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2017-08-15 01:01
in Flying, Greatbritain2017, Nflying
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Usually I would only feature an airplane museum in the flying section, but the London Science Museum's section of airplanes is big enough that it deserves its own mention. Later, I went to see a few more, to total:
London Science Museum's Airplane Section (this one)
RAF Museum North of London
RAF Museum in Cosford (30mn from Birmingham and Stafford)
Imperial War Museum in Duxford
There was a good history of early planes:
a good reminder that the first aircraft that was heavier than air was French, even if it didn't fly far
very bird-like aircraft
of course the wright brothers are mentioned, along with their patents and thirst for money that caused the US to slip back decades while France quickly took over the world of flying machines
one impressive thing on the wright brothers' airplane was the engine: light and efficient
lots of early french planes
While most people know about the French Mongolfier brothers and their hot air balloon, few know about all the dirigeables that many countries experimented with, including England:
The section on VTOL aircraft was very nice. I didn't know about the pre-harrier prototypes:
VTOL thrust vectoring prototype
Short SC-1, first UK VTOL aircraft
and harrier
Other random planes:
first german jet aircraft
early airplane with inefficient propeller
So again, while it was not an aviation museum, it sure had a worthwhile collection to check out. |