Collection: Tangmere Military Aviation Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Arms and Armour

  The museum houses dioramas of RAF Station Tangmere in the 1930s, Special Operations Executive, Royal Flying Corps of World War I, Falklands War (Hercules tanker refuelling Harrier aircraft), World War II dispersal hut fully manned, Mohne Dam raid by 617 Squadron, and model of a captured Italian airfield. There is also a working World War II bombsight, Hawker Harrier Jump Jet model, Reflector gunsight, models to show mounting and rotation of The Bouncing Bomb, working model of Voyager which circled the world non-stop, working model to show photo-reconnaissance operation, airborne and ground radios of various types – including German. There are airborne still and cine cameras, RAF Regiment memorabilia, weapons (cannon, machine guns, rifles, commando and ceremonial knives), surgical instruments, items relating to The Observer Corps, The Caterpillar and Goldfish Clubs, Searchlight, parachutes, log-books and medals covering the period from WW I to WW II, (including those of a German WW I Ace who joined the Allies in WW II), models of British, German, American, Japanese and other aircraft ranging over the same period, items relating to the WAAF, a teleprinter and telephone exchange. Aircraft within the Collection comprise the Gloucester Meteor and Hawker Hunter each of which gained the World Airspeed Record for Great Britain, and a Supermarine Swift (these three aircraft are on extended loan from The Royal Air Force Museum). On permanent loan is a Westland Whirlwind HAS7 helicopter, a replica of K5054 – the prototype Supermarine Spitfire – and a Lockheed T33 trainer. There are also full-size replicas of a Hawker Hurricane MkI and a Supermarine Spitfire Mk5. The rotary, radial and turbo-prop aero-engines held include R.R. Avon, Derwent, Dart, Double Mambe, Armstrong Siddley Sapphire and De Haviland Goblin, all are working and, with the exception of the Double Mambe, are sectioned to allow their various working features to be seen.

  Costume/Textiles

  The collection includes items of flying clothing, helmets, uniforms of the three Armed Services including those of the Commonwealth and Dominions and the U.S.A. and other Allies in World Wars I and II and also German uniforms of WWII.

  Fine Art

  There are a number of paintings and framed prints.

  Archives

  A library contains over two thousand books, magazines, handbooks and instruction manuals and articles.

  Photographic

  16mm film and video tapes, still photographs and diapositives relating to all aspects of aviation. Photographs dating from World War I to the present.

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC