“Flight” Gallery at the Science Museum, London

Aircraft have been exhibited in the Science Museum since the earliest days of powered flight, initially as a special exhibition in 1912. The permanent collection has occupied various locations before finding its current home on the third floor of the museum’s Centre Block in 1963.

The Flight gallery contains 21 full-sized aircraft, most of which are suspended from the ceiling. Visitors have found it challenging to identify the aircraft high above their heads so I was tasked to produce accurate and detailed illustrations of each aircraft which are prominently displayed on new signage throughout the gallery.

Thanks to Hetty Tapper, Becky Jarvis-Stiggants, Emma Ellis and Catherine Cooper at the Science Museum and to Mash Chudasama of Mash Design for his layout and design skills. I should also like to acknowledge Benjamin M. Regel of Imperial College London for his PhD thesis “The Conservation of Doped-Fabric Aircraft at the Science Museum, London” (2019) for some of the technical details noted here.

The comments and opinions stated here are entirely my own, as are any errors.

1783 Montgolfier Balloon

Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étiennes Montgolfier were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers in Ardèche, France. Joseph’s observation of laundry billowing over a fire led him to theorise that smoke itself contained what he called “Montgolfier Gas”, with the special property of “levity”.

Though the theory was flawed, the idea that the phenomenon could be harnessed to do useful work was sound. One of the great military issues of the day was the siege of Gibraltar, which had defied attack by land and sea, and Joseph wondered if an airborne assault might be more successful.

Enlisting the assistance of his brother, the Montgolfiers began to construct globe-shaped structures of sackcloth and paper which were inflated over fires of wool and hay to produce high volumes of smoke. Successful unmanned test flights were conducted in the presence of local dignitaries and word soon spread to Paris.

Being the less shy and more presentable of the brothers, it was Étienne who made the journey to Paris and with the wallpaper manufacturer Jean-Baptiste Réveillon constructed a 1,060 cubic metre envelope of taffeta covered with alum varnish as fireproofing. It was far from certain that flight would not be hazardous to humans and King Louis XVI offered to make two condemned prisoners available as test subjects.

However, it was decided to use animal testing. A sheep was chosen because its anatomy was thought to have some similarities to that of humans, a rooster was included as an example of a bird that flies neither high nor far and a duck as a natural avian.

On 19 September 1783 the demonstration was conducted at Versailles before King Louis and Queen Marie Antoinette, the flight lasting eight minutes, covering a distance of 2 miles (3.2 km) and reaching an estimated altitude of 1,500 feet (460 m).

Since the animals survived, the King gave permission for a human flight. An even larger (1,700 cubic metres) balloon was constructed and richly decorated as shown in the Science Museum’s model. Probably on 15 October 1783, Étienne Montgolfier made the first tethered test flight, the first free flight being made less than a month later by the scientist Pilâtre de Rozier and the marquis d’Arlandes.

These early flights inspired strong public interest known as “balloonomania” triggering the production of collectibles, souvenirs and merchandising.

The proposed airborne assault on Gibraltar never took place and the fortress continues to be a British Overseas Territory. Happily, the Montgolfier brother’s paper-making company also still exists, making fine art papers under the name Canson.

1842 Aerial Steam Carriage

William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow received a British patent for a proposed monoplane with a wingspan of 150 feet (46 m) to be powered by a specially designed lightweight steam engine capable of a speed of 50 mph and a range of a thousand miles.

In 1843 the “Aerial Transit Company” was founded to raise money to fund the construction of the flying machine, but despite a major publicity campaign, the necessary investment failed to appear, and there was press speculation that the whole affair might be a fraud.

The Museum’s exhibit is the 1:7 scale model which was tested between 1844 and 1847, but failed to fly. In 1848 a smaller model made a powered flight along a guide wire about 22 yards (20 m) long before continuing free flight for roughly the same distance.

The strength/weight limitations of the available materials, and the relative inefficiency of steam engines made the proposed full-sized aircraft impossible, but Henson and Stringfellow’s work represent the first experiments in powered flight.

1891 Lilenthal Glider

Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of aviation, being the first man to make repeatedly successful and well documented glider flights, thus proving heavier-than-air flight a reality. He studied the flight of birds in great detail and conducted many experiments to gather aeronautical data.

Working with his brother Gustav, Lilienthal made over 2,000 flights and developed a dozen models of monoplanes, wing-flapping aircraft and two biplanes. His gliders were designed to distribute the weight evenly and were controlled by shifting his body weight, similar to modern hang gliders. He made his first successful flight in the spring of 1891, but on 9 August 1896 it is believed that the glider stalled and Lilienthal fell from a height of about 50 feet (49 m), suffering a fractured third cervical vertebra. Despite the best efforts of one of Germany’s most eminent surgeons, Lilienthal died some 36 hours after the crash.

