Royal Navy Museum, Naval Aviation

The Royal Navy Museum, Naval Aviation, formerly known as the Fleet Air Arm Museum of the NMRN, is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintings and drawings related to naval aviation. It is located on RNAS Yeovilton airfield, and the museum has viewing areas where visitors can watch military aircraft (especially helicopters) take off and land. At the entrance to the museum are anchors from and , fleet carriers which served the Royal Navy until the 1970s. It is located north of Yeovil, and south of Bristol.

Exhibits

As of summer 2023 the museum has two temporary exhibitions: Flight of the Red Dragon, about King Charles's time within the Fleet Air Arm and a Falklands Exhibition which brings together five aircraft which served during the 1982 Falklands War, these are: Type Identity Markings Notes Westland Wessex HAS.3 XP142 HMS Antrim Crest Hall 1: Falklands Exhibition - Humphrey. Shrapnel damage to aircraft Westland Wessex HU.5 XT765 J Hall 1: Falklands Exhibition Westland Sea King HAS.6 XV663 771 SAR 18 Rescue / RAF Rescue Hall 1: Falklands Exhibition - previously used by 825 NAS. Banana Split paint scheme. BAE Sea Harrier FRS.1 XZ493 001/N Hall 4: Falklands Exhibition Westland Lynx HAS.3 (GMS) XZ720 HMS Gloucester 410 Hall 4: Falklands Exhibition - Paint scheme from the 1991 Gulf War

The museum's main display is divided into four areas:

Hall 1

This hall contains a display about the development of naval aviation from the early days of airships and fabric-covered wooden biplanes to modern jet aircraft and helicopters, including the front section of the fuselage of Short 184 8359, built locally by Westland Aircraft in Yeovil and flown at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 before being put on display at the Imperial War Museum, where it was damaged during the Second World War when the museum was hit by a bomb. It is displayed in an unrestored condition.

Currently 2023 contains the following aircraft: Type Identity Markings Notes Short S.27 Nil Replica An aircraft similar to this was used to make the first takeoff from a moving ship in 1912. Short 184 8359 Nil Fuselage only. Museum piece bombed during WW2 Sopwith Baby N2078 The Jabberwock As flown by Sub Lt Hyams. Composite of 8214 & 8215 Supermarine Walrus L2301 Nil one of the aircraft flown by the Irish Air Corps before being bought back by the Fleet Air Arm after the war for use as a training aircraft Westland Dragonfly HR.5 VX595 Nil Westland Wessex HAS.3 XP142 HMS Antrim Crest Falklands Exhibition - Humphrey. Shrapnel damage to aircraft Westland Wessex HU.5 XT765 J Falklands Exhibition Westland Sea King HAS.6 XV663 771 SAR 18 Rescue / RAF Rescue Falklands Exhibition - previously used by 825 NAS. Left side in Royal Navy markings and the right side in yellow Royal Air Force Rescue scheme.

Hall 2

Mainly devoted to the Second World War, with a side room containing a Kamikaze exhibit, which contains a Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka II (BAPC 58), models of Japanese aircraft and final letters from Kamikaze pilots. Two aircraft from the Korean War are also displayed. By the entrance to Hall 3 there is a collection of models of British aircraft carriers, illustrating the history of aircraft carrier design.

The aircraft on display include:

Type Identity Markings Notes de Havilland Sea Vampire I LZ551/G (P) Prototype No. 3 de Havilland Sea Vampire T.22 XA127 Nil Pod only Fairey Fulmar N1854 Nil Two-seat fighter. This is the Fulmar prototype, the only surviving example out of the 800 built.Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber Since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. . Fairey Swordfish II HS618 wears P4139 Nil Previously used by 834 NAS. Now represents P4139, a Swordfish Mk.1 of 813 NAS Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 Nil North American Harvard III EX976 Nil American trainer Grumman Hellcat KE209 American single-seat fighter Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 WJ231 115/O Used by 802 & 810 NAS. Painted as flown by Lt D T McKeown of 802 NAS/HMS Ocean Grumman Avenger ECM.6B XB446 D-Day markings American torpedo bomber/reconnaissance Grumman Martlet I AL246 Nil Vought Corsair KD431 431 S This has had subsequent repaints removed to expose the original 1944 finish. Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka II BAPC 58 Nil Japanese Kamikaze aircraft designed to be carried to its target by a converted medium bomber Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Nil Soviet jet fighter Westland Dragonfly HR.5 WN493 Nil

Hall 3

Improved for 2023: Instead of a traditional museum hall, the whole hall has been converted into a mock-up of the fleet carrier as it would have appeared in the 1970s with the inclusion of historical aircraft such as the Supermarine Seafire. The entrance to this hall is through a converted vibrating Wessex helicopter from Hall 2. A large screen shows historical carrier based information. There is also a series of rooms simulating the carrier's island with projections and a simulated lift ride to the top of the mock carrier.

