de Havilland Aircraft Museum Facts for Kids

de Havilland Aircraft Museum

Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Former name	Mosquito Aircraft Museum de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre
Established	1959 (1959)
Location	London Colney, Hertfordshire, UK
Type	Aviation museum

The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, formerly the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, is a volunteer-run aviation museum in London Colney, Hertfordshire, England. The collection is built around the definitive prototype and restoration shops for the de Havilland Mosquito and also includes several examples of the de Havilland Vampire – the third operational jet aircraft in the world. The museum is the largest such museum devoted to one manufacturer in the country.

History
Collection
Images for kids

History

Salisbury Hall

The site has been occupied by a number of large manor houses since the 9th Century. The present house was built around 1668 by the London banker James Hoare, bringing with it associations with Charles II and Nell Gwynne, who lived in a cottage by the bridge to the Hall. The Hall subsequently passed through various hands, and during the latter part of the 19th century was occupied by a succession of farmers. However, about 1905 Lady Randolph Churchill, as Mrs. Cornwallis West, came here to live. Her son, Winston Churchill, became a regular visitor.

During the 1930s, Sir Nigel Gresley, of the London and North Eastern Railway, was in residence. He was responsible for the A4 Pacific steam locomotives, one of which, Mallard, still holds the world speed record for steam locomotives of 126 mph (203 km/h). It is believed that the locomotive was named after the ducks in the moat.

In September 1939, the de Havilland Aircraft Company established the Mosquito design team in the Hall, the prototype Mosquito, E0234/W4050, subsequently being built in the adjacent buildings, to the side of Salisbury Hall. Which have since been demolished.

After the acquisition of Airspeed Ltd by de Havilland Aircraft Company Airspeed Ltd assembled a design team, headed by aircraft designer Hessell Tiltman. Tiltman's design efforts were initially carried out at the de Havilland technical school at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, before relocating to Salisbury Hall, London Colney. The Airspeed building were behind Salisbury Hall and have since been demolished. Part of the site of the former Airspeed Ltd building was is now covered by the new Geoffrey de Havilland Hanger.

Nell Gwynne's cottage, meanwhile, was the centre of a silk worm farm, which supplied the silk for the Queen's wedding and Coronation robes.

After de Havilland left in 1947 the Hall slipped into a derelict condition.

When Walter Goldsmith, a retired army major, purchased Salisbury Hall, he soon came to realise that it had been used by de Havilland during the war. On contacting Bill Baird, then in charge of PR at de Havilland at Hatfield, he discovered that the company had used it as the design centre for the Mosquito, and that Baird had squirrelled the original prototype away in the Fiddlebridge stores, just off the airfield at Hatfield. Having resisted several calls to burn the aircraft, Baird was delighted to find someone who could offer the old aircraft a home. de Havilland carried out basic restoration work at Hatfield, and Goldsmith accepted the aircraft back at Salisbury Hall in 1959.

Prototype Mosquito

The prototype Mosquito became the first aircraft to be displayed at Salisbury Hall, and was followed by examples of the de Havilland Vampire and Venom in 1968. In 1970, the collection was joined by a further example of the de Havilland Mosquito, which had been donated by Liverpool Corporation, following its use in the film Mosquito Squadron.

The collection was later expanded, with examples of the single-seat Vampire, Sea Venom, Sea Vixen, Chipmunk and Dove all arriving by 1978. Additionally, the fuselage of a Mosquito FB6 arrived in 1976; it is now the only survivor of the most numerous sub-type to be preserved in Europe. The museum houses the fuselage of the last surviving square-windowed de Havilland Comet 1, the world's first jet airliner.

Later history

The supporters' society has been responsible for the restoration and conservation of many of the exhibits, starting with the Chipmunk in 1978, an airframe which was subsequently restored by members once more between 2003 and 2007. The supporters were also active in building a hangar to house the ex-Liverpool Mosquito in 1980, and then completely restoring the aircraft, a task they completed in 1990. The supporters' society has also been responsible for work on a Tiger Moth, Hornet Moth, Mosquito 6, Heron, Dove, several Vampires and many other aircraft in the collection.

In 2001, it was recognised that the prototype Mosquito was in dire need of conservation work. This work is ongoing, and is supported by BAE Systems. and the Heritage Lottery fund. The prototype Mosquito restoration was completed in December 2015 almost to the minute of its 75th anniversary. It is now on display with the other two Mosquitos in the Walter Goldsmith Hanger.

In January 2016 the museum opened a new hanger initially named the Geoffrey de Havilland Hanger. This hanger was later renamed the Amy Johnson Hanger when the new new Hanger opened and is now used for workshops where the public can see the volunteers working on museum projects.

The museum opened the new Sir Geoffrey de Havilland Hangar in February 2020.

Collection

Aircraft on display

DH82 Tiger Moth, G-ANRX, with crop spraying equipment

DH98 Mosquito prototype

Comet 2 flight deck

Airspeed Horsa I/II BAPC.232 – Composite fuselage
British Aerospace 146-100 G-JEAO – Fuselage only
Cierva C.24 G-ABLM – On permanent loan from the Science Museum
de Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird J7326 – Fuselage only
de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth G-ANRX
de Havilland DH.82 Queen Bee LF789 – Fuselage only
de Havilland DH.87 Hornet Moth G-ADOT
de Havilland DH.88 Comet G-ACSR – Replica
de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB.VI TA122/TW233
de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito TT(B)35 TA634
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.6 J-1008
de Havilland DH.103 Hornet VX250 – Tail section
de Havilland DH.104 Dove 8 G-AREA
de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1A F-BGNX – Fuselage only
de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1A G-ANAV – Nose section
de Havilland DH.106 Comet C.2(R) XK695 – Cockpit section
de Havilland DH.106 Comet 2 – Nose section
de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ565
de Havilland DH.114 Heron G-AOTI
de Havilland DH.115 Vampire T.11 XJ772
de Havilland DH.125 Series 1 G-ARYC
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10 WP790
Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident 2E G-AVFH

Aircraft in storage

de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito TT.35 TJ118 – Fuselage, with nose section removed.
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.5 VV217
de Havilland DH.104 Dove 6 D-IFSB – On loan to ARG Fishburn
de Havilland DH.112 Venom FB.4 WR539
de Havilland DH.112 Venom FB.50 J-1632
de Havilland DH.112 Venom FB.54 J-1790
de Havilland DH.112 Venom NF.3 WX853
de Havilland DH.113 Vampire NF.10 WM729 – fuselage pod only
de Havilland DH.125 Jet Dragon G-ARYA – Cockpit section only

Aircraft under restoration

de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide G-AKDW
de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito I W4050
de Havilland DH.112 Sea Venom FAW.22 XG730

Engines on display

One of two Gyron Juniors on display

Piston engines

de Havilland Gipsy
de Havilland Gipsy Major
de Havilland Gipsy Minor
de Havilland Gipsy Queen
de Havilland Gipsy Twelve
Rolls-Royce Merlin

Gas turbine engines

de Havilland Ghost
de Havilland Goblin
de Havilland Gyron
de Havilland Gyron Junior
Rolls-Royce Gnome

Rocket engines

de Havilland Super Sprite
de Havilland Spectre

Images for kids

DH.104 Dove 8

de Havilland Aircraft Museum facts for kids

Contents