The aircraft on display is the Lilienthal Normalsegelapparat – the first aircraft to be produced as a series and available for commercial sale, making the Maschinenfabrik Otto Lilienthal in Berlin the world’s first aircraft manufacturer.

Lillienthal’s research was a source of inspiration for the Wright brothers and until they developed their own wind tunnel techniques, drew heavily on his aeronautical data. On a visit to Germany in 1909, Orville Wright visited Widow Lilienthal to pay tribute to her husband’s achievements.

1903 Wright Flyer

Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered heavier-than-air craft on 17 December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their US patent is based not on the invention of a flying machine, but on their concept of a three axis (roll, pitch and yaw) control system. The brothers saw pilot control as the key to successful flight and their use of moveable flight surfaces remains standard on all aircraft to this day.

The brothers had extensive mechanical experience working in their machine shop in Dayton, Ohio. In particular, their work with bicycles convinced them that an inherently unstable vehicle could be safely controlled and balanced with practice.

The Wright Flyer had an airframe built of spruce, a light but strong straight-grained wood and covered with muslin. The brothers also designed and carved their own propellors, reasoning (correctly) that a propellor is merely a wing rotating in a vertical plane. Note that one of the chain drives twists so that the propellors counter-rotate to cancel torque. A “pusher” layout was chosen so as not to disturb the airflow over the leading edges of the wings.

None of the engines that were available for sale were light enough for the Wright’s purpose so their shop mechanic Charlie Taylor built the 12 horsepower engine to their own design in only six weeks.

The first flights were witnessed by only five people, but one of them, John T. Daniels photographed the flight using Orville’s pre-positioned camera. Unfortunately, neither this nor the Wright brother’s own press statement in January caught the public’s attention.

The Smithsonian Institution disputed the Wright brother’s claim and in 1928 Orville Wright (Wilbur having died of typhoid fever in 1912) loaned the Wright Flyer to the Science Museum. By the end of World War II the Smithsonian had revised their stance, and arrangements were made to return the Flier to the US. In return, the brothers’ original design drawings were made available to allow apprentices at the De Havilland aircraft company to construct the replica that is now on display.

This brighter version of the Flyer appears on the introductory and timeline panels. I chose the colours based on the original Flyer III, which is on display at the Wright Brothers Aviation Center in Dayton, Ohio. The restoration of the aircraft was carried out under the supervision of Orville Wright in the last few years of his life.

1909 Roe I Triplane

Designed by Alliot Verdon Roe, and patented in January 1909, this was the first all-British aircraft to fly (Roe’s earlier biplane used a French engine). It made it’s first flight on 5 June on Walthamstow marshes, where Roe had rented two railway arches to use as workshops.

The three tailplanes were lifting surfaces only, pitch control being effected by altering the angle of incidence of the mainplanes and lateral control by wing-warping (twisting the trailing edges of the wings in opposite directions). Directional (yaw) control was provided by a rectangular rudder. The engine was a 9 hp V-twin built by J.A. Prestwich & Company Limited of Tottenham, London, under the trade name JAP.

In 1910 Roe formed the firm of A.V. Roe and Company in Manchester. Better known as Avro, the company would become a leading aircraft manufacturer producing such iconic warplanes as the Lancaster and Vulcan bombers.

1909 Antoinette VII

Antoinette was a French manufacturer of light petrol engines, the company being founded by Léon Levavasseur with financial backing by Jules Gastambide. Levavasseur developed an interest in aviation and proposed developing light powerful engines for aircraft use, naming the engines after Gastambide’s daughter.

With this aircraft Levasseur hoped to claim the Daily Mail prize for the first crossing of the English Channel. Coincidentally, the Antoinette VII’s maiden flight took place on 25 July 1909, the same day that Louis Bleriot succeeded in making his crossing of the Channel.

Although missing its starboard wing the Museum’s Antoinette is believed to be the most complete, wholly original survivor. Missing fabric from the port wing reveals the extremely intricate structure intended to provide the necessary flexibility for wing-warping.

1910 JAP-Harding Monoplane

The origin of this aircraft is rather mysterious, as it has a remarkable similarity to Bleriot’s monoplane and a former mechanic, Freddie Snow, who worked on the aircraft claimed that the plans were stolen from the French, although other parts of his account turned out to have been untrue.

The aircraft was constructed for H.J Harding by J.A. Prestwich & Co using their 40 hp V8 engine and first flew at Tottenham Marshes on 10 April 1910 and subsequently flew at aviation meetings in Blackpool and France.

Contemporary photographs show large rectangular ailerons attached to the outer trailing edges of the wings, but these were abandoned in favour of wing-warping. A large cylindrical fuel tank was mounted in front of the cockpit, but this is missing from the aircraft on display.

During a restoration in 1960-61, fabric from the starboard wing was removed to show the wing structure.

