feet) and could carry a wide range of munitions in its internal rotating bomb bay and on four wing-mounted hardpoints. These included AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles, AS-37 Martel missiles, Sea Eagle missiles, 68mm rockets, various unguided and laser-guided bombs, and the Red Beard or WE.177 tactical freefall nuclear bombs. The Buccaneer could also be fitted with an electronic countermeasures pod, a laser designator pod, and either a buddy-refuelling pack or drop tanks for extending the aircraft's range. Indeed, in 1965, a Buccaneer was the first Fleet Air Arm aircraft to make a non-stop, unrefuelled crossing of the Atlantic. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Fleet Air Arm standardised its carrier air groups around the Buccaneer, the McDonnell Douglas Phantom, and the Fairey Gannet, with the Buccaneer serving aboard HMS Victorious, Eagle, Ark Royal, and Hermes. As the Royal Navy began phasing out its conventional fixed-wing carrier fleet according to the 1966 decision of the UK Government, Buccaneers were transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) from October 1969. The remaining Buccaneers were transferred to the RAF with the retirement of the last conventional carrier, Ark Royal, in February 1979. Despite growing concerns with metal fatigue, the RAF flew its Buccaneers until their retirement in March 1994. Notably, Buccaneers saw service during the First Gulf War in 1991, undertaking strike missions and supporting other British combat aircraft by marking targets with their laser designator pods. A total of 211 Buccaneers, including prototypes, were manufactured between 1959 and 1974, including 16 sold to the South African Air Force in 1965. XV333, seen here painted in the marking of 801 Naval Air Squadron, first flew in December 1966 and was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm in January 1967. Transferred to the RAF in November 1978, XV333 served with 12 and 208 Squadrons before being donated to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in March 1994. |
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| A Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6, serial number WV856. Designed near the end of the Second World War, the single-seat Sea Hawk day fighter was Hawker Aircraft Ltd's first jet aircraft and first flew in September 1947. The first production Sea Hawk undertook its maiden flight in November 1951 and the type entered service with the Fleet Air Arm's 806 Naval Air Squadron in March 1953. A total of 542 Sea Hawks were built between 1950 and 1956, with all in service by the mid-1950s. The FGA.6 was a fighter ground-attack variant and was the final variant of the Sea Hawk to be designed, with 86 FGA.6s built new and another 15 converted from earlier models. The FGA.6 was powered by a Rolls-Royce Nene 103 turbojet, giving a top speed of 520 knots (970 km/h, 600 mph). Armament carried included four 20mm cannons and a mix of 60-pound unguided rockets and 500-pound bombs slung from six underwing hardpoints. Fleet Air Arm Sea Hawks carried out ground attacks against Egyptian targets during the October 1956 Suez Crisis, operating from the fleet carrier HMS Eagle and the light fleet carriers HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. In addition to serving in the Fleet Air Arm, Sea Hawks were acquired by the Royal Netherlands Navy (22), the West German navy (68), and the Indian Navy (24 new + 12 refurbished ex-Fleet Air Arm aircraft + 30 used West German aircraft). While the Fleet Air Arm retired the Sea Hawk from first line service between 1958 and 1960, the Indian Navy retired its last Sea Hawks only in 1983. WV856 was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm in December 1954 and served with various squadrons in Britain and Malta before being transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in February 1967. |
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| A Fairey Gannet AEW.3, serial number XL503. The Gannet was designed as an anti-submarine warfare aircraft and first flew in September 1949. In January 1955, the Gannet entered Fleet Air Arm service with 826 Naval Air Squadron and the type served on almost all of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers. The Gannet's most notable feature is the two contra-rotating propellers, powered by a Double Mamba turboprop engine. The aircraft's large internal weapons bay could carry depth charges, sonobuoys, homing torpedoes, bombs, markers, or mines, while underwing hardpoints carried rockets or external fuel tanks. As the Fleet Air Arm adopted helicopters for anti-submarine warfare duty in the 1960s, the Gannet was re-roled for other tasks, such as airborne electronic countermeasures and carrier onboard delivery. Another variant, the AEW.3, served in the airborne early warning role for the Fleet Air Arm from 1960 and featured an AN/APS-20 S band air search radar in a large radome under the fuselage. As a consequence of the UK Government's decision to phase out the Royal Navy's fleet carriers by the end of the 1970s, the Gannet was retired from service in December 1978. A total of 347 Gannets, comprising 303 anti-submarine warfare variants and 44 airborne early warning variants, were manufactured byween 1953 and 1963. In addition to the Fleet Air Arm, the Gannet was also sold to the navies of Australia (36), West Germany (16), and Indonesia (19). XL503 was delivered to the Royal Navy in May 1961 and was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in July 1972. |
