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Category: Remembrance and History

International Womens Day, 8th March

Each year on the 8th of March, the world celebrates International Womens Day. Across the history of aviation there have been some inspirational women who have achieved great things and contributed much. Museum Director Barbara George hopes you will join us in remembering some of these famous women: “On this day, we are celebrating women’s […]

18th June 1940 A Key Date in France and England’s History

“Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world that man never gave up”. “Soyons fermes, purs et fidèles, au bout de nos peines, il y a la plus grande gloire du monde, celle des hommes qui n’ont pas cédé.” Général De Gaulle […]

A very special guest comes to Elvington

A very special guest….The day Josephine Baker came to Elvington. On the 16th of May 1945, RAF Elvington hosted a very special surprise guest on the site of what is now the Yorkshire Air Museum. It is a few days only since VE Day and the capitulation of Germany. The 2,500 French airmen based at […]

Recalling VE Day for RAF Elvington’s French Squadrons

As the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day approaches, Yorkshire Air Museum Director Barbara George has been delving into the history of RAF Elvington’s famous French Squadrons within RAF Bomber Command, to see how the announcement of the Allied Victory in Europe was celebrated back at base. She provides us with a fascinating glimpse […]

The Luftwaffe attack on RAF Elvington – Operation Gisela

By of 1945, the Allied Air Forces enjoyed strong air supremacy across most of Europe. The home skies of the UK were growing ever safer. On the evening of 3/4th Match 1945, The Luftwaffe displayed a harrowing tactic that, had they only deployed it earlier in the war, could have had harrowing and far reaching […]

Zeppelins Over Yorkshire – The Story of WW1 Air Attacks

Our new exhibition, Gasbags to Super Zeppelins, gives visitors an insight into the early developments of using aviation as a weapon of war in World War One. As ever in wartime, technology develops far more rapidly than in times of peace, but just as remarkable is the effect that this new weapon had on the […]

The Day The Hindenburg Visited Yorkshire

For anyone visiting The Museum’s new exhibition, Gas Bags to Super Zeppelins, it becomes quite apparent that the terror tactics of being attacked from the air for the first time in history had a profound effect upon the British public. Despite eventually being victorious in shooting down Zeppelins, the large German airships must have left […]

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.