1910 Beta II Airship Car

The potential military applications of flight had not gone unnoticed and lighter-than-air craft offered a stable platform and longer endurance than early aircraft

The Beta I was a non-rigid airship built in 1910 by the Army Balloon Factory. Two years later the aircraft was rebuilt with a larger envelope and this new gondola fitted with a 50 hp Clerget engine driving twin propellors.

It was used for experiments with aerial photography and used for artillery spotting during the first two years of World War I.

1912 Cody V

Wild West showman Samuel Franklin Cody arrived in Europe in 1890 and while performing at Alexandra Palace became interested in the possibilities of kites large enough to carry a man and later succeeded in selling four of his “War Kites” to the Admiralty.

By 1908 the Army decided to fund the development of his powered aeroplane British Army Aeroplane No 1 which made its first flight on 16 October 1908. This was the first flight of a piloted heavier-than-air machine in Great Britain.

In December 1911 the War Office announced a competition for a two seater aeroplane for the newly established Royal Flying Corps. The prize was £4,000 with the War Office having the option to purchase any of the prize winning machines.

Cody had planned to enter two machines, but both crashed. Enough material was salvaged to build another biplane, later known as the Cody V, which made its maiden flight on 23 July 1912. Outdated even by the standards of its day, the Cody V was declared the winner and was purchased by the War Office along with a second aircraft to be built to the same design.

The original prototype suffered a fatal crash in 1913 and it was found that the salvaged parts had deteriorated badly. The second aircraft was grounded and donated to the Science Museum in November 1913.

1915 Fokker E.III

This is the only surviving example of the main variant of the Eindecker which made its first flight in 1915. It was armed with a single 7.92 mm Spandau LMG 08 machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition synchronised to fire through the propellor disc, the first time this had been done, and which enabled the pilot to aim by merely pointing the nose of his aircraft.

It was also highly manoeuvrable, fighter ace Max Immelmann created the Immelmann Turn in this type, which became known as the “Fokker Scourge” to the Allies, who found it to be a formidable foe.

Inexperienced pilot Johann Hvüres mistakenly landed this aircraft at the British aerodrome at St. Omer, allowing it to be test-flown against various Allied types. It was offered to the Science Museum in 1918, but toured the country first under very poor conditions (a tent). It was put on display in the Science Museum in 1923, where the fabric was apparently torn off by visitors.

This does at least show the lightweight tubular steel fuselage frame and the minimalist wing ribs which use no more material than strictly necessary. Of particular note is the white interlaced diagonal tapes used for warping the wings.

1916 SE5a

Developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory as a single-seat fighter, the SE5a made its first flight on 22 November 1916. This aircraft was produced in 1918 and never saw combat but was sold privately, registered as G-EBIB, and flew with the Savage Skywriting Company. Note the unusually long exhaust pipes requiring a split rudder, these were lagged with asbestos to emit white smoke.

This variant appears on the introductory and timeline panels and shows the SE5a in its more familiar military guise. The design had considerable strength enabling it to withstand high-g manoeuvres and was relatively resistant to battle damage. At 138 mph it was one of the fastest aircraft of the war and although not as agile as the Sopwith Camel it was a stable gun platform that allowed pilots to open fire at a greater distance.

A single Vickers .303 machine gun was mounted in front of the cockpit using Constaninesco synchronising gear to fire through the propellor. A .303 Lewis light machine gun on a Foster mounting was attached to the centre section of the upper wings and this allowed pilots to attack high-flying enemy aircraft from below and made the SE5a the first fighter to carry two machine guns.

1917 Vickers Vimy

The Vickers Vimy was a heavy bomber developed during the latter stages of the First World War. Few had been delivered to the Royal Flying Corps by the time of the Armistice, but in the interwar years the type set several records for long-distance flights, the most celebrated of these being the aircraft on display which made the first non-stop transatlantic flight performed by John Alcock and Arthur Brown in June 1919.

The aircraft was assembled at Vickers’ facility in Weybridge, possibly from war surplus components and modified for long distance flight. The fabric has been removed from the port side of the fuselage in order to show the additional fuel tanks directly behind the cockpit and filling the space normally occupied by the bomb bay and rear gunner.

Powered by two 360 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle engines the Vimy took off from Lester’s Field, St. John’s, Newfoundland at around 1:45 pm on 14 June 1918. The crew brought toy cat mascots for the flight – Alcock had “Lucky Jim” while Brown had “Twinkletoes”.

The flight was extremely challenging, but the Vimy made landfall in County Galway and landed at 8:40 am on 15 June 1919. It was a rough landing, the aircraft nosed-over in the boggy ground, though neither man was injured. Following repairs by Vickers, the aircraft was donated to the Science Museum.

As part of the new displays, Alcock’s “Lucky Jim” has been reunited with his aircraft and also pops up on the new signage as a guide to younger visitors.