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| A de Havilland DH-110 Sea Vixen FAW.2, serial number XS590. The Sea Vixen was a two-seat, twin-engined, carrier-based fleet air defence fighter that first flew in September 1951. The FAW.1 initial production version of the twin boom-tailed aircraft entered Fleet Air Arm operational service in July 1959, while the FAW.2 entered service in 1964. Sea Vixens were deployed to support British operations in Tanganyika, Yemen, and Indonesia in 1964, as well as other operations in Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East later in the decade. The Sea Vixen was powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon 208 turbojet engines, giving a maximum speed of 600 knots (1,110 km/h, 690 mph). As the first Fleet Air Arm aircraft to forgo guns, the Sea vixen's armament consisted of combinations of Red Top or Firestreak air-to-air missiles and Bullpup air-to-ground missiles; various rockets; and up to 2,000 pounds of conventional bombs or one Red Beard freefall nuclear bomb, all carried on six underwing hardpoints. A total of 145 Sea Vixens were built between 1959 and 1966, with 55 (38%) lost; of these losses, 30 were fatal incidents, including 21 involving the deaths of both pilot and observer. The Fleet Air Arm retired the Sea Vixen in 1972, with the fleet air defence role being assumed by the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1. XS590 was the last production Sea Vixen built and was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm in March 1966. After service with 892 and 899 Naval Air Squadrons, XS590 was retired and transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in 1970. |
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| A McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1, serial number XT596, displayed in Hall 3 in a launching position. Called the F-4K Phantom II by the American McDonnell Douglas company and given the British service designation FG.1, the Phantom was selected by the Royal Navy to replace the Supermarine Scimitar and de Havilland Sea Vixen. This was the first time the US Government had allowed the export of the Phantom II. To ensure work for the British aerospace industry in light of this purchase from the US, the British Phantoms included a significant amount of UK-origin equipment, parts, and sub-assemblies. Most notably, the standard General Electric J79 engines used in US Phantoms were replaced by more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans in the FG.1. Additionally, the British Phantoms were fitted with a double-telescoping front landing gear strut to raise the aircraft's nose for the higher angle of attack required for catapult launches from the UK's comparatively small carriers (as seen in this photo). The first Phantom F-4K/FG.1 flew in June 1966 and a total of 48 aircraft were built. With the cost-driven decision not to upgrade the carrier HMS Eagle to operate the Phantoms, sistership HMS Ark Royal became the only Royal Navy carrier capable of operating these aircraft and 20 of the Fleet Air Arm's FG.1 order were instead assigned to the Royal Air Force. The FG.1 entered Fleet Air Arm service with 892 Naval Air Squadron in 1969, being embarked on Ark Royal in 1970. The UK Government's decision to phase out fleet carriers meant the Phantoms had a short service life with the Fleet Air Arm, serving only between June 1970 and November 1978. Thereafter, the FG.1s were transferred to the Royal Air Force, which operated the type in the air defence role until being retired in 1989. XT596 was one of the F-4K Phantom II prototypes and first flew in August 1966. Delivered to the Royal Navy in April 1969, the aircraft was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in January 1988. |
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| From the flight deck, visitors enter the mockup of HMS Ark Royal's island and ascend to the command centre for air operations, staffed by mannequin in period uniform. |
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| Inside the carrier's Flying Control Position ('Flyco') within the island structure, from where air operations were managed. HMS Ark Royal (R09) had a crew of 2,250, plus an additional 390 members of the embarked air group. |
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| A view of the mock carrier deck holding the collection of historic naval aircraft on display in Hall 3, as seen from the island of the carrier. |
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| The exhibition in the museum's Hall 4 is named 'The Leading Edge' and comprises an eclectic mix of iconic and innovative aircraft from throughout the 20th century, including the Sea Harrier and the Concorde, as well as lesser known concept or research aircraft. |
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| The centrepiece of Hall 4 is Concorde 002, registration G-BSST. This was the first Anglo-French Concorde built in Britain and the second Concorde to fly. |
