New Brooklands museum hangar!

(All images credit to google images unless stated otherwise)

Very recently, the Bellman hangar at Brooklands museum in Weybridge was finally reopened after repositioning and refurbishment under a national lottery grant. The weekend after it opened, I (of course) had to pay it a visit to see what all the excitement was about. The new Hangar is amazing, centred around the Loch Ness Wellington bomber, built at Brooklands that was pulled out of the famous Loch after crashing in it. The new hangar focuses less on the aircraft themselves and more about the design and manufacture process and the people who`s lives were centred around this. The museum`s P.1127 Kestrel VTOL prototype (one of the museum`s three members of the harrier family) is on a stand on the mezzanine, overlooking the vistors. Aircraft displays include: a TSR2 cockpit and nose, a valiant cockpit and nose, the Loch Ness wellington, the P.1127, a Hawker hunter and much more! The new display also incorporates several interactive screens where you can design an aircraft to fit several specifications (very enjoyable!) as well as many stations where kids (and big kids!) can try their hand at aircraft manufacture (not without volunteer supervision and direction of course!). The new Bellman hangar is amazing overall, however I am slightly disappointed with the lack of aircraft models as in the previous hangar that I loved when I was younger. The main hangar has a scarce supply of fully assembled aircraft for a museum hangar, however the museum have also constructed a secondary "flight shed" behind the Bellman hangar containing loads of information about the flight school and test pilots. There are also many aircraft including a hawker hunter and an early harrier jump jet that you can sit inside with volunteers ready to tell you stories of the aircraft and answer any questions you may have! Being an avid Brooklands visitor for 11 years i may be slightly biased in saying that this hangar is another astonishing piece of work from the museum and i can`t wait to see the future of the site! Congratulations Brooklands!

(above) the old Bellman Hangar (note the deteriorating beams)

(above) The brand new hangar! (unfinished at the time of the photo note the scaffolding)