Aerospace Bristol

Aerospace Bristol

Location within Bristol
Location	Filton, England
Coordinates	51°31′23″N 2°34′44″W / 51.523°N 2.579°W / 51.523; -2.579
Type	Museum
Website	Aerospace Bristol

Aerospace Bristol is a new £19m aerospace museum and learning centre due to open at Filton, to the north of Bristol, in summer 2017. The project is being run by the Bristol Aero Collection Trust and will house a varied collection of exhibits as well as Concorde 216, the final Concorde to be built and the last to fly.^[1]

The nine-acre site on Filton Airfield, Bristol includes two First World War Grade II listed hangars,^[2][3] providing over 5,000 m² of public exhibition space, 1,700m² of indoor learning spaces and workshops, plus over 5,000m² of outdoor learning and testing space. Inside the World War I Grade II listed building, the exhibition will display over 100 years of aviation history through two world wars, exploring the vital role of aircraft in these conflicts, through the drama and technological advances of the space race and on to the modern day.

A new building is under construction between the two hangars, to house Concorde 216 and related exhibits. Visitors will have the opportunity to walk around and step on-board the world’s most famous aircraft. Its floor space will be around 3,200m², and will feature conference facilities including a lecture room, three meeting rooms and a studio space.^[4]

Education and learning

It will feature a fully equipped learning centre with specialist facilities for school and youth groups to deliver an inspiring and practical learning programme for schools and develop STEM skills and discover the possibilities of a career in engineering.^[5]

Exhibition

The collection contains over 8,000 artefacts. There are several Bristol-built aircraft including Concorde 216, a Bristol Scout, a Bristol Fighter and a Blenheim IV (World War II Bristol Bolingbroke bomber, under restoration), as well as many scaled models. The exhibitions will be themed around the seven different eras of aviation with a separate hangar that celebrates the story of Concorde and its local connection.^[6]

Era One: Pioneers 1903-1910 First Flights Featuring interactive exhibits and touch screen archive browsers.

Era Two: First World War & Beyond c.1914-1920 Shows the impact of World War I on Filton and features a Fighter and a Scout.

Era Three: The Growth of Flight 1920s-1930s Represents a time of major innovation in aircraft design, including a replica Bristol ‘Babe’.

Era Four: World War II c.1935-1945 Depicts the impact of World War II on Filton and aviation.

Era Five: Bigger, Faster, Further 1945-1960 The huge Brabazon airliner is represented here by its wheels and nameplate, alongside the Britannia fuselage. The two objects represent the growing importance of passenger aircraft to the aviation industry.

Era Six: Ocean Floor to Outer Space 1960-1981 Represents Bristol stepping into the space age. Three objects mark the transition into this era: a satellite, a missile and model of a supersonic aircraft.

Era Seven: Working across the world 1982-today Featuring a section of an A320 wing, the exhibit gives visitors an insight into the workings of today’s aviation industry.

The Concorde Hangar A 200m2 space featuring Concorde 216. Designed, built and tested in Bristol, she was the last Concorde to be built and the last to fly.

Collections and development

2016

On 26 May 2016, Aerospace Bristol held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of the new Concorde hangar.^[7] On 15 September, HRH The Princess Royal became the Patron of Aerospace Bristol for the next two years.^[8] On 13 October, she visited the site to attend a 'topping out' ceremony celebrating a major milestone in the construction.^[9]

2012 to 2014

The BAC imported, at no net cost, a Bristol Blenheim Mk IV (a Canadian Bolingbroke) from the USA and restoration was begun. The exhibits continued to be kept in store at Filton. In December 2012 the Bristol Post reported that BAE Systems, who were selling Filton Airfield for development, would be contributing the site and £2.4million in aid to a new museum including listed hangars near the control tower, for which other corporate sponsors and a Heritage Lottery grant would be sought.^[10][11][12]

In 2014, the trust was awarded a grant of £4.7 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Plans were begun for construction of a visitor centre, later named Aerospace Bristol and due to open in Summer 2017.^[13][14]

