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Cover for Sywell Aviation Museum

24 hours ago

Sywell Aviation Museum
STRAIGHT SETS AT SYWELL- ANYONE FOR TENNIS?Not many people realise that the Northampton Aero Club Clubhouse, now the Aviator Hotel, not only had a bar, restaurant and dance hall but it also had two tennis courts!Erected around 1936 the fully fenced and surfaced courts only lasted a short period, all evidence of fences and court markings being removed by 1940 though the surface remained, presumably those with ‘egg on their hats’ were unimpressed at the students having such a luxury (and also the adjacent buildings were camouflaged so the court would have stood out a bit!). The bare site remained until at least 1947 and until sometime in the 1950s when several of the Blister type hangars dotted round the airfield boundary were moved on to the hardstanding and erected as one with an end wall and doors added. By the year 2000 it was somewhat dilapidated and was fully refurbished and reclad becoming the Hangar One conference venue which opened in summer 2001.The first two photographs have never been published before. They were taken around 1937 by Eric Roberts, note the 7 smartly arranged DH Tiger Moths belonging to Brooklands Aviation on the flightline.But cast your mind back to the heady days of the NAC in the 30’s, your Alvis or Bentley parked outside, the metal exhaust from your recently flown Moth ‘ticking’ as it cools and the gyros winding down…the words of Betjeman could have been written at Sywell….“…Love-thirty, love-forty, oh! weakness of joy,The speed of a swallow, the grace of a boy,With carefullest carelessness, gaily you won,I am weak from your loveliness, Joan Hunter Dunn.Miss Joan Hunter Dunn, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn,How mad I am, sad I am, glad that you won,The warm-handled racket is back in its press,But my shock-headed victor, she loves me no less.Her father’s euonymus shines as we walk,And swing past the [club]-house, buried in talk,And cool the verandah that welcomes us inTo the six-o’clock news and a lime-juice and gin…”From – ‘A Subaltern’s Love-song’ – Sir John Betjeman 1941. See MoreSee Less
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Alrighty folks, just a quick reminder that the final Museum talk of the season – by Ade Harris on the B-25 Mitchell takes place THIS SUNDAY – 17th March 2024 in the Cirrus Room, Aviator Hotel, Sywell Aerodrome – we hope to see you there! www.facebook.com/events/715635020673442?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22groups_highlight_units%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D See MoreSee Less
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1 week ago

