RAF Museum Cosford News

International Model Rally To Unveil A True Flight of Fancy - Admission Charges Apply

International Model Rally To Unveil A True Flight Of Fancy - Admission Charges Apply

19th to 20th July 2008

The Large Model Association and the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford are celebrating 90 years of the RAF with the annual International Large Model Aircraft Rally at RAF Cosford on the 19th and 20th July 2008. Charges for entry will apply.

Exclusive to the show will be the public debut of the world’s largest Hawker Hunter model jet, a five year labour of love, painstakingly crafted by Dr. Keith Mitchell. Standing at 1/3rd of the full size jet, the model is powered by two intricate miniature jet turbines and mimics perfectly the flight patterns and attitude of its larger brother.

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Glider display to take visitors to new heights

Glider Display To Take Visitors To New Heights

The British Gliding Association and Wrekin and Staffordshire Gliding Clubs will be putting on a weekend glider display for visitors at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July 2008.

Wrekin and Staffordshire Gliding Clubs are offering visitors the chance to buy trial flights for a discounted price of only £50. This includes a 20 minute flight up to 2000ft in a two seater glider with a British Gliding Association qualified instructor (weather permitting). These unique trial flights will be available from 10.00am to 3.00pm both days to visitors over the age of 14.

Photo courtesy of whiteplanes.com

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Two New Awards Fly In For Aviation Museum

The Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford is proud to be awarded two new accolades after already being crowned ‘Best of the West’ at the Renaissance West Midlands Awards earlier in April.

Staff and volunteers at RAF Museum Cosford are celebrating after Servicemark, the National Standard for Customer Service, granted the Museum a Silver Award.

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Sign Up To Our Facebook Fan Page by 31st July For Your Chance To WIN

Sign Up To Our Facebook Fan Page By 31st July For Your Chance To Win

We would love you to share with us your pictures and memories of our Cosford Museum by joining our Fan page on Facebook; particularly if you have attended any recent events on site.

In return we promise to keep our page updated on a regular basis so that you are made aware of future events once they have been confirmed and to place regularly on the page exclusive images and videos of the people and events that bring the Museum to life.

All that you need to do is to login to your Facebook account, search for us under Royal Air Force Museum and start interacting. If you do so by 31st July we will place you into a Prize Draw to win 1 of 5 exclusive copies of "V Force : Ready for The Unthinkable", signed by various V Force veterans...and by signing up to our London Fan Page you can double your chances of winning as we are offering our London Fans the opportunity to win a further 5 signed copies of the book.

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Visit our Facebook Fan Page.

July's Podcast Now Posted on Website - Bomber Ops : The Lancaster

July's Podcast Now Posted On Website - Bomber Ops : The Lancaster

More than fifty-five thousand aircrew from Bomber Command died serving on aircraft like the Avro Lancaster, which was the backbone of the RAF's Bomber Fleet. The Museum's Lancaster Mk. 1 R5868 "S-for-Sugar", located at our London site, is a rare survivor of over one hundred missions. This podcast tells the story of what it was like to be a Bomber Command crewman, also telling the remarkable life story of one of the Museum's most popular and impressive exhibits.

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Listen to Podcast

July's Navigator Highlights

This month we have posted three new online highlights on our Navigator site: Aircraft Equipment, Sopwith Aircraft Photos, Ground Crew Illustrated.

Aircraft Equipment:
In addition to entire airframes, the RAF Museum holds larges numbers of aircraft pieces. In this highlight you will find a small selection of these objects.

Sopwith Aircraft Photos:
The Sopwith Aircraft Company was a British company founded in Kingston upon Thames by Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith in June 1912. In this highlight you will discover original photography of the company's earliest aircraft.

Ground Crew Illustrated:
The aircraft, weapons and stations of the RAF all needed to be maintained. These duties were carried out by the ground crews, or "Erks" as they were often known during the Second World War. This highlight of fine art shows a variety of ground crew personnel at work.

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Visit Navigator Online Collection

V Force: Ready for the unthinkable

V Force: Ready For The Unthinkable

An RAF Museum publication sheds fresh light on the legendary V Force.

‘V Force – Ready for the unthinkable’ tells the extraordinary story of the most iconic group of post-war aircraft; the Valiant, Victor and Vulcan nuclear group. Above all else, it is these aircraft that kept Britain at the top table of international politics by ensuring that the United Kingdom could deploy its own independent nuclear deterrent.

The book, published for the Royal Air Force Museum by Newsdesk Media, features some newly uncovered information on the V Force and traces its history from the early design stages to the end of their service life, including operations in the Falkland Islands.

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Purchase V Force from the museum shop

DAMBUSTERS ANNIVERSARY PUBLICATION UNCOVERS HIDDEN HISTORY

Dambusters Anniversary Publication Uncovers Hidden History

A new book produced to coincide with the 65th Anniversary of the legendary Dams Raid uncovers elements of hidden history crucial to the success of 617 Squadron’s attack on the German Dams in May 1943.

The book produced for the Royal Air Force Museum by Newsdesk Media Group is titled ‘BREACHING THE GERMAN DAMS – FLYING INTO HISTORY’ and has been written by Robert Owen, the Official Historian of the No. 617 Squadron Aircrew Association, and Richard Morris, author of acclaimed biographies of Wing Commanders Guy Gibson VC and Leonard Cheshire VC. The foreword is by New Zealander, Les Munro, the sole remaining pilot to have taken part in the epic operation.

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Purchase Breaching the Dams - Flying into History

Searching for that Unusual Present?

Searching For That Unusual Present?

If you are looking for an unusual present look no further than the The Royal Air Force Museum's online archive print store www.rafmuseumphotos.com.

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Find That Perfect Propellor Head Gift

Museum Offers Children A Sideways View Of The Cold War

The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford and the Sideways Theatre Company offered schools from the West Midlands the opportunity to experience at ‘first hand’ some of the most significant events of the Cold War era in a series of interactive workshops on 10th and 11th April.

In an action packed day, held at the National Cold War Exhibition, re-enactors portrayed some the period’s most charismatic and influential people in the aptly named ‘Coming in from the Cold’.

Image: Members of the Sideways Theatre Group

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View a short film about the NCWE

We're Simply the Best - National Cold War Exhibition Receives 2 New Awards.

We're Simply The Best - National Cold War Exhibition Receives 2 New Awards.

We're proud to announce that the National Cold War Exhibition at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford won ‘Best Exhibition’ and ‘Best of the West’ at the prestigious Renaissance West Midlands Awards which celebrate achievement and innovation amongst the region’s museums and galleries,on 2nd April.

The National Cold War Exhibition beat off heavy competition from over 40 organisations across the West Midlands to win “Best of the West” at Renaissance West Midlands’ inaugural awards ceremony held at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Image reading from left to right: Paul Kaynes, West Midlands Creative Programmer for the Cultural Olympiad with Michelle Worthington and Karen Crick of the Royal Air Force Museum.

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See what all the fuss is about, take a virtual tour.

News

Latest News: 20 July 2008