The Dornier Do 17 fuselage inside the preservation tunnels at RAF Museum Cosford. © Courtesy RAF MuseumThe RAF Museum has revealed its plans for a new interpretation centre, mobile applications with augmented reality and user generated content to help it share the preservation of the World Word Two German Dornier bomber it rescued from the seabed at Goodwin Sands in June 2011.
 
Currently housed at its Cosford Conservation Centre, the Dornier is to be displayed and explored with the help of £75,000 from video game producer Wargaming.net
 
As well as a new interpretation centre, the Wargaming.net Interpretation Zone, at Cosford, the museum has been working with redLoop, the Middlesex University Design and Innovation Centre, to explore innovative approaches to display and interpretation that will utilise both RAF Museum sites at Cosford and London as well as the museum’s digital spaces. 
 
A newly developed app will allow people to see the Dornier flying above the RAF Museum’s two sites via their phones and exhibitions at both sites will display multi-media content – from footage of the Dornier in action in 1940, to film of the recovery operation.
 
redLoop Director Dr Andy Bardill described the developments as a “’bleeding edge’ approach to interpretation in museum spaces” that will blend “physical and digital experiences throughout the exhibition scheme”.
 
“This innovative approach will provide new visitor and educational experiences,” he added, “and enable the museum to engage with their audiences both on their museum sites and across the world.”
 
Various organisations across the globe have signed up to share these digital experiences. The Canada Aviation and Space Museum, The Air Force Museum of New Zealand Museum and the Pima Air & Space Museum/Arizona Aerospace Foundation will all allow visitors to see the augmented reality Dorniers through their smart phones, hovering in situ.
 
A new dedicated website will also be launched to tell the story of the Dornier and its recovery and conservation. Showcasing the social history behind the Dornier, the forensic science behind its discovery and recovery and archive footage from the Museum, the website will also publish user generated content. 
 
The historic German bomber, the last intact example in the world, was shot down 72 years ago by RAF Bolton Paul Defiant fighters during a bombing raid over Kent airfields at the height of the Battle of Britain. 
 
 
RAF Museum tells story of its WWII German Dornier bomber with new interpretation zone and virtual reality apps