The introductory and timeline panels show the Vimy as a bomber. It was designed to accommodate a three-man crew and a payload of twelve 250 lb bombs in the internal bomb bay. Some aircraft could carry an additional six bombs on external racks, depending on the engine fitted.

A rear gunner had a .303 Lewis gun mounted on a Scarff ring with up to six drum magazines of 48 rounds each. The rear fuselage had windows to allow the gunner to give warning of enemy fighters in what would otherwise be the Vimy’s blind spot below and behind.

The front gunner also had a Lewis gun but only four magazines. He also served as bombardier using a High Altitude Drift Mk 1a bombsight.

Although the Vimy did not see active service it would form the core of what was to become RAF’s Bomber Command.

1925 De Havilland DH.60G Gypsy Moth

The DH.60 was a series of two-seat touring and training biplanes of wooden construction with a plywood covered fuselage and fabric covered surfaces. The first flight was made by Geoffrey de Havilland on 22 February 1925.

The aircraft were originally powered by the ADC Cirrus engine, an air-cooled, straight four manufactured by the Aircraft Disposal Company using surplus Renault parts. Although the engine was reliable, manufacturing was dependent on the availability of components, so the decision was taken to build an entirely new engine in-house.

The Gypsy Moth quickly became the mainstay of British flying clubs during the interwar period – it was estimated that 80% of the aircraft in Britain were Moths of one kind or another.

With financial assistance from her father, pioneering aviatrix Amy Johnson CBE purchased this secondhand aircraft for her attempt to become the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. In gratitude, she named the aircraft Jason after her father’s business trademark .

She left Croydon Airport on 5 May 1930 and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on 24 May, a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 km).

Johnson continued to set flying records throughout the 1930s. With the outbreak of World War II she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary as a ferry pilot, although a non-combatant role this was still dangerous work. On 5 January 1941, off-course due to bad weather and perhaps low on fuel, she bailed out of her Airspeed Oxford into the Thames Estuary. Her body was never found.

1926 Westland-Hill Pterodactyl 1A

Captain G. T. R. Hill developed this radical design as a response to the high numbers of training accidents suffered by the RAF in the 1920s. It was theorised that many pilots lost control while occupied with other tasks–navigation, observation, bomb-aiming, gunnery &c, so Hill sought a design that was resistant to stalling and spinning.

An early prototype was demonstrated to the Secretary of State for Air and subsequent development was funded by the Air Ministry and built by Westland Aircraft.

This is the first of those aircraft, the Mk 1A. The construction methods were conventional for the time, being fabric on a wooden frame, but with fully moving wingtips outboard of the fins. If both tips moved in the same way they functioned as elevators, in opposite ways as ailerons.

The first test flight took place on 28 October 1925 and the aircraft continued to fly until 1930. It was stored in Farnborough for many years then presented to the Science Museum in 1951. Air Ministry support for the concept continued for some time and the proposals and prototypes ran up to Mk VII, but none would ever reach production. Hill left Westland Aircraft in 1934, and with the possibility of war in Europe increasingly likely, the Air Ministry devoted its resources to more conventional aircraft.

1931 Supermarine S.6B

This British racing seaplane was designed by R. J. Mitchell to compete in the Schneider Trophy competition and represents the cutting edge of aircraft design. It is an all-metal, stressed skin monocoque monoplane. This means that the metal skin itself contributes to the structural strength of the airframe.

The S.6B is the last of a series of racers to be developed by Supermarine, having previously won the Schneider contest on two previous occasions. Development was hampered by the British government’s indecision about continuing to financially support the project. A substantial donation by Lady Houston and a high-profile publicity campaign shamed the government into action.

By the time this had been done there was little time to design a new aircraft so the only option was to refine the existing S.6. Increasing the power of the Roll-Royce R engine to 2,300 hp, aerodynamic improvements and redesigned floats were enough. On 13 September 1931 S1595 achieved a top speed of 340.08 mph winning the Schneider Trophy for Britain a third time allowing them to retain the Trophy permanently. The trophy itself is on display in the gallery near to the aircraft.

Visitors to the Museum have expressed disappointment at the poor quality of the blue paintwork, thinking it might be the result of a botched restoration. Closer examination shows a lighter blue underneath and it is thought that both colours date back to the 1930s. The aircraft may have originally been light blue which quickly became discoloured by oil leaks and exhaust gases, and overpainted in dark blue for the race itself.

It might be imagined that this overpainting could have been a fairly rushed job without properly preparing the surface, considering the fact that the maritime environment is a harsh one, the peeling paint can scarcely be surprising.

While the appearance of the aircraft might be unsatisfactory it does represent the history of the exhibit and, on the principle of minimum intervention, little has been done beyond consolidating the peeling paint to minimise further degradation.

1934 Cierva C.30

Unlike a helicopter, an autogyro relies on a conventional propellor for thrust with the unpowered rotor being driven by aerodynamic forces, generating lift as it turns.