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| Concorde 002 took its maiden flight on 9 April 1969 from the British Aircraft Corporation's facility at Filton Aerodrome, north of Bristol, to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. One of two prototypes, Concorde 002 was used to prove that the design calculations for supersonic flight were accurate. |
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| Visitors can enter the cabin of Concorde 002 from an elevated platform in Hall 4. During its seven-year career as a test aircraft, Concorde 002 made appearances at a number of air shows and, between 2 June and 1 July 1972, undertook a 45,000 mile tour of the Far East and Australia to promote the sale of Concorde supersonic airliners. |
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| Inside the cabin of Concorde 002. As a prototype aircraft, 002 was never fitted with passenger seating and instead was packed with equipment required for testing the aircraft's performance during test flights. After undertaking 438 flights (including 196 supersonic flights) lasting a combined 836 hours (including 173 hours and 26 minutes at supersonic speeds), Concorde 002 made its last flight on 4 March 1976, flying to RNAS Yeovilton for permanent display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. |
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| The cockpit of Concorde 002. Despite its futuristic design and supersonic speed, the Concorde's analog instruments are a reflection of the state of aircraft technology of the 1960s, well before the introduction of digital displays and touchscreens. |
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| A BAE Sea Harrier FRS.1, serial number XZ493, mounted on a mockup of the famous 'ski jump' ramps installed on several classes of Royal Navy aircraft carrier to assist fixed-wing aircraft to take off more easily. The Sea Harrier was designed as a carrier-borne fighter, reconnaissance and strike aircraft, capable of short take-off and vertical landing, as well as vertical take-off and landing. Entering operational service with the Fleet Air Arm in March 1980, the subsonic Sea Harrier's principal role was to provide air defence for Royal Navy carrier task groups. The type saw service in the Falklands War (1982), the Bosnian War (1992-95), the Kosovo War (1999), and the British intervention in Sierra Leone (2000). During the Falklands War, 28 Sea Harriers operating from HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes were the only fixed-wing fighters available to the Royal Navy task force and were used for both air defence and ground attack missions against Argentine forces. Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers shot down 20 Argentine aircraft and lost two of their own to Argentine ground fire and four to accidents. A total of 98 Sea Harriers were built for the Royal Navy and the Indian Navy between 1978 and 1998. The Royal Navy's Sea Harrier FRS.1s were upgraded to FA2 specification from 1988, with the fleet being retired from Fleet Air Arm service in March 2006. The Indian Navy continued to operate its Sea Harriers until March 2016. |
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| A Hawker Siddeley P.1127, serial number XP980. The P.1127 was an experimental aircraft designed around the Pegasus vectored-thrust turbofan engine developed by the Bristol Engine Company beginning in 1957. First flown in November 1960, the P.1127's vertical/short take-off and landing capability (V/STOL) would eventually be refined into the Hawker Siddeley Harrier in the mid-1960s. Six P.1127s were built, followed by nine Kestrels, an improved design with swept wings and more powerful Pegasus engines, which first flew in March 1964. XP980 first flew on 24 February 1963 and, after being damaged during a practice forced landing, was used as a ground trials and training vehicle until transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in March 1989. It is fitted with the wing used on the Harrier GR.1. |
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| The Handley Page HP.115, serial number XP841. This single-seat experimental delta-winged aircraft was built as part of a supersonic aircraft research program sponsored by the UK's Ministry of Supply in the 1950s. The HP.115's part in this program was to test low-speed handling characteristics for a supersonic airliner expected to be developed later. XP841 was the sole HP.115 built and made its first flight on 17 August 1961 from the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Bedford, Bedfordshire. The aircraft, largely crafted from aluminum alloys, featured a very low aspect ratio wing swept back at 75 degrees and a fixed tricycle undercarriage. Power was provided by a single Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojet engine mounted above the wing and incorporated into the base of the vertical stabiliser. Data on delta wing performance characteristics generated during the HP.115's flight program, notably during the take-off and landing phases, contributed to the design of the slender delta wing used on the Concorde in the 1970s. XP841 was retired in February 1974 and, after being initially displayed at the museum at RAF Colerne, was transferred to the Royal Air Force Museum at Cosford and eventually to the Fleet Air Arm Museum. |
