The UK has many small interesting museums, often supported by and army of volunteers who are passionate about supporting their local heritage. The Age Jet Museum in Cheltenham is one of these organisations.
Cheltenham's relationship with aviation dates back to nearly over a century ago when the Gloster Aircraft Company started building planes during the first world war. Over the years it has built various aircraft including jet engines used during the war. This museum was set up to preserve the century old aviation history.
There are many aircraft on display, some original, some reconstructed. Such as this Gloster Gamecock from the late 1920s. The wings were made of wood back in those days and covered with fabric, and that's how the reconstruction was made as well. They deliberately left one of the wings uncovered so visitors can see the wood wings.
This is the Gloster Meteor NF13, the Meteor being the first jet fighter built by a British aerospace company. The NF13 was built to be used in the middle east by the RAF when Britain still had presence in the 1950s. This particular aircraft was part of the Israeli Air Force and was restored after it retired.
The aircraft in my header image and the one below is the Gloster Javelin, and was built to intercept Russian bombers during the cold war.
I couldn't remember the model and details of some of the other aircrafts on display but I thought they looked rather interesting and was worthy of a place here.
In 2018 the Royal Air Force celebrated its 100th anniversary. These commemorative tapestries were part of its celebration to honour those from the RAF and the ladies who were responsible for covering the aircraft wings with fabric back in the old days. This is my favorite part of the whole museum visit as the works were so intricate and reflects so many sides of RAF over the century. Also, it demonstrates how RAF touches everyone's life and that it isn't just a masculine thing.
Another thing that I enjoyed was sitting inside a fighter cockpit. This one you see here is part of the Hunter aircraft used by the RAF in the 1950s. The aircraft was originally a single seat fighter that was later converted to a two seater. The single seat cockpit stayed in UK and was used for training purposes, whilst the actual aircraft was sold in Australia in 2009 and still flying around the world somewhere. This cockpit was nearly sent to the scrap yard in the 1980's, but thanks to those who appreciate the heritage it was rescued. It is now part of the museum's exhibit and is available for visitors to experience what it's like to sit in a fighter cockpit.
The volunteer was very passionate about this cockpit and when I posed for my fighter photo he made sure a photo of the aircraft got in the frame as well. Where would heritage be without these passionate volunteers.
