Wings Museum Explained
The Wings Museum is an aviation museum located in Sussex, United Kingdom. It is housed in a 12000square feet hangar-like former farm building in Brantridge Lane, between Handcross and Balcombe. The museum displays mainly World War II-related flying memorabilia and equipment which have been donated,[1] [2] or which have been recovered and restored by volunteers.[3]
History
The museum was originally located at Redhill Aerodrome.[4] By 2011 it had relocated to Brantridge Lane.[5]
In 2013, the museum hosted a fundraiser for the upkeep of the Bomber Command Memorial in nearby Green Park.[6] [7]
In 2015, volunteers restored a Bristol Beaufighter Mk1f which had crashed 75 years earlier.[8]
Aircraft collection
Visitors to the museum can walk inside a complete fuselage from a Douglas C-47 Dakota which was used on D-Day[9] and later during the filming of the television series Band of Brothers.[10]
There are some very rare aircraft from World War II and some of them are the only ones of their type in the UK.
Turbine engine aircraft
- Hawker Siddeley Kestrel XS694 (under restoration and parts in storage)
Piston engine aircraft
- North American B-25J-25-NC 44-30861 (under restoration)
- Bell P-63 King cobra - 43-11137 (under restoration);[11] the museum has five more in storage
- Douglas A-20 Boston (displayed as found)
- Nakajima B5N2 Kate (very large fuselage and wing section)
- Douglas C-47 Dakota (fuselage from Band of Brothers)
- Hawker Hurricane (wreck)[12]
- Handley Page Hampden TB.1 P1273 (wreck)
Aircraft cockpits
- Douglas A-26 Invader 43-22649
- Bristol Beaufighter 1f[13]
- Curtis Helldiver SB2C-5 (in storage)
- Jet Provost XM486 (in storage)
- English Electric Canberra (in storage)
- De Havilland Chipmunk WD377
- North American B-25 Mitchell
Simulators
Piston engines
- Rolls-Royce Merlin ×5 (one running as a living memorial)
- Junkers Jumo 211
- Daimler Benz 610
See also
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/news/war-hero-s-memorabilia-donated-to-wings-museum-in-balcombe-1-6016903 "War hero’s memorabilia donated to Wings Museum in Balcombe"
- Book: Chris Ransted. Disarming Hitlerês V Weapons: Bomb Disposal, the V1 and V2 rockets. 19 September 2013. Pen and Sword. 978-1-4738-2967-1. 62–.
- http://www.guildford-dragon.com/2013/11/11/details-emerge-wartime-military-aircraft-crash-jacobs-well-crew/ "More Details Emerge About Wartime Military Aircraft Crash"
- http://www.surreymirror.co.uk/museum-pub-bomb-display-12-year-wait/story-29103079-detail/story.html "Wartime bomb discovered at Woodhatch pub to be displayed in museum"
- Book: Alexis Catsambis. Ben Ford. Donny L. Hamilton. The Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology. 8 September 2011. OUP USA. 978-0-19-537517-6. 1002–.
- http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/news/video-bomber-command-veterans-raise-hundreds-for-green-park-memorial-1-4983868 "VIDEO: Bomber Command veterans raise hundreds for Green Park memorial"
- http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2013-04-09/bomber-boys/ "Wings reunion for Bomber Boys"
- http://www.surreymirror.co.uk/memorial-fighter-pilots-killed-crash/story-28071244-detail/story.html "Nostalgia: Remembering Second World War fighter pilots killed in crash"
- Book: John Grehan. Martin Mace. Battleground Sussex. 2012. Casemate Publishers. 978-1-84884-661-6. 198–.
- http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/news/tyre-from-a-wartime-bomber-surfaces-after-74-watery-years-1-5916400 "Tyre from a wartime bomber surfaces after 74 watery years"
- http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbird-restorations/bell-p-63c-kingcobra-restoration-wings-museum.html "The Wings Museum’s Bell P-63C Kingcobra Restoration"
- Book: Gordon Riley. Hawker Hurricane Survivors. 19 October 2015. Grub Street Publishing. 978-1-910690-79-6. 97–.
- http://airsoc.com/articles/view/id/55e4362c313944e13d8b4569/bristol-beaufighter-news "BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER NEWS"
