Past, Present and Future

Our History

The Gloucestershire Aviation Collection (GAC), which is a registered charity, was formed over ten years ago with the main objective of establishing a museum in Gloucestershire to celebrate the County's outstanding aerospace heritage. The Jet Age Museum already has a significant collection of aircraft and other artefacts stored at several locations, the bulk of which is in temporary storage whilst the Museum works towards building new premises.

The original home of the Gloucestershire Aviation Collection was in a hangar on the former G.A.C works at Brockworth, which had become the Gloucester Trading Estate. We were given notice to quit due to development of the site, so we found a new home in Hangar 7, West Camp, Staverton Airport where we were able to open once a month to begin with, increasing to seven days a week thanks to the dedication of our volunteers. It was at this time that we adopted the title of ‘Jet Age Museum’ as our trading name.

In late September 2000, we heard from the Heritage Lottery Fund that our submission for £1.4 million to re-develop the Belfast Hanger at Brockworth had been turned down. This was a great blow to both the Committee and its members as we had worked for two years to put this submission together.

Then, in early October 2000 we were given notice to quit Hanger 7 because it had been acquired for development. This meant the aircraft and many hundreds of smaller items were dispersed to buildings around Gloucester. The aircraft were moved mainly to Bentham, a former GAC factory during WW2, for outside storage.

Unfortunately, the proposed sale of the Bentham site to a developer who had offered us a building for the museum, and who had generously allowed us to store the aircraft there rent free, fell through and we were given notice to quit by the new buyer.

So in early August 2001, the main aircraft frames were moved yet again, this time back onto the Staverton airfield, on the 'air-side' by the control tower. Since then, we have had to move to another location on the airfield which means access to the aircraft for restoration work is very limited and by arrangement only. We have also had two other moves of the smaller items, which were stored in two local factories that have also been redeveloped!

RIAT 2003

The Museum was well represented at RIAT 2003. We were extremely fortunate to have the Javelin and Buccaneer completely repainted by the RAF for the Hundred Years of Flight display and both received many accolades from visitors. We also managed to raise much-needed funds by opening our Vulcan cockpit to the public and through generous donations dropped into strategically placed buckets in front of the Javelin, Buccaneer and Meteor F8. The Javelin is now a very proud gate-guard at Gloucestershire Airport.

Present

The current status of the museum is that we are very much alive, albeit presently homeless. The aircraft are still in very good condition and are regularly checked and monitored.

One team of volunteers is engaged in rebuilding a Gloster Gladiator fuselage, having already completed one that has been handed over to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.

We also regularly attend local air and military vehicle shows with ‘Biggles’ and our stall, to raise awareness and funds.

The Future

We have been offered a two-acre site on the airfield at Staverton for which we have received planning permission and have now focused all our attention on building a new Museum. We envisage a small building initially, enlarging once we are established, at an overall cost in the region of £500,000. We have a further bid in to the Heritage Lottery Fund, which is proceeding well, and we continue to hope that this time we will be successful.

The new Jet Age Museum will mark the history of the jet age in a significant way with a special feature being the development of jet flight and the work of Sir Frank Whittle.

In addition, the Collection will embrace all aerospace in Gloucestershire, past and present. It will not just be a collection of Gloster aircraft but will include all aviation heritage from the historic county of Gloucestershire. Messier Dowty and Smiths Industries are just two of the local companies who continue to demonstrate the still active aerospace industry of the County.

It is also a story of Gloucestershire people; the aviation pioneers, the outstanding leaders, the test pilots, designers and factory workers and the influence they had and are still having on local society and world aviation history.

Whilst the Jet Age Museum will become an important tourist attraction, it is GAC's intention that it should also be a place of interactive learning, skills retention and development, a research resource, a focal point for all like-minded and community interests, a memorial to past achievement, an advertisement for local industry and an inspiration to future generations.