The Cierva C.30 was designed by Juan de la Cierva and manufactured by the Cierva Autogyro Company. A V Roe & Co acquired a manufacturing license as did Lioré-et-Olivier in France and Focke-Wulf in Germany.

This unassuming little aircraft played a vital role in World War II. The Chain Home network of radar stations were crucial to Britain’s air defence, but the early equipment needed to be regularly recalibrated to ensure accurate radar returns. This required an aircraft to fly a precise, predetermined course so that the radar data would correspond to the known flightpath.

Chain Home operated on an 11 m wavelength, approximately the rotor diameter of the C.30, ensuring a very strong radar return. This, and the ability to loiter over a known geographic point, enabled the radar stations to be configured to give accurate warning of incoming air raids.

1935 Douglas DC-3

This aircraft revolutionised the airline industry, pioneering many air travel routes. It could carry more passengers, further and in greater comfort than any other aeroplane. Early American airlines such as American, United, TWA, Eastern and Delta ordered over 400 DC-3s, air travel eventually replacing trains as the preferred means of transport for long-range travel in the US.

During World War II, many civilian DC-3s were pressed into military service and more than 10,000 purpose-built military aircraft were produced under the designations C-47, C-53, RD4 and Dakota.

The DC-3 can still be found operating all over the world, especially in remote areas or developing countries where unpaved runways are the norm. It may be that only a scarcity of spare parts and rising maintenance costs will eventually ground the DC-3.

1935 Hawker Hurricane Mk Ia

The Hurricane has been unfairly overshadowed by it’s (admittedly) prettier sister, the Spitfire, but the Hurricane scored 60% of the kills in the Battle of Britain and fought in all the major theatres of World War II.

Manufacture of the Hurricane was significantly faster and cheaper than the Spitfire, which required a lot of hand forming, but the form of construction resembled that of earlier biplanes consisting of a metal box girder truss under a secondary structure of wood covered with doped linen.

Although somewhat outdated this construction meant that an enemy cannon shell might pass through the fuselage without exploding and such damage could easily be repaired in the field by squadron mechanics while Spitfires often required specialist repair facilities.

The relatively thick wing could accommodate fuel tanks in addition to the fuel tanks located in the fuselage behind the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and also allowed the eight .303 Browning machine guns, their ammunition boxes and feed trays to be grouped together, concentrating the firepower. Later Hurricanes carried up to twelve machine guns and later still, four 20 mm Hispano cannon.

This Hurricane is believed to be the only one that still has the original fabric-covered wings. This was an interim measure while Hawker developed an all-metal stressed skin wing and most Mk 1s were retrofitted with the new wing when it became available, since the changeover only took about three hours.

1936 Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia

R.J. Mitchell’s masterpiece, the Spitfire was a British fighter/interceptor used by the RAF and other allied countries before, throughout and after the Second World War.

The distinctive elliptical wing allowed for an exceptionally thin cross-section, achieving a higher top speed than many of its contemporaries. This Mk 1a has a Roll-Royce Merlin engine, but the basic airframe was strong enough to use increasingly powerful engines, culminating in the Griffon-engined Mk 24, although the subtle compound curves made the airframe complex and expensive to build.

Armament was eight .303 Browning machine guns firing from an open bolt. This prevented the cordite (gunpowder) from “cooking-off” due to overheating, but allowed cold air to flow through the gun barrels resulting in them freezing at high altitudes. This was resolved by installing ducts that carried hot air from the radiators to the gun bays. Red fabric patches were doped over the gunports after the guns had been cleaned and loaded, partly as a warning to ground crews that the guns were live, but also to protect the guns from cold, dirt and moisture until they were fired. The slender wing meant that the guns were widely spaced along the wingspan, although they were canted inwards to focus the gunfire at a pre-set range, the bullet dispersal could still be roughly a metre at a range of 100 metres. Consequently the boldest pilots would often prefer to get even closer to the target before opening fire.

As aircraft became faster, the time that an enemy would be in a fighter’s gunsights lessened and greater firepower was required. Supermarine managed to squeeze the Hispano 20 mm cannon into the Spitfire’s slender wing, although the large bulge over the 60 round drum magazine lowered the top speed by 8 mph. With one cannon and 2 Brownings in each wing, this became the Mk 1b.

By August 1941, the threat of invasion had passed and Fighter Command were free to conduct offensive operations over occupied Europe. It was found that that the Dark Earth/Green camouflage used during the Battle of Britain was too conspicuous when flying over the English Channel or North Sea, and a new scheme of Mid Ocean Grey/Green mandated. This was the colour scheme that I chose for the Spitfire on the introductory and timeline panels.

1941 Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet

This German interceptor remains the only operational rocket-powered fighter in the world and the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 kph (620 mph) in level flight.

