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Museum of Berkshire Aviation

Museum of Berkshire Aviation

Handley Page Herald

Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Herald #9509

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Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Herald #9513
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Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Herald #7286

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Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Herald #7289

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Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Herald #7290

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Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Herald #7291

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Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Herald #9999
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Handley Page Dart Herald

The Handley Page Dart Herald was a British turboprop airliner developed in the 1950s as a modern replacement for the Douglas DC-3. Despite its innovative design and excellent performance, it struggled commercially and contributed to the downfall of Handley Page.

Manufacturer: Handley Page (Reading), United Kingdom

Type: Twin-engine turboprop regional airliner

First flight: August 25, 1955 (piston prototype); March 11, 1958 (turboprop version)

Total built: 50 aircraft

References

  1.  en.wikipedia.org
  2.  museumofberkshireaviation.co.uk
  3.  simpleflying.com
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Fairey Gannet #7277

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Fairey Gannet

The Fairey Gannet was a British carrier-borne aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare and airborne early warning during the Cold War. It was notable for its unique double turboprop engine and triple-crew configuration.

Overview and Development

Manufacturer: Fairey Aviation Company (UK)

First Flight: 19 September 1949

Service Entry: 1953, retired 15 December 1978

Primary Users: Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, German Navy, Indonesian Navy

The Gannet was developed in response to the British Admiralty’s 1945 GR.17/45 requirement for a dual-role ASW and strike aircraft. Fairey’s design, known as the Type Q, was selected alongside Blackburn’s competing model. The Gannet became the first fixed-wing aircraft to combine search and strike capabilities for ASW missions operated by the Fleet Air Arm.

Legacy and Survivors

Over 340 Gannets were built between 1953 and 1959. Surviving aircraft are now displayed in museums such as the Fleet Air Arm Museum (Yeovilton), Pima Air and Space Museum (Arizona), and the Yorkshire Air Museum (Elvington).

References

  1. en.wikipedia.org
  2. www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk
  3. www.flugzeuginfo.net
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Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer 3 (Magister) #7145

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Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer 3 (Magister) #7268

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Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer 3 (Magister)

The Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer 3—better known as the Magister—was a pivotal British monoplane trainer of the WWII era, notable for being the RAF’s first purpose-built monoplane trainer.

Overview and Development

  1. Manufacturer: Miles Aircraft Ltd (formerly Phillips and Powis)
  2. First Flight: 20 March 1937
  3. Production Years: 1937–1941
  4. Total Built: 1,393 units

The Magister was developed from the earlier Miles M.2 Hawk Trainer and was designed to meet Air Ministry Specification T.40/36. It was the first low-wing monoplane trainer adopted by the Royal Air Force, marking a shift from biplane trainers like the Avro Tutor. Its nickname, "Maggie," became affectionately associated with the thousands of pilots who trained on it.

Survivors

Several airworthy examples exist today, including G-AKPF at the Shuttleworth Collection and G-AFBS at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

References

  1.  en.wikipedia.org
  2.  www.flugzeuginfo.net
  3.  www.shuttleworth.org
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Olympia 465 #7144

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Olympia 465 #7153
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Olympia 465

The Olympia 465 was a rare British wooden glider built by Elliots of Newbury (EoN) for the 1965 World Gliding Championships. Only two were ever made, and they represented the final evolution of the Olympia series before EoN ceased glider production.

The Olympia 465 was born from Anthony Deane Drummond’s experience flying the EoN 463 in the 1963 championships in Argentina. Seeking better performance, he proposed aerodynamic refinements to EoN’s managing director, Horrace Buckingham. These included reducing the fuselage’s frontal area, eliminating the belly skid, raising the wheel, and introducing an all-moving tailplane.

References

  1.  scalesoaring.co.uk
  2.  en.wikipedia.org
  3.  members.gliding.co.uk
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Fairey Jet Gyrodyne #7176
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Fairey Jet Gyrodyne #201
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Fairey Jet Gyrodyne

The Fairey Jet Gyrodyne was a British experimental compound gyroplane developed in the 1950s to test rotor propulsion systems for the later Fairey Rotodyne. It combined helicopter, autogyro, and fixed-wing aircraft features in a single airframe.

