Now that the Winter weather has released its icy grip on Yorkshire, it is indeed heartening to see a good number of visitors coming out to enjoy the Museum during the half term break. The museum is alway’s an educationally rewarding day out, and it is great to see mum’s and dad’s and grandma’s and grandpa’s talking to their children about wartime life and discovering all the different aircraft to be found here.

Much work is going on on several of our aircraft projects and visitors will be able to see our volunteers hard at work. Both the Douglas Dakota and our latest acquisition, the De Havilland Dove, are coming along in leaps and bounds and we certainly plan to have the Dakota up and running for the first of  this year’s “Thunder Day’s” on Sunday 1st April. This will be the first of our propeller driven aircraft to be fired up for the public, so we are in exciting times!

This weekend, 28th and 29th January, is the annual York Residents First Festival and the Yorkshire Air Museum is once again taking part in this tourism industry gesture to the people of the city.

Admission to the Museum will be FREE on production of a valid York Card, so get yours soon!

If you are a local resident and have not visited this award winning attraction on your doorstep for a while, or even at all, this is a great opportunity to come and explore all the fascinating exhibits, such as the Bomber Command and Pioneers of Aviation displays.

Get close to our many historic aircraft, including the rarely seen Nimrod MR2, Handley Page Victor and many more.

Enjoy a hearty meal in our famous ‘NAAFI’ Restaurant and pick up an interesting book, model or souvenir from our Gift Shop – not free of course!!

All in all, a great opportunity to enjoy an interesting day out for all the family.

The Museum is open from 10am to 4pm on both days of the Festival.

The Museum will kick start the new year with a bit of a bang this coming Sunday with the first of this year’s ‘anti-det’ engine runs of the iconic Nimrod MR2 XV250. See the Nimrod air and ground crew and our Fire Team in action as the four Rolls Royce Spey engines are fired up on site, giving a great opportunity for visitors to see – and hear – the aircraft under power at close quarters!!

It was announced today that Jan Leeming, the TV Newsreader and “I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here” contestant is to become a Vice President of the Allied Air Forces Memorial based in York.

She will join the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Stephen Dalton and Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu in this prestigious post from 1^st January.

Ms Leeming is already closely connected to the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust at Capel le Ferne in Kent and is currently researching a TV documentary about her search for the details and history of the first French pilot to lead a Spitfire squadron during the dark days of the Battle of Britain. A quest which has uncovered stories of heroism and tragedy as well as the pilot’s 101 year old sister, to whom Jan reveals newly discovered recordings and film of the brother whom she last saw over 70 years ago.

Museum Director, Ian Reed, said, “The Board of Trustees are delighted that Ms Leeming has agreed to join us. She is a very well respected personality and her tireless research and devotion to the spirit of so many young airmen who risk their lives for us both in the past and even today will be a real asset to the aims of the Memorial ”.

The following festive story hit the national and region al newspapers on the eve of Christmas and it is indeed a heartwarming story for the season.

We forget how things were during World War Two, but 67 years ago, on Christmas Eve 1944, 200 handcrafted toys were delivered to York Mansion House to be delivered to the sick and needy children in the City of York hospitals and institutions. This was the result of a chance flash of inspiration by a French Air Force Lieutenant, Sous Lieutenant Lemarchand, serving in the Mechanics Section with the French Squadron’s based at Elvington, who had seen the L.N.E.R (London & North Eastern Railway) charity Christmas tree whilst passing through York Station. He decided it would be a fine gesture of goodwill to make some toys for the sick children and was sure his fellow mechanics would agree.

 With just three days to go before Christmas Eve, having secured the heartfelt agreement of the Station Commander, Colonel Bailly, who was the Commanding Officer of the French Air Force, work began.

