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The Helicopter Museum (Weston)
The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the former Weston-super-Mare RAF Base. History The museum originated in 1958 when its founder, aviation writer and historian Elfan ap Rees, began to build up a private collection of rotorcraft documentation and artefacts. Over the next ten years his collection grew and in 1969 he acquired his first complete helicopter, a Bristol Sycamore Mk.3. In 1974, ap Rees purchased a Bristol Belvedere and formed a volunteer group to restore it. In December 1976, an ex Royal Navy Westland Whirlwind HAS Mk.7 was acquired and added to the collection. In 1977 and 1978, more aircraft were added, including an ex Royal Air Force Bristol Sycamore HC Mk.14 and several rare prototypes: the Fairey Ultra-Light tip-jet driven helicopter, the Thruxton Gadfly HDW. ...
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Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population at the 2021 census was 82,418. The area around the town has been occupied since the Iron Age. It was still a small village until the 19th century when it developed as a seaside resort. A Weston-super-Mare railway station, railway station and two piers were built. In the second half of the 20th century it was connected to the M5 motorway but the number of people holidaying in the town declined and some local industries closed, although the number of day visitors has risen. Attractions include the Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare, Grand Pier, Weston Museum and The Helicopter Museum. Cultural venues include The Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare, The Playhouse, the Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston-super-Mare, Winter Gardens and the The Blakehay Theat ...
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Prince Andrew, Duke Of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger brother of King Charles III. Andrew was born second in the line of succession to the British throne and is now eighth, and the first person in the line who is not a descendant of the reigning monarch. Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor and as the captain of a warship. During the Falklands War, he flew on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation, and Exocet missile decoy. In 1986, he married Sarah Ferguson and was made Duke of York. They have two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Their marriage, separation in 1992, and divorce in 1996 attracted extensive media coverage. As Duke of York, Andrew undertook official duties and engagements on behalf of his mother ...
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Aérospatiale Dauphin
The Aérospatiale Dauphin is a family of helicopters manufactured by Aérospatiale, and later by Eurocopter. The family includes: * Aérospatiale SA 360 Dauphin (1) - single engine * Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin 2 - twin engines * Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin - twin engines * Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin - the SA366 G1, a Search and Rescue variant for the United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
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Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH
The Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH (''Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter'') is a small drone helicopter built by Gyrodyne Company of America for use as a long-range anti-submarine weapon on ships that would otherwise be too small to operate a full-sized helicopter. It remained in production until 1969. Several are still used today for various land-based roles. Design and development DASH was a major part of the United States Navy's Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program of the late 1950s. FRAM was started because the Soviet Union was building submarines faster than the US could build anti-submarine frigates. Instead of building frigates, the FRAM upgrade series allowed the US to rapidly update by converting older ships that were less useful in modern naval combat. The navy could upgrade the sonar on World War II-era destroyers but needed a stand-off weapon to attack at the perimeter of the sonar's range. The old destroyers had little room for add-ons such as a full flight ...
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Guardia Di Finanza
The Guardia di Finanza (; G. di F. or GdF; or ) is an Italian militarised law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance, instead of the Ministry of Defence (Italy), Ministry of Defence. Mission The mission and institutional tasks of the Guardia di Finanza are stated in law 189 of 23 April 1959, and 68/2001 and are subdivided into priority ones (preventing, investigating and reporting financial evasions and violations, overseeing the compliance with the provisions of politico-economic interest and surveillance at sea for financial police purposes) and contribution ones (maintaining public order and safety, political-military defence of the borders and international antidrug operations). The primary mission of the Guardia di Finanza is to protect the legal economy and the businesses operating in compliance with the law while ensuring that the Republic, the European Union, the regions, and the local governments can rely ...
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Mil Mi-8
The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Air Force in 1968. Russian production of the aircraft model still continues as of 2024. In addition to its most common role as a Military transport aircraft, transport helicopter, the Mi-8 is also used as an airborne command post, armed helicopter gunship, gunship, and reconnaissance platform. The Mi-8 is the world's List of most-produced rotorcraft, most-produced helicopter, with over 17,000 units used by over 50 countries. As of 2015, when combined with the related Mil Mi-17, the two helicopters are the third most common operational military aircraft in the world. Design and development Mikhail Mil originally approached the Soviet government with a proposal to design an all-new two-engined turbine helicopter i ...
