The Jet Age Museum is the only organisation devoted to collecting, preserving and displaying aircraft, other artefacts and archive material to record, honour and commemorate the thousands of men and women who made Gloucestershire's aerospace heritage.
Twenty-two aircraft are now represented in the Jet Age collection, all with local connections. Sixteen of them are on display in the museum. Nine form the core collection of Gloster-built aircraft from 1925 to 1964 and a further ten are classic early jets.
Jet Age maintains close links with the RAF Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Fleet Air Arm Museum and Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, as well as other aviation museums in the UK and abroad. It is a full member of the British Aviation Preservation Council (BAPC).
One of the most significant aircraft in the collection, a rare Gloster Gladiator fighter of 1940, is now being restored following the generous gift of substantial wreckage by the Norwegian government in 1998.
Our volunteers have won GAC an international reputation for the standard of its restorations and replicas. All the museum's aircraft are under cover, unlike many other aviation museums.
Gloucestershire Aviation Collection (GAC)
GAC, the charity behind Jet Age Museum, is an all-volunteer organisation with more than 400 members.
Members are kept up-to-date with museum developments by the quarterly GAC News - "One of the best Museum journals" (BAPC Chairman David Lee) and "the best newsletter I have ever seen, for a regular epistle from a Museum / historical society" (Peter Clegg, Clegg Marketing Consultants).
4.1.1 On the 8 April 1941 a top secret event at Brockworth in the County of Gloucestershire revolutionized world aviation when the Gloster E28/39, Britain's first jet aircraft, became airborne. During these initial trials the aircraft, sometimes known as the Gloster-Whittle Pioneer, made three hops reaching a height of 1.8m - modest enough, but sufficient to distinguish the Brockworth airfield as the site of the first allied and British jet flight and therefore a site of international aviation heritage.
4.1.2 According to Sir Ralph Robins, Chairman of Rolls-Royce, "Frank Whittle's pioneering work on the turbo jet engine is probably the most important mechanical invention this century. Certainly there can be few, if any in the world, whose lives have not been affected by it". It is this event which forms the fulcrum of the GAC's Jet Age Museum.
4.1.3 How was it that Britain's first jet aircraft came to be designed, built and flown for the first time in the rural tranquillity of Gloucestershire? The surprising fact is that Gloucestershire can boast as great an association with aviation and aerospace as any other county in Britain. The long tradition, which saw the many famous aircraft types that were built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Parnall in the south of the County and the Gloster Aircraft Company in the north continues today with Rolls-Royce engines at Filton, TI Dowty, Messier-Dowty and Ultra Electronics near Gloucester and Smiths Industries near Cheltenham.
4.2.1 In the 1780s, shortly after the Montgolfier Brothers had made the first hot air balloon ascent, Gloucestershire's famous son Sir Edward Jenner, who developed the smallpox vaccination, flew a hot air balloon in the County. On one occasion his balloon landed at the spot which is now the "Air Balloon" public house at Birdlip.
4.2.2 In 1910, just seven years after the first heavier than air flight by the Wright Brothers, both the Webb-Peet tandem monoplane and the Phoenix aero engine were being built in Gloucester. In the same year, what was to become the Bristol Aeroplane Company became established at Filton.
4.3 The First World War
4.3.1 However it was not until the First World War that Gloucestershire's contribution to aviation became significant. Military aircraft were produced by HH Martyn at Sunningend and other locations in Cheltenham. In 1917 HH Martyn and Airco formed the Gloucestershire Aircraft Co Ltd - the name was later shortened to Gloster Aircraft Company - which relocated to the now famous site at Brockworth/Hucclecote. Likewise Bristol produced war machines, the Bristol Scout and Bristol Fighter being two outstanding examples of this period.
4.3.2 Parnall, which like HH Martyn had a background of woodworking skills, started aircraft production in 1915 with aircraft for the Admiralty such as the Avro 504 as well as its own Scout or "Zepp Chaser" and the Panther naval spotter biplane. In all 600 military aeroplanes were produced by Parnall by the cessation of hostilities in November 1918. The Dudbridge Iron Works near Stroud was licenced to produce the French Salmson aero-engine during WW 1.
4.4 The Interwar Years
4.4.1 The interwar years saw the production of more famous aircraft types with the Bristol Bulldog replacing the Gloster Gamecock and Grebe and the Bulldog in turn being replaced by the Gloster Gauntlet and Gladiator as the RAF's main fighter aircraft.
4.4.2 The Gamecock (a detailed reproduction of which is being produced by the GAC) became an air show favourite and Douglas Bader in this aircraft at the Hendon Air Display in 1931 "provided the most thrilling spectacle ever seen in exhibition flying" (The Times). During these interwar years Gloster built and entered high speed seaplanes for the Schneider Trophy contest and held the world air speed record for a short time with the Gloster VI " Golden Arrow".
4.4.3 The majority of Parnall-designed aircraft produced during the inter-war period were destined to be used only as prototypes or experimentally. The Peto, for example, was an aircraft produced as part of the revolutionary but ill-fated concept of a submarine-launched spotter plane. Only two examples of a Parnall designed and built aircraft remain, one of which is the Shuttleworth Trust's Parnall Elf, produced in 1929 as a private/sporting biplane.