Using any scraps of waste material available, and using tools as crude as razor blades, the mechanics worked night and day and produced a staggering 204 toys of all types and descriptions  – true labours of love and imagination. Officers of the base had put up prizes as a friendly act of support and incentive and the first prize of a bottle of whisky went to the maker of a model Normandie type Liner, perfect in every detail and able to float. Second prize, a bottle of gin, was the reward for the producer of a swinging dolls treasure cot, decorated with the Rose of Alsace, made from beaten metal. A fully furnished kitchen stove, complete with an array of cooking utensils won a couple of bottles of aperitif! Every toy proudly bore the Cross of Lorraine to mark their heritage and it is not beyond the realms of imagination to suppose that the craftsmen had been making the toys with thoughts of their own children or younger relatives, or even the children they hoped to have, firmly in their minds.

 The avalanche of toys delivered to the Mansion House that Christmas Eve turned the State Room into something resembling a toy shop, and the slightly bewildered Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Councillor and Mrs. H C de Burgh and the City Sheriff, Councillor J H Kaye, thanked the French servicemen most warmly for their magnificent gesture to the less fortunate of the city’s children.

 The details of this heart warming story have recently come to light from a recent member of the French Veterans Association, Groupes Lourds, Dr. Churet, whose father was the Engineer in charge of all the mechanics based at Elvington during their service here. We have discovered that a resident of Elvington, John Nicholson, is still in possession of one of the toys, given to him as a child. We would be delighted to hear from anyone else who has one of these unique novelties, so that we can discover more about the ‘men behind the imagination’ and learn more about this charming episode in Elvington’s history.

 Museum Director, Ian Reed, said, “The humanity of these young French airmen towards the English children, whilst their own families and loved ones were in unknown circumstances within Occupied France, shines through the ages as a testament to their fundamental good nature and kind spirit. This is a story which touches all our hearts especially at this time of year 67 years on”. 

Henry Lafont, the last Free French fighter pilot of the Battle of Britain sadly died on Friday 2 December 2011. He will be buried with full military honours in Les Invalides in Paris on Wednesday 7th December. 
Henry and René MOUCHOTTE (who was the only non-Commonwealth officer to command a British Squadron) escaped from North Africa in the same stolen aircraft to Gibraltar in 1940, and then by boat to England to join the RAF.

Following the successful nomination of “Flightpaths” at last year’s IWM London Film Festival  it has just been announced that “De lourds souvenirs” (Heavy Memories) by Genevieve Monneris and her son Thomas Lesgoirres has been chosen for the 2012 Festival.  The film is about Genevieve’s father, Col. Andre Guedez (91), who was present at this year’s French in York festival when the first French memorial was inaugurated in York Minster on October 20th. Andre was one of just two survivors of his Halifax bomber of 347 Tunisie Squadron, based at RAF Elvington, during an urgent mission on Christmas Eve 1944, when the Allies had been taken by surprise by the sudden German attack, later known as the Battle of the Bulge. Instead of meeting his English girl-friend for Christmas celebrations in York on his night off, Andre and his crew found themselves in a desperate situation over the heavily defended Ruhr region of Germany. His plane was hit several times and he fell out of the plane unconscious, to find later that he was one of only two survivors and most of his crew mates had been shot. This gripping and emotional story is a reminder of the horrors of war and its consequences for everyone.  The film will be screened at the Imperial War Museum Theatre in London at the following times and is to be voted upon by the audiences at the screenings, prior to the Award Ceremony on March 13th 2012.

If you are in London at any of these times please support  our film.

Screening times are:

2nd December – 16:00 / 12 December – 15:00 / 11th January – 15:00 / 13th January – 11:30 / 18th January – 16:00 / 26th January 14:00 / 2nd February 10:30 / 3rd February – 15:00 / 9th February – 11:30 / 10th February – 16:00 / 16th February – 14:00 / 23rd February – 10:30 / 24th February 14:00.   

Bon chance!

‘Kids Amnesty’ at Yorkshire Air Museum if Public Sector Workers Strike!

