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A Message from the Chair of Trustees – Rachel Semlyen MBE

I want to wish all our supporters a very happy and successful new year and thank you so much for your interest, encouragement and enthusiasm for what we do at the museum to commemorate service, celebrate innovation and inspire present and future generations.  2023 turned out to be a fantastic year, with a record number of visitors, a new playground which we have wanted for a very long time, a stomping new exhibition and seasonal events, progress on the Tower repairs, Channel 5 filming All Creatures Great and Small,  a new shop and the launch of Friends of the Museum – get in contact if you’d like to join and support us in a very special way. 

Looking ahead, there’s much more to come but nothing could have been achieved without the commitment, passion and hard work of all our staff and volunteers. On the staff: Jonathan our Director kept it all together, Ian revived our huge and wonderful Memorial Events that saw veterans and dignitaries honouring us with their presence, Gary was responsible for an ever-increasing and world-class heritage aircraft collection,  Jerry for high profile social media, marketing and communications and the wonderful new Cold War display, Emrys, with Pete, Charles and Helen for trying to keep the site and buildings clean safe and watertight, Keith for project management of the tower and our plans for the future, Tricia for front of house welcomes and social events, Jo and Louise delighting customers in the shop, Lesley and her team enthralling a thousand school children, Ben and his café team providing everyone with endless tea, coffee, cakes and hot dinners.

Last but not least, Martha looked after our visitor experience but is sadly leaving us for Visitor Centre managership at Ampleforth Abbey. We will miss her but wish her well. 

A windswept airfield is not the most comfortable place to be, so a very big thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who turn up in all weathers to welcome and talk to visitors, work on, move and paint the aircraft, garden and landscape our 20 acres and, deep in the bowels of the archives, sort and catalogue and answer queries about the thousands of items in our collection.

Thank you too my fellow trustees, who are sometimes called the Night Shift, working behind the scenes on finance, legal and governance issues and fund-raising. We could not do it without you.

Rachel

If you are a journalist and require more info about this story don’t hesitate to email pr@yorkshireairmuseum.org

Blackburn Mercury Monoplane 1911 (Replica) AH (BAPC) 130 YAM Jan.1995

The Blackburn Mercury Monoplane is regarded as the first truly successful aircraft made by Blackburn at their factory in Leeds. The Mercury I, powered by a 50 hp Isaacson radial engine, was displayed at the Olympia Aero Show in March 1911 and made its debut flying from the beach at Filey with the newly formed Blackburn Flying School. In May 1911, it flew from Filey to Scarborough and back in 19 minutes at an average speed of 50 mph, reaching an altitude of 1200 feet.
This aircraft crashed the next day when the engine seized and the propeller flew off! The Mercury I was followed by two Mercury II aircraft powered by 50 hp Gnome engines, and six Mercury III aircraft, with a number of different engines. Sadly, a Renault powered Mercury crashed at Filey in December 1911, killing an instructor and passenger.
The Museum’s replica was built for Yorkshire Television in 1979 for the Edwardian drama series ‘Flambards’, and was taxied with a car engine. It came to YAM on 10th January 1995 and after a long period in storage it was painstakingly restored to a superb display standard, and was unveiled in June 2000 by Professor Robert Blackburn, grandson of Robert Blackburn, the aviation pioneer.

AVRO 504K ‘H1968’ (Replica) AH (BAPC) 42 YAM Oct. 1994

The Avro 504 first flew in 1913. In the opening phases of the First World War, it served with front-line squadrons in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service for bombing and reconnaissance, but from 1915 onwards the aircraft entered the training role for which it is most celebrated.

Over 8,000 Avro 504s were built. In 1918, the Royal Air Force had about 3,000, of which 2,276 were trainers.

The Avro 504 was stationed at many Yorkshire airfields, including Tadcaster near the A1/A64 junction, where a period hangar can still be seen.

The Yorkshire Air Museum’s replica was built by apprentices at RAF Halton and appeared at the Royal Tournament in 1968 to commemorate what was then fifty years since the end of the First World War. The aircraft was refurbished in early 2015 to be transported to Thiepval, Northern France, for the Somme Centenary commemoration event, on request of the British Government. In May 2018, it was also displayed at the impressive Hotel Les Invalides in central Paris for a joint RAF / French Air Force event to mark the Centenary of the Royal Air Force and over 100 years of British and French Air Force collaboration.