The aircraft was deployed to intercept allied bombers, but could only manage a maximum of seven and half minutes of powered flight, considerably limiting its range and potential. The Komet may have scored between 9 and 18 kills, but at the loss of 10 Komets. As well as combat losses many had been lost in training and testing due, in part, to the fuel which was volatile, corrosive and hazardous to humans.

For takeoff, a pair of wheels were mounted onto a dolly under the fuselage which was released shortly after takeoff. A retractable skid was used for landings.

Its high speed and climb rate meant that the Comet could reach its target (and pass it) in seconds. Although a stable gun platform it required considerable marksmanship to score a hit. The pair of 30 mm Mk 108 cannon had a fairly low muzzle velocity and was only accurate at short range.

Much time, effort and money were expended in attempts to overcome the aircraft’s shortcomings, but proved to be a failure. Me 163 operations ceased in May 1945.

1941 Gloster E.28/39

This was the first British turbojet-engined aircraft and was built to test the novel jet propulsion designs that Frank Whittle had been developing during the 1930s at his company Power Jets. Various layouts were considered, but a fairly conventional low-wing configuration was selected with the jet intake in the nose and a rudder and tailplane above and slightly in front of the exhaust.

The Power Jets W.1 engine gave the fuselage a rather stout appearance to accommodate both it and the ducting that carried intake air around the cockpit. The Air Ministry’s specification included machine guns, but these were never fitted, nor was a radio, a pressurised cockpit or cabin heating. It was intended to use electrically heated flying suits, but limited battery power made this impossible.

Two prototypes were built, the second crashed due to an aileron failure, and it was found that the wrong lubricant had been used causing the aileron to stick. This was a simple maintenance error and the pilot fortunately survived bailing out at 33,000 feet, though he did suffer frostbite.

Experience with the E.28/39 led to Britain’s first operational jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor which would be powered by two Rolls-Royce RB.23 Welland engines, Frank Whittle’s second engine design.

1944 V-1 Flying Bomb

Vergeltungswaffe 1 “Vengeance Weapon” was an early cruise missile deployed for the bombing of London. It was developed at the Army Research Centre in Peenemünde and first launched on 13 June 1944, one week after (and in response to) the successful D-Day landings.

Powered by an Argos As 109-014 Pulsejet with a gyrocompass based autopilot, the V-1 carried 850 kg (1,870 lb) of Amatol-39 high explosive.The primary detonation method was an electrical impact fuze with a mechanical back-up. A time fuze prevented a downed V-1 from being examined. Initially the CEP (Circular Error Probable) was 31 km (19 miles) in diameter but by the end of the war accuracy had improved to about 11 km (7 miles)

9,521 V-1s were launched against southeast England, that number reducing as the launch sites fell to advancing allied forces.

British countermeasures to the V-1 were given the codename Operation Diver The small fast-moving V-1s were hard to hit with anti-aircraft guns until the development of proximity fuzed artillery shells, gun-laying radars and predictor fire-control systems.

About 2,00 barrage balloons were deployed in the hope that V-1s would be destroyed when they hit the tethering cables. The leading edges of the V-1 were fitted with cable cutters and fewer than 300 were destroyed by this method.

Most aircraft were too slow to catch a V-1 and the only aircraft capable of high speed at low altitude was the new Hawker Tempest. Only 30 were available in June 1944 and they were assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF for air defence.

Gunfire frequently failed to bring down a V-1 and the preferred method was to fly alongside the missile and position the interceptor’s wingtip about six inches (15 cm) under the V-1’s wing. The airflow over the interceptor’s wing would tip the V-1’s wing up, over-riding the gyroscope and sending the V-1 into a dive.

By September 1944 the number of Tempests had risen to over 100, and shared defensive duties with the de Havilland Mosquito, specially modified Republic P-47M Thunderbolts, North American P-51 Mustangs and Griffon-engined Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIVs.

1944 Pitts Special S-1S

Improbable as it might seem in the carnage of war, Curtis Pitts found the time and resources to develop a light aerobatic biplane which has achieved many competition wins since its first flight in September 1944.

Today’s Pitts are very similar to the original design and may be purchased as finished aircraft from Aviat Aircraft, Wyoming who will also sell the plans to allow homebuilders to make their own aircraft from scratch. Steen Aero Lab, Florida also sell the planes in kit form for self-assembly.

This S-1S variant is certified for competition aerobatics and has a round aerofoil section, four ailerons and powered by a 180 hp Lycoming AEIO-360 engine and is one of 60 built.

1948 Saunders-Roe Skeeter AOP.12

Alliot Verdon Roe of Avro and John Lord took a controlling interest in aircraft and boatbuilders S.E. Saunders in 1929. By 1951, they had taken over the interests of the Cierva Autogyro Company which had already begun work on the Skeeter, then known as the Cierva W.14.