The Jet Gyrodyne was commissioned by the UK Ministry of Supply to develop and test the pressure-jet rotor drive system that would later be used in the Fairey Rotodyne. It was a heavily modified version of the FB-1 Gyrodyne, retaining its fuselage and engine but introducing radical propulsion changes.

References

  1.  en.wikipedia.org
  2.  www.aviastar.org
  3.  museumofberkshireaviation.co.uk
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Miles M.100 Student #9999
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Miles M.100 Student #9999
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Miles M.100 Student

The Miles M.100 Student was a British experimental jet trainer developed in the 1950s as a cost-effective alternative to the Jet Provost. Only one prototype was built, and although it showed promise, it never entered production.

The Student was conceived in 1953 as a private venture to offer a simpler, cheaper jet trainer. It drew on experience from the Miles M.77 Sparrowjet and featured several unconventional design choices aimed at reducing cost and improving safety.

The M.100 Student was the final aircraft designed by the Miles brothers. Despite its innovative features and cost-saving potential, it was overshadowed by the Jet Provost and never secured military contracts. Its preserved airframe stands as a testament to postwar British aviation ingenuity.

References

  1.  en.wikipedia.org
  2.  museumofberkshireaviation.co.uk
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Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba #7174
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Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba

The Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba was a British turboprop engine developed in the late 1940s, best known for powering the Fairey Gannet. It featured two Mamba engines driving contra-rotating propellers through a single gearbox.

This dual-engine setup allowed the Fairey Gannet to operate efficiently on long anti-submarine patrols, often flying with one engine shut down

The Double Mamba’s ability to shut down one engine mid-flight and restart it later was a key innovation for long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

Preserved Double Mamba engines can be found at:

  1. Imperial War Museum Duxford
  2. Museum of Berkshire Aviation
  3. Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim
  4. Gatwick Aviation Museum
  5. Australian National Aviation Museum

References

  1. en.wikipedia.org
  2. www.trenchardmuseum.org.uk
  3. www.iwm.org.uk
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Bristol Mercury #7185
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Bristol Mercury #74240
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The Bristol Mercury was a British nine-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engine developed in the 1920s. It powered many iconic aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s, including the Bristol Blenheim, Gloster Gladiator, and Westland Lysander.

- Manufacturer: Bristol Aeroplane Company

Designer: Roy Fedden

First Run: 1925

Type: Single-row, nine-cylinder radial engine

Cooling: Air-cooled

Displacement: 1,500 cubic inches (24.6 L)

The Mercury was developed as a smaller, high-performance successor to the Bristol Jupiter. Fedden reduced the stroke by 1 inch and added a geared supercharger, allowing the Mercury to match the Jupiter’s power output while running at higher RPMs. This made it ideal for fighter aircraft, while the larger Pegasus engine was reserved for bombers.

References

  1.  en.wikipedia.org
  2.  www.gracesguide.co.uk
  3.  www.wondersofworldaviation.com
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Ejector Seat #7189
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Ejector Seat #7186
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Ejector Seat #7237
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Chevaline A3 Polaris missile #7223
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Chevaline A3 Polaris missile #7224
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link to flickr photography album
map of location

About Museum of Berkshire Aviation

The Museum of Berkshire Aviation is a small aviation museum in Woodley, a town in Berkshire, England. The museum is on the edge of the site of the former Woodley Aerodrome and many of its exhibits relate to the Phillips & Powis company, later renamed Miles Aircraft, which was based there from 1932 to 1947. Other aircraft exhibited were built by Handley Page (Reading) Ltd, and by Fairey Aviation at White Waltham near Maidenhead.

Despite being a small museum, several of the exhibits are unique survivors. These include a Miles Martinet (a World War II target tug), the only Miles Student two-seat side-by-side jet trainer ever built, and a Fairey Jet Gyrodyne — a composite helicopter and autogyro, or gyrodyne.

Museum of Berkshire Aviation official website

en.wikipedia.org
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