A Sample Feature From Aviation News

Great British Air Museums

American Air Museum – Duxford

The Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress has mannequins going about the duties of ground crew in this time-lapse vignette of an 8th AF setting anywhere in East Anglia. The first B-17s to arrive came to RAF Polebrook in mid-1942. Below: The American Air Museum spans the century of US-UK military aviation with 20 types flown out of this country from 1917, represented by a Spad XIII, to the Lockheed U-2C. From foregound: Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Boeing B-17G, Grumman TBM-3 Avenger and North American B-25J Mitchell.

Between 1942 and 1945 some 30,000 US airmen lost their lives flying from British airfields. This is the living memorial to shared US-UK involvement from the First World War to the present.

THE Imperial War Museum came to Duxford around 35 years ago as an outstation of its main building in Lambeth Road, London. It was a place where the IWM’s aircraft and the large exhibits, related to conflicts involving the UK and Commonwealth, could be displayed in an appropriate setting, with expansive acreage to house several displays and exhibitions. Commensurate with its growth came a steady stream of visitors from the United States. Many of its servicemen based in East Anglia during the Second World War and the Cold War – a period effectively spanning almost 50 years – came to know Duxford and to remember it with affection. As described in last month’s issue of Aviation News, RAF Duxford served as a US base during the period 1942-45.

Below: Probably one of the more breathtaking aircraft to operate from East Anglia, the Lockheed SR-71 was not an infrequent visitor to British skies although the full history of its operations has yet to be written. At least one famous SR-71 jockey has made his home in this part of England.

For the rest of this article please see the December 2009 issue.