This compact two-seater helicopter was intended to be suitable for use as a civilian aircraft and for aerial observation with military customers. The British Ministry of Supply’s requirements were that the aircraft should be transportable on a standard three-ton truck and that it should have an endurance of at least one hour while carrying light cargo as well as stretcher-bound casualties.

The British Army ordered 64 Skeeters, entering service in October 1956.

1949 de Havilland Comet

The size of the Comet rules out one being on display in the gallery, but as the first jet-engined airliner, deserved to be included in the timeline display.

It made its first test flight on 27 July 1949, the British Overseas Airways Company (BOAC) having already committed itself to the purchase of 10 aircraft.

A clean, low-drag design had swept wings, integral wing fuel tanks, a pressurised cabin and two pairs of de Havilland H.2 Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wing roots. Reclining seats for 36 passengers, large picture windows, a galley serving hot and cold food, bar and separate men and women’s toilets afforded a previously unusual feeling of luxury.

The Comet entered service with BOAC in May 1952, but within a year, three Comets were lost in fatal mid-flight accidents. The first was deemed to be due to the airframe being overstressed through bad weather and the others by structural failure resulting from metal fatigue.

The effects of metal fatigue in a fuselage that undergoes cycles of pressurisation and depressurisation was not fully understood at that time and it is a common misunderstanding that the fault occurred at the corners of the windows which were more square than in modern aircraft. In fact, the fault occurred at apertures for the ADF Antenna, but a major cause of these accidents was a manufacturing fault.

The Comet’s thin metal skin was both riveted and chemically bonded, and the design called for the rivets to be inserted in pre-drilled holes. In manufacture the rivets were simply punched through the metal, leaving cracks that worsened and led to catastrophic failure.

All Comets were withdrawn from service while de Havilland launched a major effort to build a new, larger and stronger version. Comets would not return to service until 1958 and continued to be operated by some airlines until 1981. Much was learned from the tragic accidents suffered by the Comet, and American manufacturers like Boeing & Douglas quietly conceded that if had not been for the Comet, the same disaster could have befallen their early jet airliners.

The basic airframe continued to fly until 2011 as the RAF’s Nimrod, primarily used for maritime surveillance and anti-surface/anti-submarine warfare.

1960 Hawker Siddeley P.1127

During the Cold War, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft offered the possibility of eliminating the need for vulnerable runways. Stanley Hooker of the Bristol Engine Company was working on an engine that used rotating nozzles to direct cold bypass air to produce lift with with a conventional “hot” exhaust tailpipe.

At the same time, Hawker were developing a new fighter to replace the Hawker Hunter and the close co-operation between Hawker and Bristol enabled development to continue. It was soon found that the new engine, called Pegasus would be unable to lift the aircraft using cold air alone and a second pair of nozzles was added to use the hot exhaust gasses. At a time of defence budget cuts in the UK, significant funding and technical assistance came from the U.S.

Six P.1127s were built and although the RAF and the Civil Service showed little enthusiasm, Germany and the U.S. agreed to contribute to the development of an improved aircraft called Kestrel. This work would eventually lead to the operational Hawker Siddeley Harrier.

1962 Hawker Siddeley 125

The 125 is a small business jet designed by de Havilland, who were then owned by Hawker Siddeley, but the legacy brand was used throughout development. Production aircraft were initially marketed as HS.125, but corporate changes meant that the aircraft have variously appeared under the names British Aerospace, Beechcraft-Hawker and Raytheon.

One of the first generation of executive jets, the 125 has been operated by a wide variety of customers including corporations, governments and military forces. The RAF operated the aircraft as a navigation trainer under the name Dominie T.1.

1969 Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus

Schempp-Hirth is a German manufacturer of gliders. During World War II the company built training gliders and aircraft components. Forbidden from working with aircraft in the immediate post-war period, the company survived by making a variety of commercial products. These restrictions were lifted in 1951 and the company returned to glider construction.

The Standard class Cirrus was produced between 1969 and 1985, with more than 800 having been built.

1969 Boeing 747

Pan Am sought an aircraft 2½ times larger than any existing aircraft in order to reduce its seat costs and pre-ordered 25 aircraft.

This section through the forward part of a former Japan Air Lines 747 shows the passenger accommodation arranged on two decks with the cargo hold below. The cockpit is on the upper deck as it was envisaged that future passenger aircraft might be supersonic, so the airframe was designed so that large cargo loads could be introduced by retrofitting a large front cargo door. Indeed, many such purpose-built freighters have been constructed.

1984 Meggitt Banshee 300

The Banshee is a British target drone designed for air defence system training.

Originally developed by Target Technology Ltd, the Banshee is built using glass-reinforced plastics and Kevlar with a tail-less delta wing planform. It is powered by a 25 hp 342 cc Normalair-Garrett two-cylinder two-stroke engine.

Versions powered by a jet engine have reportedly been supplied to Ukraine where they have been modified as kamikaze drones carrying an explosive payload.