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| A BAC 221, serial number WG774, originally designed as a Fairey Delta 2 (FD2) supersonic research aircraft by the Fairey Aviation Company. The FD2 was part of the same supersonic aircraft research program as the Handley Page HP.115, but was intended to examine flight and control characteristics at transonic and supersonic speeds. Two examples of the delta-winged, droop-nosed FD2 were constructed, plus a static test airframe. The FD2's maiden flight took place on 6 October 1954 and, on 10 March 1956, the FD2 became the first jet aircraft to exceed 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h) in level flight, attaining a speed of 1,132 miles per hour (1,822 km/h) or Mach 1.73. In 1958, the FD2s were transferred to the Royal Aircraft Establishment and continued flight testing. In April 1961, the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) commenced a reconstruction of WG774 that included an extension of the fuselage, the fitting of a new delta wing of the type to be used on the Concorde, the installation of much taller landing gear as planned for Concorde, a new Rolls-Royce Avon RA.28 engine, the modification of the vertical stabiliser, and the relocation of the engine intakes under the wing. The reconstructed WG774, now rechristened as a BAC 221, first flew on 1 May 1964. Continued testing in the new configuration was undertaken between 1964 and 1973, with WG774 thereafter transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum. |
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| A Hawker Hunter, serial number XL580. Developed by Hawker Aircraft during the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Hunter was an interceptor and fighter-bomber designed around the new Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and featuring a swept wing. The prototype Hunter first flew in July 1951 and the first production Hunter in March 1953. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype Hunter broke the world air speed record by an aircraft, attaining a speed of 632.29 knots (1,171.01 km/h, 727.63 mph). The Hunter entered Royal Air Force service in July 1954 and saw extensive service, including during the Suez Crisis and in many conflicts in the Far East and Middle East in the 1960s; however, with the acquisition of the English Electric Lightning, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, and Hawker Siddeley Harrier later in the decade, the Hunter was transitioned from the interceptor role to the fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles. The Royal Navy acquired Hunters for pilot training, weapons training, and reconnaissance, with the two-seat training aircraft remaining in service until the early 1990s. |
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| A total of 1,972 Hunters were built by Hawker Aircraft (Hawker-Siddeley after 1963) and by foreign manufacturers under licence overseas. With low maintenance requirements and operating costs, the Hunter was also an export success, being purchased by 21 foreign air forces and used by some well into the 21st century. |
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| XL580 is a Hunter T.8M model, a two-seat trainer aircraft fitted with an arrester hook for use on Royal Navy airfields and the Blue Fox radar used to train Sea Harrier pilots. This aircraft was the first production T.8 Hunter built for the Royal Navy and flew on 30 May 1958, being converted to T.8M standard in September 1978. XL580 is displayed in the dark sea grey paint scheme applied in 1988, carrying the number '723' and the winged fist insignia of 899 Naval Air Squadron. Its last flight was on 27 August 1993, and it was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in November 1994. |
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| A Westland Wyvern TF.1, serial number VR137, in bare-metal finish. This carrier-borne multi-role strike aircraft was designed late in the Second World War, with the prototype making its first flight in December 1946. To improve visibility over the aircraft's nose during carrier landings, the Wyvern's cockpit sat high in a humped fuselage, with the propeller shaft running under the cockpit to the aft-mounted engine. The Wyvern's most distinguishing feature is the large contra-rotating propellers, which in the most numerous production variant (S.4) were powered by a 3,560-horsepower Armstrong Siddeley Python turboprop engine. In May 1953, the Wyvern S.4 entered shore-based front line service with 813 Naval Air Squadron. The type received clearance for carrier operations in April 1954 and saw combat with 830 Naval Air Squadron embarked on HMS Eagle during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Nevertheless, Wyverns suffered 68 accidents during testing and operations, resulting in 39 aircraft being lost, with 13 fatalities. This led to the decision to retire the Wyvern fleet in 1958. |
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A total of 124 Westland Wyverns were built between 1946 and 1956, with an additional three early piston-engined airframes never completed. On of these is VR137, a pre-production aircraft and the last one to be fitted with the original Rolls-Royce Eagle Mk 22 piston engine. VR137 never actually flew.
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