Sywell Aviation Museum
SYWELL AIRSHO’ ‘80!We are very grateful to Gary Sutherland who has shared these images from the 1980 Sywell Airshow taken when he was a teenager living in Ecton. They include resident aircraft including airshow acts from over 40 years ago!1980 saw the Red Arrows first season flying the Bae Hawk which they debuted at Sywell. The Hurricane and Spitfire we believe must have been from the BBMF though we cannot make out their serials (Spitfire likely to be Mk.II P7350, Hurricane LF363)The Rothmans Display Team with their very smart Pitts Specials were a key component of any UK airshow from 1970-1980 – G-SOLO is shown here in its last season before being sold abroad. By repute she still survives in Germany.DH Tiger Moth G-AIXD was purchased by David Lloyd in 1946. He was to own her for some 39 years (until 1985) during which time she was mainly based at Sywell. She was extensively flown in air displays including with The Barnstormers Flying Circus and for various TV shows such as ‘The Late Late Breakfast Show’ and ‘Game for a Laugh’ when fitted with a ‘wing-walking rig’. Sadly she was destroyed near Rendcomb airfield in a non-fatal accident after hitting power cables in July 1995.1968 Beagle Pup G-AVZP was a Sywell resident too and belonged to Brooklands Flying Club.G-BETS is a Cessna A188.B Ag Truck. At this time she was operated by Plains Aerial Spraying and is likely visiting for fuel.We unfortunately cannot see the registrations of the Piper Cub (believed to be G-SCUB) or Bucker Jungmeister (believed to be G-AXIH) but we love the painted addition to the aircraft tug!Don’t forget the Sywell Airshow is back this year on 22/23rd June when the Reds will be returning to Sywell on the Sunday- some 44 years later! Get your tickets here:www.sywell2024.co.uk See MoreSee Less
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Huge thanks to our visitors and traders who braved the weather to attend our book and model sale today it was an amazing success! In particular though special thanks to all those donors across the Country who have donated books models and more to help us raise funds- without you there would have been no event so our sincere thanks- without you too we couldn’t keep opening! ❤️See y’all on Easter Saturday for the Grand Opening!🫡All the best the SAM Team See MoreSee Less
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Book and Model Sale is a GO! See MoreSee Less
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In time for the Museum’s Book & Model Sale this Sunday – between 1000-1400- we decided to complete our annual health and safety audit and have added some new signage*Note that even if it’s tipping down on Sunday (and some traders may cry off) our own books, models etc will be placed around the inside of the museum and will be sold from inside the museum building 🫡*with thanks to Tettenhall Transport Museum 🙂 See MoreSee Less
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MATCHBOX’S MARVELLOUS MOTH! BUILDING A SYWELL TIGER With our BOOK AND MODEL SALE due to take place THIS SUNDAY 10th March 2024 between 1000-1400hrs we thought we’d give you a suitably themed story this week! Older followers will remember the happy times of Commando Comics, Airfix kits and war movies on a Sunday afternoon with your Dad – but whilst Airfix was, and remains, the most famous British kitmaker…many people forget Matchbox!If you want to model a Sywell aeroplane ‘from the box’ Matchbox remain the only kit manufacturer to help you.In 1978 they launched their iconic De Havilland DH-82 A/C Tiger Moth – PK-505 – in 1/32 scale no less! 120 parts in yellow, brown, black and clear plastic enabled you to build a canopied Canadian DH.82c ‘4971’ on skis, a civilian example on floats – ‘Sea Tiger’ G-AIVW (operated by the Tiger Club from a lake near Rye she crashed in 1983 – her remains are reportedly with the Robertsbridge Aviation Museum) and our subject… Tiger Moth L6942 was purchased new by Brooklands Aviation Ltd for use with 6 Elementary Reserve Flying Training School at Sywell in 1937. Renamed 6 Elementary Flying Training School she served at Sywell throughout the war before being transferred to 9 Maintenance Unit, RAF Cosford on 13.10.45 then 38 MU Llandow before being sold as scrap on 5.6.1950. She was the subject of Roy Huxley’s iconic box art which also appeared on other (flying) model kits over the years.So why was Sywell so honoured? Well one of the pattern makers at Lesney – owners of Matchbox -came from Northampton (his Dad also flew Vickers Wellesleys which was why there was one in the range)! We know this because he is now one of our Trustees!Indeed Matchbox issued some welcome, if odd, choices over the years (if their aim was to attract children) – such as the Supermarine Stranraer and Handley Page Heyford – great kits but unlikely to get the pulses of a 10 year old racing!Sadly Matchbox stopped producing kits in the late 1980s and the moulds were sold to Revell. The brand changed owners several times and is now owned by Mattel.So, finding the wonderful old Matchbox kit is the only way to build a Sywell Tiger from the box – even aftermarket decals don’t seem to cover resident units…. However the Museum is currently working with our friends at Arctic Decals and soon that oversight will be remedied with decals for Brooklands Aviation machines from the 1930s in 1/72 1/48 and 1/32 scales – for how many years have modellers been crying out to model the iconic red/black/silver Brooklands scheme?For the Book and Model Sale event page see here:www.facebook.com/events/1412643666005763/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D%2C%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22groups_highlight_units%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D See MoreSee Less
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‘AMY WONDERFUL AMY’ – AMY JOHNSON AT SYWELL Amy Johnson CBE (1 July 1903 – 5 January 1941) is probably the best known British Aviatrix.Born to a wealthy middle-class family in Kingston-Upon-Hull in 1903, she learned to fly in 1929 at the London Aeroplane Club under the tutelage of Valentine Baker (himself to become the ‘Baker’ in Martin Baker – the famous ejection-seat manufacturer). She was the first woman to obtain a Ground Engineers Licence. Johnson achieved worldwide recognition when, in 1930, she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Flying her DH.60 Moth G-AAAH Jason, she left Croydon Airport, Surrey, on 5 May and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on 24 May 11,000 miles distant. In de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth G-AAZV named Jason II she and co-pilot Jack Humphreys became the first people to fly from London to Moscow in one day in July 1931, completing the 1,760 miles journey in approximately 21 hours. From there, they continued across Siberia and on to Tokyo, setting a record time for Britain to Japan.In 1932, Johnson married Scottish pilot Jim Mollison and in July, Johnson set a solo record for the flight from London to Cape Town, South Africa in Puss Moth G-ACAB, named Desert Cloud, breaking her new husband’s record. In July 1933, Johnson together with Mollison flew a de Havilland DH.84 Dragon I G-AACV ‘Seafarer’ to New York, despite crashing the pair were given a ticker tape parade. The Mollisons also flew, in record time, from Britain to India in 1934 in G-ACSP, named "Black Magic", a de Havilland DH.88 Comet as part of the Britain to Australia MacRobertson Air Race, but were forced to retire from the race at Allahabad because of engine trouble.In May 1936, Johnson made her last record-breaking flight, regaining her Britain to South Africa record in G-ADZO, a Percival Gull Six. In 1940 she joined the new Air Transport Auxiliary and was killed whilst flying an Airspeed Oxford which crashed in the Thames Estuary on 5th January 1941. She was 37 years old.Amy visited Sywell Aerodrome in as the guest of honour with her new husband for the Aerial Pageant on the 16th May 1932. She was to return again in de Havilland Tiger Moth demonstrator G-ABRC in 1935. As seen here, she was mobbed by local schoolchildren, some of whom she took for a spin. One lady visitor to the Museum (then in her 90s) remembered Amy thus – ‘She was very nice but she smoked too much and chewed her fingernails!’The final link with Amy was in 1983 when the BBC made a docudrama on her most of which was filmed at Sywell – the ‘crash’ scene of ‘Seafarer’ was mocked up by Sywell Reservoir! Playing Amy was actress Harriet Walter in one of her first roles. She is now perhaps best known for ‘The Force Awakens’, ‘Killing Eve’ and ‘Silo’.Photos show Amy at Sywell with members of the Northampton Aero Club Committee (she is laughing as she has just won a flight in their raffle!), with her adoring young fans at outside the NAC club house and the ‘set’ of the 1983 docudrama – note the control tower pretending to be Darwin in Australia (spot the deliberate mistake!) See MoreSee Less
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