4.5 Second World War
4.5.1 Gloucestershire's aviation contribution to the Second World War effort was outstanding. Destined to become the last fighter biplane to be flown operationally by the RAF, the Gladiator was still in service at the end of the Second World War, achieving fame in 1940 for the exploits of its pilots in France, Norway, Malta, Crete, Greece, North Africa and Finland. At the Brockworth and Hucclecote factories the Gloster company produced 2,750 Hawker Hurricanes and all 3,300 production Hawker Typhoons. During this period Bristol produced the famous Blenheim, Beaufort and Beaufighter aircraft. Parnall at Yate built gun turrets for aircraft such as the Wellington and Lancaster bombers as well as Spitfire airframes.
4.5.2 Other aircraft component factories such as Rotol Airscrews of Staverton had by the end of the war produced in excess of 100,000 propellers for more than sixty types of British military aircraft, including those used in the Battle of Britain.
4.5.3 Not only was the first allied jet aircraft designed, built and flown for the first time in the County but subsequent to this event the Gloster factory became the world's first production site for jet aircraft in the form of the Gloster Meteor which saw action against V1 flying bombs in the latter stages of the war.
4.5.4 As in the First World War the woodworking skills of HH Martyn were again called upon for aircraft production and HH Martyn (Aircraft) Ltd produced parts for the Wellington, Mosquito and the Horsa glider at its Sunningend Works. Also in Cheltenham, the Folland Aircraft Company produced many aircraft sub-assemblies.
4.6 The Post-War Era
4.6.1 In the post-war era Gloster continued to produce several Marks of the very successful Meteor, with a total output of 3,545 aircraft. In September 1946 a Meteor 4 achieved the world airspeed record for the second time, reaching 616 mph. Gloster's last aircraft and Britain's first delta wing fighter, the Javelin, was produced from 1951 until the company ceased production in 1960. Throughout its history the Gloster company had produced nearly 6000 aircraft of all types at its Brockworth and Hucclecote factories.
4.6.2 Bristol meanwhile produced the ill-fated giant Brabazon, the successful Britannia airliner and the equally successful Freighter. diversification into helicopter production resulted in the Sycamore and later the Belvedere. Experimental supersonic aircraft Types 188 and 221 were also produced during this era.
4.6.3 In 1961 Bristol, by now absorbed into BAC, became a partner in the Concorde project with nose and tail production and engine installation taking place at Filton. The first British Concorde initially flew in the County from Filton to Fairford on the 9 April 1969.
4.6.4 The Parnall factory which had employed 3500 workers at its peak ceased aircraft production at the end of the war.
4.7 The Personalities
There are many illustrious names and unsung heroes of this aviation heritage; engineers such as Dr GBR Feilden, Sir Frank Whittle's Chief Test Engineer, and aircraft designers George Carter and Henry Folland. Folland, in common with George Dowty, worked for Gloster before forming his own company. Courageous test pilots such as Gerry Sayer and Michael Daunt were the first to fly new and sometimes revolutionary aeroplanes.
4.8 Airfields
Space does not allow for any detailed mention of the many airfields throughout the County. However two airfields not mentioned elsewhere, Down Ampney and Fairford, both played important roles in the "D" Day operations With Dakotas and Stirlings respectively towing gliders to France and later to Holland. Bibury was a Battle of Britain airfield and RAF Kemble was for many years synonymous with the Red Arrows. RAF Fairford remains the site of the International Air Tattoo, one of the biggest annual air displays in the world, attracting more than 200,000 visitors. Flying at Staverton began in the early 1930s and the site remains in operation today as the Gloucestershire Airport. Gliding has replaced military flying at both Aston Down near Chalford and at Little Rissington. Nypmsfield near Stroud is also the home of an active gliding club.
4.9 Aviation an integral part of Gloucestershire's social fabric
The story of Gloucestershire Aviation is not just about famous aircraft, personalities and places; it is a story of ordinary people and communities. It is an integral part of the County's social fabric and is ingrained in its collective psyche. Communities such as Brockworth and Filton owe their origin almost entirely to the aviation industry. A more detailed outline of aviation in Gloucestershire can be found in "Gloucestershire's Aviation Heritage - An Outline" by Martin Bartram, published by Jet Age Museum.
References:
Barnes, CH: Bristol Aircraft Since l9l0 (Putnam)
Ellis, Chris, Ed: Smith Industries at Cheltenham - The Story of Fifty years at Bishops Cleeve (Kristall)
Douglas-Hamilton, James: The Air Battle for Malta (Airlife,1981)
Gray, Robert: Rolls on the Rocks - The History of Rolls-Royce (Compton Press, 1971)
Golley, John: Whittle - The True Story (Airlife,1987)
Goodland, David, and Vaughan, Alan: Anzacs Over England (Sutton,1992)
James, Derek N: Gloster Aircraft since 1917 (Putnam,l971)
James, Derek N:Shneider Trophy Aircraft 1913-1931 (Putnam,l971)
Mason, Francis: The Gloster Gladiator (Macdonald Aircraft Monographs,1964)
Rennison, John: Wings Over Gloucestershire (Piccadilly,1988)
Rolt, LTC: The Dowty Story (Newman Neame,1962)
Stait, Bruce: Rotol - The History of an Airscrew Company 1937-1960 (Alan Sutton,1990)
Waterton, WA: The Quick and the Dead (Frederick Muller,1956)
Watkins, David: Fear Nothing - The History of 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron, RAuxAF (Newton,1990)
Wixey, Kenneth E: Parnall Aircraft since 1914 (Putnam,1990)
Wixey, Kenneth E: Gloucestershire Aviation - A History (Alan Sutton,1995)
Regards,
Chris Hunt
Jet Age Museum Webmaster
Website :- www.jetagemuseum.org
E-Mail :- webmaster@jetagemuseum.org
