Our Visit to RAF Museum, London Sept. 2016

We went to the Royal Air Force Museum today. Claudette and I had to change Underground trains once  to get there. A bit of the ride was above the ground. I think I have a fixation on the lady that makes all the announcements on the train. I think she would like me too. I particularly like the way she says, “Mind the gap.” It was a long half mile from the station to the museum. I don’t like the way the British build sidewalks. They slope toward the curb.

After we entered through the gate we saw some airplanes and a missile on a missile launcher. But, when I spied a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane on pylons, I knew we were in the right place. Those planes were stalwarts of WWII and the battle of Britain. It was good to compare these two aircraft side by side. I have had difficulty determining the differences between the two, but the shape of the wings is the most discernible difference.

Once inside we bought our tickets. I spoke with the lady at the desk who had difficulty understanding me, and her heavy middle Eastern accent required careful listening on my part. It seems that most of the people in service or clerical jobs in London speak English as a second language. There was a Spitfire painted silver mounted on the wall, which I believe was a reproduction. We entered the display area by climbing some stairs to a balcony overlooking the Milestones of Flight display.

This display is perhaps the creme de la creme of the museum’s displays.There were over a dozen aircraft on display. A reproduction of the first plane to fly across the English Channel hung in a prominent place near the balcony where we stood.  Right beside it was the modern Eurofighter built by a consortium of European countries. We took a stairway down to the exhibit floor. The first thing nearest the stairway was a full scale mock-up of an F-35.  Flown by many NATO nations, it’s the most advanced plane represented. We walked toward one of my favorite aircraft. “Look, Claudette, it’s a Mosquito!” I exclaimed.

“I didn’t know they had them in England, “ she answered.

“Not the insect, the plane. It’s made of plywood, you know!”

“A wooden plane? Built of plywood like our garage storage shelves?”” said she in disbelief.

”Well, sort of, it’s of laminated wood construction. They hired piano  and cabinet makers to build them.”

“Why?” she wanted to know.

“I don’t know, but I would guess it was because metal was in short supply,” I answered.

“Okay.”

“Do you see that silver plane right behind it?”

“Yes, it’s pretty.”

“Yep, some say the P-51 Mustang was the most beautiful fighter plane of WWII,” I said adding, “ It has the same engine as the Mosquito.”

“I don’t understand. It has American markings on it rather than the British bullseye?”  she asked.

“I’m glad you asked that. You see, the British asked the Americans to design them a fighter plane, and the Mustang was what North American Aviation came up with. At first it did not perform well with an Allison engine, but when the engine was replaced with the Rolls Roycè Merlin engine the performance improved dramatically.”

“I guess that is where the Mustang car got its name,” she said.

“Not really. Aviation aficionados would have you believe that, but the horse was the impetus for the name.”

We were wandering around the historic aircraft when Claudette said, “Hey, we’ve seen one of those before!”

“We sure have; at the Beaufort  Marine Corps Air Station.  During one of the air shows we saw a demonstration in which it was flying ground support for marines on the ground. Did you know that the Hawker Harrier first made vertical take-off and landing practical?”

“Okay…” she said sounding rather disinterested. Sometimes she just doesn’t share my interest  in airplanes.  I cannot fathom why.

The aircraft behind us represented perhaps the greatest technological advancement of the Second World War. It was the Messerschmitt Me-262, the Swallow.  It was the first jet aircraft used in combat. It was over 100 mph faster than any Allied fighter plane.

“The Me-262 was the fastest thing in the sky in 1944,”  I told Claudette.  “The two Juno jet engines pushed it to over 500 mph.”

“Haven’t we seen one of these before?” she asked.

“Yes, several.  There is even one in the U.S. Naval Aviation Museum that has a back seat. I thought it was built as a trainer but most likely as a bomber. The back seat would have been for the bombardier.  Hitler wanted the bulk of the planes used as bombers, although they were  better suited for fighter aircraft. After the war many features of this plane were incorporated into modern jet aircraft. Interestingly enough the turbojet engine was patented by an Englishman, Frank Whittle,”  I added.

“If the British invented the jet aircraft engine, why were the Germans so successful in building a jet powered fighter plane?”

“There are a couple of reasons for that. One reason is that although Whittle invented the jet engine in 1930, the Air Ministry did not support the development of his invention. On the other hand, when Hans von Obain built his jet engine in Germany years after Whittle, he received full government support for its development. The British did build a jet fighter, but very near the end of the war. There it is, the Gloster Meteor.”

We saw several more interesting aircraft in the Milestones of Flight exhibit, even a rare Hawker Typhoon. The Napier H-engined fighter was the only one left in existence

We ventured into another hanger by way of a fabric covered walkway.  It was like a tunnel. The first thing you see in the hanger known as the Bomber Room is a huge Avro Lancaster  bomber.  Also included in the collection is the B-24 Liberator, the B-17 Flying Fortress, and the B-25 Mitchell.  There is a huge Avro Vulcan I remembered from a James Bond movie. There were other bombers as well as ancillary equipment.  There were also some WWII fighter planes as. German Bf-109s and a FW-190 were on display. The 190 was the dual cockpit version, which I had not seen before.  There was also a Heinkel-163 which was an early German jet plane.

“I like that sign!” Claudette announced.

“What sign?”

“That one,” she said pointing, “It says Echo, Apha, Tango--EAT!”

“We sat in the shadow of the a giant flying machine of  wars past and enjoyed a cup of tea. Scones and strawberry jam made the rest break complete.

I had a bit of fun with some kids as I was sitting in an open cockpit. I was telling them to watch the rear control surfaces as I operated the stick and rudder pedals. At one point I pushed the stick forward and announced that I was diving toward earth. I abruptly slammed my hands into the dash with a loud bang. The boys jumped with surprise as I announced that I had crashed.

There is a special building for the Battle of Britain. Aircraft, including some which had crashed, as well as displays depicting bombed out buildings were there. Naturally, there were V-1 and V-2  German missiles on display. It was quite moving. There I was able to walk through a giant Short

Sunderland flying boat. The restoration area was accessible, also.  There I saw, among other things, a German twin engine bomber under restoration.

We were at the museum over four hours, and I enjoyed every minute walking rather briskly through the various buildings.  Soon it was time to get back to our apartment in Kensington to get ready for dinner.