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United States Army Aviation Museum
The United States Army Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located on Fort Novosel near Daleville, Alabama. It has the largest collection of helicopters held by a museum in the world.Phillips 1992, p. 37.Purner 2004, p. 204. The museum features some 50 aircraft on public display with aviation artifacts ranging from a replica of the Wright brothers' Model B military biplane to an RAH-66 Comanche. The museum has over 160 aircraft in its collection and holds 3,000 historical items. History The museum announced plans to raise money to build a new structure to replace the wooden buildings in which it was housed in 1977. The museum broke ground on a new building called the William A. Howell Training Support Facility in November 2019, which will not be open to the public. The new building opened on 12 April 2024. Collection ;World War I aircraft ;Fixed-wing aircraft ;Helicopters ;Other notable aircraft Sources: US Army Aviation Museum collection pages
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Boeing Vertol XCH-62
The Boeing Vertol XCH-62 (Model 301) was a triple-turbine, heavy-lift helicopter project designed for the United States Army by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, Boeing Vertol. Approved in 1971, one prototype reached 95% completion before it was canceled in 1975. The prototype was scrapped in 2005. Development While the CH-47 Chinook is a large helicopter by American standards, its payload of is dwarfed by the huge Soviet-Russian heavy-lift helicopters such as the Mil Mi-26, with payload, and the experimental Mil V-12, with payload. For a long time Boeing and the US military had an urge to match or top the Mil heavy lifters. In the late 1960s, Boeing came up with designs for machines with broad similarities to the Sea Knight and Chinook, but about twice the size of the Chinook in terms of linear dimensions. Proposed machines included the "Model 227" transport and the "Model 237" flying crane. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a Heavy Lift ...
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AgustaWestland AW101
The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requirements for a modern naval utility helicopter. Several operators, including the armed forces of Britain, Denmark, and Portugal, use the name Merlin for their AW101 aircraft. It is manufactured at factories in Yeovil, England, and Vergiate, Italy. Licensed assembly work has also taken place in Japan and the United States. Prior to 2007, the aircraft had been marketed under the designation EH101. The original designation was EHI 01, from the name given to the Anglo-Italian joint venture—European Helicopter Industries—but a transcription error changed this to EH101. In 2000, Westland Helicopters and Agusta merged to form AgustaWestland, leading to the type's current designation. The AW101 entered into service in 1999 and has since replaced ...
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Mil Mi-24
The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced by the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Air Force in 1972. The helicopter is currently in use by 58 countries. In NATO circles, the export versions, Mi-25 and Mi-35, are denoted with a letter suffix as "Hind D" and "Hind E". Soviet pilots called the Mi-24 the "flying tank" (), a term used historically with the famous World War II Soviet Ilyushin Il-2#"The Flying tank", Il-2 ''Shturmovik'' armored ground attack aircraft. Other common unofficial nicknames were "Galina" (or "Galya"), "Crocodile" (), due to the helicopter's camouflage scheme, and "faceted glass, Drinking Glass" (), because of the flat glass plates that surround earlier Mi-24 variants' cockpits. Development During the early 1960s, it became apparent to Soviet designer Mikhail Mil th ...
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Kamov Ka-26
The Kamov Ka-26 (NATO reporting name Hoodlum) is a Soviet light utility helicopter with Coaxial rotors, co-axial rotors. Development The Ka-26 entered production in 1969 and 816 were built. A variant with a single turboshaft engine is the Kamov Ka-126, Ka-126. A twin-turboshaft–powered version is the Kamov Ka-226, Ka-226. (All the Ka-26/126/128/226 variants are code-named by NATO as "Hoodlum"). Design The fuselage of the Ka-26 consists of a fixed, bubble-shaped cockpit containing the pilot and co-pilot, plus a removable, variable box available in Medical evacuation, medevac, passenger-carrying and aerial application, crop duster versions. The helicopter can fly with or without the box attached for flexibility. It is powered by two 325 hp (239 kW) Vedeneyev M14P, Vedeneyev M-14V-26 radial engines mounted in outboard nacelles. The Ka-26 is small enough to land on a large truck bed. The reciprocating engines are more responsive than turboshaft engines, but require m ...
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Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet Union, it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country by area, extending across Time in Russia, eleven time zones and sharing Geography of the Soviet Union#Borders and neighbors, borders with twelve countries, and the List of countries and dependencies by population, third-most populous country. An overall successor to the Russian Empire, it was nominally organized as a federal union of Republics of the Soviet Union, national republics, the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR. In practice, Government of the Soviet Union, its government and Economy of the Soviet Union, economy were Soviet-type economic planning, highly centralized. As a one-party state go ...
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