 The award winning Yorkshire Air Museum will offer free admission to all children on Wednesday 30^th November if the scheduled strike by public sector workers goes ahead. It is hoped that this gesture will help hard pressed parents and guardians who have to make alternative arrangements if children are not able to attend school and what could be better than a great and, most importantly, educational day out.

 Kids can reach for the sky and discover the history of flight and Yorkshire’s literally ground breaking role in the invention of the aeroplane in our Pioneers of Aviation exhibition, get up close to many historic aircraft from the early days to the supersonic age and explore the historic WWII Bomber Command Station upon which the museum is based.

 Child admission is usually £4 for children aged between 5 and 15, so this ‘kid’s amnesty’ is a great incentive to come along and enjoy a day with us!

The Yorkshire Air Museum’s rare and impressive Nimrod MR2 XV250 will cause a flurry of excitement for aviation enthusiasts and the general public alike on Sunday 11^th December when it will perform a full engine run and fast taxi down Elvington Airfield’s long runway.

 Crewed by a full team of ex RAF Nimrod air and ground crew, XV250 is the most pristine and well maintained Nimrod left in existence and this spectacle in fact performs a vital part in the aircraft’s long-term maintenance and upkeep, to keep all systems running. The four Rolls Royce Spey engines give a mighty roar to the ‘Mighty Hunter’, as the aircraft is referred to, as the type took its name from the Biblical character Nimrod, the mighty hunter! This £400 million aircraft was considered by many to have been the most sophisticated plane to have served with the Royal Air Force, and the most successful intelligence and surveillance platform, having notched up forty years of service. However, it remained as somewhat of an enigma to the general public, as it was rarely seen, either in service or in air shows, so it is little wonder that it has become such an attraction at the Yorkshire Air Museum.

 The run also offers a good working opportunity for the Museum’s Fire Service, unique in the museums sector, as they will be on hand to provide cover should an emergency arise, utilising the 38 tonne Pathfinder airport fire tender, a spectacle in itself,  and other rapid response vehicles.

  Although the Nimrod’s engines are run regularly during the season, this rare opportunity to take it for a full run has arisen and we are grateful to the airfield management for their co-operation with this. Due to the number of other events that take place on the airfield, there are now few opportunities for a full taxi run of the Nimrod, so we expect many visitors to make the most of it.

Gates open at 10am and admission is £7 Adults, £5 Concessions and £4 Children.

Rare “one off” opportunity to see inside the famous £400,000,000 spy plane.

The Yorkshire Air Museum’s famous Santa’s Plane event will this year feature an exciting new twist as he will be found with his Elves in the live and very rare Nimrod MR2 ‘spy plane’!! The ‘Mighty Hunter’ is the Museum’s latest aircraft and for the three days of  Sunday 18th, Tuesday 20^th and Wednesday 21^st December this exclusive opportunity exists to see Santa aboard the aircraft, which will be powered up and very much ‘live’. Great fun for mum’s and dad’s too!!

 Santa will once again be flying in direct from the North Pole courtesy of Full Sutton Flying Club who will be going out of their way to collect Santa and bring him to Elvington for his pre Christmas visit. The Museum’s fantastic ‘Fireman Sam’ and his team will be on hand to transport Santa from the airfield aboard the huge airport fire engine and let kids explore this mighty machine after they have seen Santa and got a present!! Santa will fly in at 11am only.

 What a way to build up the festive atmosphere and you can enjoy all the Museum’s fascinating exhibits and enjoy a tasty Christmas Lunch and a tipple or two in our cosy Restaurant!!

 Tickets are priced at just £7.50 per person (adults and children) making this a great value festive treat.

 Santa’s Plane will be held on Sunday 18^th, Tuesday 20^th and Wednesday 21^st December only and to book your tickets and find out more about this exclusive event, please call: 01904 608595 or 01904 608719. Pre Booked admission only.

 The Museum opens at 10am and Santa will fly in at 11am, so be there on time for his exciting arrival.