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Sywell Aviation Museum (SAM) is a voluntary,
non-profit-making organisation which aims to preserve the
history of Sywell Aerodrome and Northamptonshire's rich aviation
heritage from the early days of aviation to the Second World War
and beyond. SAM began life in 1998 and the Museum building was
opened in 2001 by the legendary aviator Alex Henshaw MBE who is
also our honorary president. Alex flew from Sywell regularly
during the Second World War, airtesting Vickers Wellingtons from
the aerodrome so we were honoured that he agreed to launch our
small Museum.
The Museum originally consisted of three
Nissen huts, dismantled at thew now-closed RAF Bentwaters and
erected on site at Sywell. The buildings themselves are
artefacts having been used as bomb fuzing sheds at Bentwaters by
the USAAF during WW2. The Museum expanded in 2010 and 2011
withthe addition of two new Nissen huts, formerly POW Camp Huts
from Snape Farm, Derbyshire.
The first hut (opened during
Easter 2011) was named The Paul Morgan Hall and houses the
Museum's cockpit collection and a complete WW2 Link Trainer. The
second hall (opened in Easter 2012) includes an expanded USAAF
Hall and a new POW/Luftwaffe exhibition. The Museum's first
complete airframe, a Hawker Hunter F.2 WN904, was acquired in
summer 2012 followed by the cockpit of English Electric Canberra
TT.18 WH887 in 2014.
March 2021 saw the arrival of the
Museum's second complete airframe - Handley Page Jetstream MK1
G-RAVL -which was donated by Cranfield University and is to be
restored as a classroom. Victor Lima was the demonstrator for
Jetstream Ltd based at Sywell in the early 1970s when production
recommenced and won the Daily Express National Air Race (as
N1035S 'Race197) on 12th June 1971 between Sywell and Biggin
Hill.
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(click map for directions) |
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Opening times: |
Easter Sunday - End of September
Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays
10.30am - 4.30pm
We also open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 12pm until 4pm from last
Bank Holiday in May until October Half Term
*Group visits available at other times by prior appointment.
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Admission Prices: |
Adult - Free (donations welcome)
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Amenities: |
Free Parking
Toilets
Museum Shop
On-site Bar, Restaurant and Cafe
Aircraft Viewing Area
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Aircraft exhibits: |
de Havilland Vampire T.11 - Cockpit
de Havilland Canada Chipmunk T.10 - Cockpit Hawker Hunter F.2 -
Complete English Electric Canberra TT.18 - Cockpit* North
American Harvard IIB Front - Cockpit* Slingsby Grasshopper TX.1
Complete (Stored) de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth - Cockpit
(Stored, under restoration) Handley Page HP-137 Jetstream 200 -
Complete (under restoration) (*privately owned)
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Photos:
(click to view larger files) |
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