Photo: © Hetty Tapper, Gallery Project Manager

It was also thought desirable to improve the STEM educational aspect of the signage and I produced a number of illustrations to explain various aspects of aeronautics, including flight control surfaces and engine types.

Lighter-than-air

A lifting gas is one that has a density lower than normal atmospheric gases and rises above them, enabling them to lift lighter-than-air aircraft. Dry air has a density of about 1.29 grammes per litre and so lifting gases must have a density lower than this.

A quantity of air expands as it is heated, so it’s density decreases as the temperature rises, the typical operating temperature for a hot-air balloon is 121ºC.

Hydrogen, being only 7% the density of air, was widely used for lighter-than-air craft, but is extremely flammable. Disasters such as the loss of the Hindenburg demonstrated the safety risks associated with this gas.

Helium is the second lightest gas and, being non-combustible, is an attractive lifting gas. However, it is expensive to produce with only a handful of reserves trapped in natural gas wells. When released into the atmosphere, helium eventually escapes into space and is lost.

Aerofoil

An aerofoil is a streamlined shape that is capable of generating significantly more lift than drag using Bernoulli’s principle.

The airflow over the wing increases its speed, reducing its pressure, thereby generating lift which acts perpendicular to the aerofoil. The airflow under the wing moves more slowly, generating greater pressure and less lift (negative lift).

Forces of Flight

An aircraft is acted upon by four forces: lift, weight, thrust and drag. Thrust acts in a forward direction for the purpose of overcoming drag and is generated by an engine. Lift acts perpendicular to the velocity relative to the atmosphere. Drag acts parallel but opposite to the velocity and resists motion through the air. Weight acts through the aircraft’s centre of gravity towards the centre of the Earth.

Control Surfaces

The three axes of rotation are pitch (movement of the nose up or down), roll (rotation around the longitudinal axis) and yaw (movement of the nose left or right around the vertical axis).

Yaw is induced by a moveable rudder–this changes the orientation and magnitude of the force produced. Because this occurs at a distance behind the aircraft’s centre of gravity, the sideways force exerts a yawing motion.

Pitch is controlled by a moveable elevator attached to the rear of the horizontal tailplane. Moving the control column backwards raises the elevator and the downward force on the horizontal tail is increased, raising the nose.

Roll is controlled by moveable sections on the trailing edges of the wings called ailerons. These move in opposite directions causing differential lift on each wing and thus a rolling movement.

Piston Engines

Unlike automotive nomenclature, in aviation terms a linear (“inline” or “straight”) engine also includes engines that have more than one bank of cylinders and covers a variety of engine configurations, such as V-, U-, X- and H-types. The term also includes horizontally opposed (“flat” or “boxer”) types.

In a rotary engine the cylinders are arranged around the crankcase, with the propellor fixed to it. The crankshaft is fixed to the airframe, so the whole engine (and the propellor) spin. This results in a good power to weight ratio, but consumes great deal of oil and the gyroscopic effect of a large rotating mass produces handling problems in aircraft.

Radial engines also have a number of cylinders arranged around the crankcase, but in this case the crankcase and cylinders are fixed to the airframe, only the crankshaft rotates and spins the propellor which is attached to it.

Both radial and rotary engines generally have an odd number of cylinders in order to ensure smooth operation. In the five-cylinder engines shown the firing order is 1, 3, 5, 2, 4 and back to 1 – every other piston fires in turn. The one-piston gap between compression and combustion helps to compress the next cylinder to fire, making the motion more uniform.

Superchargers

In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger (“blower”) compresses the fuel/air mixture, forcing more air into the engine to produce more power. A supercharger is mechanically driven by a chain or belt from the engine’s crankshaft. A turbocharger does the same job but is powered by the kinetic energy of the exhaust gases.

The Roots-type is a positive displacement pump and delivers a fixed volume of air per revolution.

The centrifugal-type is a dynamic compressor that accelerates the air to high speed and then exchanges that velocity for pressure by diffusing or slowing it down.

The twin-screw-type has asymmetrical rotors unlike the identical rotors in a Roots blower. This enables the air to be compressed within the housing as it moves through the device.

Jet Engines

A turbojet consists of a compressor to draw air in and compress it, a combustion chamber where the fuel is added and ignited, turbines that extract power from the exhaust gases to drive the compressor, and an exhaust nozzle that accelerates the exhaust to produce thrust.

A gas turbine engine offers significant advantages of high power and low maintenance over piston engines. In applications that do not require high speeds, the gas turbine can be used to drive a conventional propellor. A turboprop features a gearbox to reduce the speed of the shaft so that the tips of the propellors do not exceed the speed of sound.

A turbofan is much the same as the turbojet, but with an enlarged fan at the front that provides thrust in much the same way as a propellor. Bypass air passes through the fan, but around the core, is not mixed with fuel and is not ignited. Air passing through the core is ignited as in the turbojet.