Thread: Upcoming RAF Museum Exhibition: "First World War in the Air"

[fast.git]

This is a re-posting of something I submitted in the Officer's Club, but thought it might flag some interest if included here...

I stumbled upon this article while doing some research on the air war over Arras in 1917:

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/e...-bloody-april/

Published in the Shropshire Star on 21 December 2014, it describes an upcoming exhibition at the RAF Museum. "Photos, effects, and memorabilia lovingly kept after the death of Second Lieutenant Kevin Robert Furniss by his younger sister will be showcased as part of the 'First World War in the Air' exhibition which officially opens at the RAF Museum, Cosford, on January 15."

The article includes some photos, a grammar school report, and information about the upcoming exhibition (which will include three "Great War vintage aircraft").

Although it's a bit far for me to travel... hopefully some of my UK Wing brethren are local enough to give this one a go!


Chris

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Very interesting snapshot of one of the young pilots of Bloody April.
Thanks for posting it Chris.
Rob.

[Nightbomber]

When I visited Hendon during the Easter time 2014 it stated that the exhibition would be open in July (so I got slightly mad). Now seems the things have gone the right way at last.

[Guntruck]

When I visited Hendon during the Easter time 2014 it stated that the exhibition would be open in July (so I got slightly mad). Now seems the things have gone the right way at last.

Apparently the Museum only gave 2 weeks notice of closure as they were waiting on news of funding which came through at the last minute.

The new exhibition was opened by Phil the Greek at the beginning of December. This month's 'Aeroplane' magazine has a 2-page article on the First World War in the Air exhibition, with photographs showing the layout. The commentary contains a slight whiff of criticism regarding the removal/storage of some of some of the aircraft, the low-level lighting and the hanging of aircraft from the roof.

[Nicola Zee]

Apparently the Museum only gave 2 weeks notice of closure as they were waiting on news of funding which came through at the last minute.

The new exhibition was opened by Phil the Greek at the beginning of December. This month's 'Aeroplane' magazine has a 2-page article on the First World War in the Air exhibition, with photographs showing the layout. The commentary contains a slight whiff of criticism regarding the removal/storage of some of some of the aircraft, the low-level lighting and the hanging of aircraft from the roof.

When me and my husband visited the new exhibition we were slightly disappointed for exactly these reasons. It used to be possible to see the Bristol Fighter (with cut-away section) fairly close up. Now it's stuck in a corner in semi-darkness behind a computer screen floor display with abstract dots representing troops and stylised planes moving across the screen. None of the kids had much interest in the computer graphics - so it failed even to keep kids interested.

The Nissan hut with the constant loud noise of Morse code takes up a lot of space and the noise was just annoying.

And there are less planes and more hung from the ceiling. For instance the Handley Page bomber is no longer on display.
The pictures my husband took on the latest visit are not as good as the ones he took on the previous visit.

But don't get me wrong - the display is still worth visiting. Just not quite as good as before and a slightly missed opportunity. For example, keep a look out for items like the 3-D camera. It just would have been great if you could have viewed some of the 3-D pictures.