The aircraft include:

Type Identity Markings Notes British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA.2 XZ499 003 Blackburn Buccaneer S.1 XN957 630/LM de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 XS590 131/E McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 XT596 Nil Sopwith Pup N6452 Nil Replica Supermarine Attacker F.1 WA473 102/J Supermarine Seafire F.17 SX137 Nil Naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire Westland Wessex HU.5 XT482 Z-M 19 Gilbert Westland Wessex HU.5 XT769 Nil Entrance to Hall 3 Westland Wyvern TF.1 VR137 Nil Bare Metal

Hall 4

The aircraft on display: Type Identity Markings Notes BAC 221 WG774 Nil Also built as part of the Concorde programme, to explore the high-speed characteristics of the ogival delta wing. BAC Concorde G-BSST British Aircraft Corporation -Aerospatiale France The second Concorde to fly and the first British-built example. It was flown to Yeovilton in March 1976 and opened to the public in July of that year. It has been on display ever since. BAE Harrier GR.9A ZD433 45A Naval Strike Wing - Afghanistan war markings BAE Sea Harrier FRS.1 XZ493 001/N Falklands Exhibition Bristol Scout D N5419 Nil Reproduction. Displayed without any of the fabric covering, originally powered with a vintage Le Rhone 9C rotary when flown in the USA Hawker Siddeley P.1127 XP980 Nil Built as part of the development process that led to the Kestrel, Hawker Siddeley Harrier and Sea Harrier. Westland Sea King HC.4 ZA298 Y Westland Lynx HAS.3 (GMS) XZ720 HMS Gloucester 410 Falklands Exhibition - Paint scheme from the 1991 Gulf War

Other displays In addition to the four main exhibition halls, there are a number of smaller displays. These include: "Barracuda Live - The Big Rebuild", showing the active restoration of Fairey Barracuda DP872 Battle of Taranto, the Fleet Air Arm's most celebrated exploit in World War II. The display includes a Fairey Swordfish, which can also be seen from the link between halls 1 and 2. "Merlin Experience", which explains modern anti-submarine techniques. "Operation Skua", a reconstruction of the recovery of Blackburn Skua L2940 "Pioneers to Professionals: Women of the Royal Navy" "Saved! 100 years of Search and Rescue" featuring three helicopters and a new soft play area "Welcome Gallery"

Reserve Collection The museum's collection includes a number of aircraft which are currently being restored and are not on display, although public access is allowed at least once a year. These are housed in Cobham Hall, a climate controlled building across the road from the museum.

Aircraft include:

Engines on display

The museum possesses a number of aero engines located throughout the halls. Alvis Leonides Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah Bristol Centaurus Bristol Mercury Bristol Siddeley BS.100 Clerget 9B Bristol Siddeley Pegasus de Havilland Gipsy Major de Havilland Gipsy Queen Rolls-Royce Avon Rolls-Royce Nene Rolls-Royce Merlin Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 Sunbeam Gurkha Wright R-1820 Cyclone

Other activities

Restoration The museum also carries out various restoration projects. the last project was a Corsair KD 431 which in the summer of 2006 was unveiled as it would have appeared in 1944. In 2023 the projects underway are for a Fairey Barracuda and a Gloster Sea Gladiator. Visitors can see into (but not enter) the restoration workshop between Hall 3 and Hall 4.

Archives The Fleet Air Arm Museum is the home to an archive of material related to naval aviation.

Visitor facilities

The museum's shop has the most extensive selection of naval merchandise in the area, including various themed books and documentaries such as Sailor.

There is an outside adventure playground for children in the museum's grounds and two cafés.

Royal Navy Museum, Naval Aviation

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