Two wartime hangars of national importance will be restored in a £3.6 million project at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune. The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced its support for the next phase of a development plan, with a grant of £1.3 million.
The hangars are part of the East Fortune Airfield Scheduled Monument. Built in 1940-41, they were originally designed to last approximately ten years. The project will conserve the original building fabric of the hangars and restore them to their original condition. The aircraft on display in the hangers will benefit from the buildings being heated or the first time and their interpretation enhanced through the creation of new displays.
Once restored, these two hangars will focus on military aircraft and leisure and smaller civil aircraft.
A German-built rocket-powered ME 163 Komet, the only rocket powered interceptor ever built; a Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the world’s first and most successful vertical take-off and landing jet to enter service and the oldest example in existence; and a Mark XVI Spitfire, are just a selection of the internationally significant military aircraft that will be on show.
Dr Gordon Rintoul, Director of National Museums Scotland commented, “We are absolutely delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a First Round pass for the next stage of our Development Plan for the National Museum of Flight. We can now work up more detailed plans for the restoration of our two Second World War hangars and their transformation into two vibrant new display spaces, worthy of our internationally significant collections. The work will ensure that the National Museum of Flight remains one of the major aviation museums in Europe.”
Highlights of the leisure and civil aircraft will include a de Havilland Dragon, the Dragon established the first passenger air services in and out of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland and flew the first airmail flights in Britain, the classic “Faithful Annie” Avro Anson, which was originally built as a passenger aeroplane and also used in many roles in the armed forces, and the Britten-Norman Islander, one of the most versatile aircraft ever built and used in a multitude of different roles, including commercial passenger transport, air ambulance and fisheries protection.
The restoration of the hangars will also enable an array of fascinating objects, which are currently in storage, to be displayed, from uniforms, documents and photographs to technology relating to aviation and aviation history.
Read more: http://www.eastlothiannews.co.uk/lifestyle/restoration-plan-for-national-museum-of-flight-1-2987429
Restoration plan for National Museum of Flight