The Helicopter Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Helicopter Museum

Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Established	3 November 1989; 35 years ago (1989-11-03)
Location	Weston-super-Mare, England

The Helicopter Museum is a cool place in Weston-super-Mare, England. It has over 80 helicopters and autogyros from all over the world. You can see both civilian (for everyday use) and military (for armies) aircraft here. The museum is located at an old air force base.

History of the Helicopter Museum

The museum started in 1958 with a man named Elfan ap Rees. He was a writer and historian who loved aviation. He began collecting documents and items related to helicopters.

How the Collection Grew

Over ten years, his collection got bigger. In 1969, he got his first full helicopter, a Bristol Sycamore Mk.3. In 1974, Mr. ap Rees bought a Bristol Belvedere. He then formed a group of volunteers to help fix it up. More aircraft were added in the late 1970s. These included a Westland Whirlwind from the Royal Navy and a Bristol Sycamore from the Royal Air Force. Some very rare prototype helicopters also joined the collection. These were special test models, like the Fairey Ultra-Light and the Thruxton Gadfly autogyro.

Opening and Reopening the Museum

In 1978, the museum got a small area at the Weston-super-Mare airfield. It included old buildings from World War II. After a lot of repair work, the collection opened to the public in the summer of 1978. Nine aircraft and other items were on display. The museum had to close in 1979. But during the 1980s, more rare helicopter parts were saved and added. This included parts of the Fairey Rotodyne, which was a very unique aircraft. Other helicopters, like more Westland Whirlwind types, a Westland Scout, and a Westland Wessex, were also acquired.

The museum reopened in 1988 at a new spot on the airfield. Volunteers worked hard to fix old buildings and build new display areas. On November 3, 1989, Prince Andrew, Duke of York officially opened the museum. He even arrived in a Wessex helicopter! Since then, the museum has grown a lot. New hangars were built to keep the helicopters safe indoors. The museum also bought its land with help from grants.

Preserving Aviation History

The people who run the museum have found and bought many rare aircraft. By 2012, about 45 helicopters and autogyros at the museum were considered very important for national aviation history. Many of these were the only ones of their kind. The museum continues to fix up and show many different types of helicopters from various countries.

Exploring the Helicopter Collection

Kamov Ka-26 at the museum in June 2004. This helicopter used to fly for Interflug in East Germany.

The museum has over 80 complete helicopters and autogyros. Some others are being fixed or are only partly complete. You can see many helicopters from other countries here. This includes aircraft from the Soviet era and Eastern Europe, like the Kamov Ka-26 Hoodlum and the Mi-24 Hind. There are also more modern ones, such as the EH-101.

In 2008, parts of the Boeing Vertol XCH-62 were sent to the museum. This was a prototype for the largest helicopter ever built in Western countries. More recently, the museum added a Mil Mi-8, an Italian Agusta A109, and a Gyrodyne QH-50D. They also have two record-breaking helicopters! One is the Westland Lynx G-LYNX, which has held the world speed record for helicopters since 1986. The other is the first Aerospatiale Dauphin, which holds a speed record for flying between Paris and London.

Helicopters Being Restored

Some helicopters at the museum are currently being fixed up by volunteers.

Types of Rotorcraft on Display

Here are some of the many helicopters and autogyros you can see at the museum, grouped by where they were made.

British Helicopters

European Helicopters

Russian Helicopters

American Helicopters

Museum Expansion and Future Plans

The museum has grown to include the old control tower from the RAF Weston-super-Mare base. The attached "pilots' building" was reopened in 2018. An area has also been cleared for a new services building.

See also

• American Helicopter Museum, Pennsylvania, United States
• Classic Rotors Museum, California, United States
• Hubschraubermuseum Bückeburg, Germany
• List of aerospace museums