The Helicopter Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Helicopter Museum

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Established	3 November 1989; 35 years ago (1989-11-03)
Location	Weston-super-Mare, England

The Helicopter Museum is located in Weston-super-Mare, England. It is a special place where you can see over 80 different helicopters and autogyros. These amazing flying machines come from all over the world. You'll find both helicopters used by regular people and those used by the military.

This museum is built on part of the old Weston-super-Mare Airport. It holds the largest collection of helicopters anywhere in the world!

Discovering the Museum's History

The museum's story began in 1958. A writer and historian named Elfan ap Rees started collecting things about rotorcraft. These are aircraft that use spinning blades to fly, like helicopters. Over ten years, his collection grew a lot. In 1969, he got his very first complete helicopter. It was a Bristol Sycamore Mk.3.

In 1974, Mr. ap Rees bought a Bristol Belvedere helicopter. He then formed a group of volunteers to help fix it up. In 1976, they added an old Royal Navy Westland Whirlwind helicopter. More aircraft joined the collection in 1977 and 1978. These included a Royal Air Force Bristol Sycamore and some rare test models. One was the Fairey Ultra-Light, which used special jet tips to fly.

In 1978, the museum got a small area and some buildings at the Weston-super-Mare airfield. This included an old Second World War building and an air-raid shelter. The buildings needed a lot of repair work. But by the summer of 1978, the museum opened to the public. It showed nine aircraft and many other items. The museum had to close at the end of 1979. However, during the 1980s, rare helicopter parts were added. This often saved them from being thrown away. One example was the only remaining parts of the Fairey Rotodyne. Other helicopters added in the 1980s included two more Westland Whirlwind types. A Westland Scout and a Westland Wessex also joined the collection.

The museum reopened in 1988 at a new airfield spot. Volunteers spent a year fixing old buildings and putting up a new display hall. On November 3, 1989, Prince Andrew, Duke of York officially opened the museum. He arrived in a Wessex HC.4 helicopter. Since then, the museum has grown a lot. It has built new hangars to keep the collection covered. It also bought its 4.5-acre site. This was possible with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grants.

Elfan ap Rees has led the museum's growth. He has also found and gotten many rare aircraft for the collection. By 2012, about 45 helicopters and autogyros at the museum were very important. They were listed in the National Aviation Heritage Register. Many of these were the only ones of their kind. The museum continues to fix and show many types of helicopters. They come from different countries and were used for various jobs.

Exploring the Helicopter Collection

Kamov Ka-26 at the museum in June 2004. This helicopter used to be registered in East Germany.

The museum has over 80 complete rotorcraft in its collection. More are being fixed or are partly complete. The museum shows many helicopters from other countries. This includes aircraft from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. For example, you can see the Kamov Ka-26 Hoodlum and the Mi-24 Hind. There are also more modern ones like the EH-101.

In 2008, parts of the Boeing Vertol XCH-62 came to the museum. This was a test model for the biggest helicopter ever built in Western countries. The XCH-62 was taken apart in 2005. It used to be shown at the United States Army Aviation Museum. More recently, the museum added a Mil Mi-8 helicopter. It also got an Italian Guardia di Finanza Agusta A109. Other additions include an Agusta Bell 206C JetRanger and a Gyrodyne QH-50D. A Super Puma and a Piasecki H-21 are also new. The museum also has two record-breaking helicopters. The Westland Lynx G-LYNX has held the world speed record for helicopters since 1986. The first Aerospatiale Dauphin holds the speed record for flying between Paris and London city centers.

Rotorcraft Being Restored

Types of Rotorcraft on Display

British Helicopters

European Helicopters

Russian Helicopters

American Helicopters

Museum's Future Expansion

The museum site has grown to include the old Weston Airport control tower. The building next to it, called the "pilots' building," reopened in 2018. The museum has also cleared an area. This is to get ready for a new building with services for visitors.

See also

• American Helicopter Museum, Pennsylvania, USA
• Classic Rotors Museum, California, USA
• Hubschraubermuseum Bückeburg, Germany

Related lists

• List of aerospace museums