Yorkshire Air Museum


The Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial is an aviation museum in Elvington, York on the site of the former RAF Elvington airfield, a Second World War RAF Bomber Command station. The museum was founded, and first opened to the public, in the early 1980s.
The museum is the largest independent air museum in Britain. It is also the only Allied Air Forces Memorial in Europe and has established branches in Canada and France and the support of over 4,000 registered "friends" across the world. The museum is a Corporate Member of Friends of the Few and the Royal Aeronautical Society.
The Museum's principal activity is in education and the history of flight, through which it is involved with aerospace manufacturers and organisations via its long term "Reach for the Sky" project. This delivered the first KS2 History of Aviation educational resource book to all 26,000 primary schools in UK, supported by RAeS and the Ministry of Transport.

History

The parkland site includes buildings and hangars, some of which are listed. It incorporates a managed environment area and a DEFRA and Environment Agency supported self sustainability project called "Nature of Flight". The museum is situated next to a 10,000 ft runway, which is privately owned.
Whilst the Royal Air Force carried on using the runway for aircraft landing and take off training until 1992, the buildings and hangars had long been abandoned. In 1983, a group started clearing the undergrowth and the site was ready to be unveiled as the Yorkshire Air Museum in 1986.

Events

The Museum undertakes several annual events each year within the general attraction / entertainment area as well as educational / academic events for specific audiences, plus several corporate events in association with companies such as Bentley, Porsche, banking, government agencies etc. The unique annual Allied Air Forces Memorial Day takes place in September.

Exhibits

The Museum has 49 aircraft spanning the development of aviation from 1853 up to the latest GR4 Tornado. Several aircraft including Victor, Nimrod, Buccaneer, Sea Devon, SE5a, Eastchurch Kitten; DC3 Dakota; are kept live and operated on special "Thunder Days" during the year. Over 20 historic vehicles and a Registered Archive containing over 500,000 historic artefacts and documents are also preserved at the Museum, which is also the Official Archive for the National Aircrew Association and National Air Gunners Association. It is nationally registered and accredited through DCMS/Arts Council England and is a registered charity.
A permanent exhibition on RAF Bomber Command was opened at the museum by life member, Sir David Jason. In 2010 a new exhibition called "Pioneers of Aviation", and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, was opened featuring the lives and achievements of Sir George Cayley, Sir Barnes Wallis, Robert Blackburn, Nevil Shute and Amy Johnson.
Principal on-site businesses include: Restaurant, Retail Shop, Events, Aircraft Operation Engineering Workshops, Archives and Corporate Business Suite. The museum is also a location for TV and film companies.

Aircraft on display

;Pre-World War II
;World War II
;Post World War II
;Cold War
;Second World War
;Cold War