Britain has a wealth of museums of all sizes, all with incredible
exhibits, yet only the 'big' collections tend to get the limelight. All
over the UK are amazing aircraft collections, containing aircraft of
world, national or regional importance, many of which the curators of
the national institutions would love to have.
With region-by-region coverage, the backgrounds of the formative museums
of Great Britain are highlighted along with the pedigrees of their most
significant exhibits. Included are such icons as the de Havilland
Aircraft Museum - home of the Mosquito; the Brooklands, Museum -
headquarters of Sopwith, Hawker and Vickers; the Helicopter Museum - the
world's largest rotorcraft collection and Solent Sky - shrine to
flying-boats and the Spitfire.
Across Britain are many local collections that helped to pioneer this
country's incredible aviation heritage and the role of enthusiasts is
highlighted with a profile of the first of them all - the Northern
Aircraft Preservation Society and its lineage. Among the 'regionals' are
the Dumfries and Galloway, Solway, North East, Newark, Norfolk and
Suffolk, Yorkshire and Berkshire museums.
Smaller collections have incredible stories to tell, for example the
Martlesham Heath Control Tower Museum - the home of British flight test;
the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum - devoted to the vital 'magic eye' of
the Battle of Britain, the Glenn Miller Museum - at the airfield from
which the band leader departed to his doom and Fort Paul Armouries -
dominated by the enormous Beverley airlifter.
Over 150 museums and their most important exhibits are profiled with
over 250 photographs, both archive and in full color. Like the other
titles in the series, Local Aviation Collections of Britain is a
unique reference for anyone interested in Britain's aviation heritage
and it provides inspiration for a tour of discovery of the 'unknown'
gems of the UK.