The Concorde Trust, 2007 to 2012

Consultancy groups employed by the Steering Group consultancy firms produced a series of proposals for a new Museum which would include the Concorde. A new Charity, The Concorde Trust, funded by the BAC, was formed in 2007 to continue this function, and produced applications for support such as Heritage Grants. £343,543 from BAC 'restricted funds' was spent on consultants to make grant applications. Only one of these succeeded, an award of one million Euros from Airbus at Toulouse, to be paid when certain conditions were fulfilled. The Concorde Trust 2011 Accounts reported that it would wind up its affairs and merge into the Bristol Aero Collection Trust.^[15]

Arrival of Concorde 216 in 2003

Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) flew into Filton in November 2003, and associated fund-raising for a Museum reached close to £500,000. Owned by British Airways, the aircraft was leased to Airbus UK with a brief to maintain it, and to allow BAC to arrange for the public to visit. Starting in August 2003 about 100 visitors a day toured the works and visited Concorde 216, guided by BAC volunteers, producing funds to support museum-building. In 2010 Airbus UK^[16] decided to close the Concorde for repairs, with no date given for re-opening.

Kemble, 1996 to 2012

In September 1996 the Collection moved to Hangar A1, RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire, later known as Cotswold Airport. The rent of the 45,000 sq ft building was £30,000 a year for a 10-year lease, while the move cost £11,000. At first there was no vehicle access for the general public but volunteers organised displays and carried out conservation work. Sub-letting of space helped to pay the annual rent, including to Airbus UK. Also in 1996, an air accident occurred when the only Bristol Freighter in the UK crashed and was destroyed at Enstone, severely injuring two BAC volunteers.

The Collection continued to grow, with additions including a Mk 1 Bloodhound missile on its launcher, a GAF Jindivik target drone, a Sea Dart missile, the surviving portion of the Concorde customer mock-up, and the Bristol 173 twin-rotor helicopter. The closure of a flying club meant that from Easter 2000 the public were allowed to drive to the Museum Hangar, which was open on most Sundays and Mondays until 2012. During this period the MoD sold the airfield to a consortium of local businesses, which resulted in the licensing of Cotswold Airport.^[17] The Collection moved to hangar E2 where space was made available at no cost by Airbus UK until the hangar was needed for commercial use, and the BAC Museum was closed on 31 May 2012.

Banwell, 1993 to 1996

The Board of Trustees launched an appeal to build a new museum in the Filton area adjoining the airfield but this failed in a time of recession. However the Collection received a free offer, for a limited period pending redevelopment, of an 80,000 square foot building at Banwell, 15 miles southwest of Bristol, formerly used by Bristol Aeroplane Company and after 1959 by Bristol Aerojet. The building was in 1993 owned by Meggitt Aerospace.^[18] With no fixed outgoings, the team members were able to acquire exhibits, including the fuselage of Bristol Britannia Charlie Fox, a Sycamore helicopter, a Mk 2 Bloodhound missile, Proteus and Olympus engines, a Beagle 206, an Ikara missile, a Harrier static trials aircraft,^[19] a Giotto spacecraft mock-up, and the Bristol Aerojet exhibition of missiles. Open Days were held for members and their guests. In August 1994, British Aerospace made facilities temporarily available at Filton and BAC chartered a Concorde for supersonic passenger flights round the Bay of Biscay. This was combined with an exhibition and dinner in the works, and raised money towards long term housing of the Collection. A steering group was formed, consisting of members of the BAC, BAE Systems, Airbus UK, Rolls-Royce, Filton Parish Council, and the Cribbs Causeway shopping centre, to find a permanent home for the collection.

1992

On 8 April 1988, a meeting took place at the Holiday Inn in Temple Way, Bristol, to discuss development of an institution to gather and protect historical information and artifacts related to aviation in the Bristol area. A public launch followed at Bristol Museum on 30 June 1990, and the Bristol Aero Collection (BAC), a company limited by guarantee, was incorporated on 19 February 1992 and registered as a charity (number 1010632) on 24 April 1992.^[15] A board of directors was formed and Stephen MacFarlane of Whicheloe Macfarlane & Partners became the charity's adviser on buildings. A parallel voluntary organisation called the BAC Team was established to help set up and maintain a museum.

References

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 51°31′23″N 2°34′44″W / 51.523°N 2.579°W / 51.523; -2.579