One Day In London - Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum is on most peoples 'must do' list when they visit London, and I think we all know someone who's been and loved it.
The museum opens at 10am, and you may be surprised to see that it's situated inside a park and has it's own beautifully landscaped gardens with roses, lavender, and carefully trimmed lawns. You will instantly know you're in the right place from the imposing double cannons that greet you.

The large main hall that you first encounter contains a 'heady' mix of vehicles and exhibits from a variety of eras, on the ground, hanging in the air, and even perched precariously through spaces in the walls of each floor.

On the floor stands an impressive Soviet T-34 tank, an army field gun, armoured land rover and even the mutilated shell of an Iraqi civilian vehicle destroyed by a suicide bomber on the streets of Baghdad and turned into an art exhibit to demonstrate the horrors of war. All have interesting history and stories surrounding them.
Flying over your head are various suspended planes including the iconic Supermarine Spitfire and Harrier.

Still on the ground floor, I head to the World War I area. It's only been very recently that I have developed an interest in this period, but I'm now fascinated to learn more. Who was fighting who? and why? How did the soldiers live and cope with the hardships they endured? What weaponry and tactics were employed?
 All of these questions and hundreds more are answered in the most engaging way.
I particularly enjoyed walking through a simulated trench with shadows of my comrades around me, a British MK.IV tank appears above me to my left, as a Sopwith Camel flies over all to the battlefield noises of explosions and shouts. It's hard to imagine how the soldiers coped with the noise, disease and horrors.

Moving up to other floors, the exhibitions appear to follow a chronological path. There are extensive  World War II displays. You will see exhibits as diverse as a Rolls Royce Merlin aero-engine, a 25-pounder field gun, BMW R75 motorcycle and sidecar, Clarkair bulldozer to name but a few.
Around the main exhibits are other displays such as photographs by Cecil Beaton, paintings by various war artists, and even a skull and crossbones flag with a homemade 'Shit or Bust' motto used on a Landing Craft.
Further floors have exhibitions of modern conflicts including Suez, Korea, Cypress, Falklands & Yugoslavia
On the forth floor you encounter the Holocaust exhibition. This is an experience you will take away and never forget, as the history of the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators is told with photographs, words, and film. The sheer enormity and evil of events is powerfully portrayed. Testimonies from survivors bring a moving perspective to exhibits. At the end of the exhibition, a model of Auschwitz-Birkenau demonstrates the extent of events that occurred.

This is but a taster of the Imperial War Museum, which has many more floors, areas, and exhibits that I simply don't have the time to catalogue here. You really do need a full day here, and even then I guarantee you will leave wishing you had spent longer in certain areas.
Also, there are different ways to view the museum. On this visit I photographed as much as I could, both exhibits and information cards so I could read and view them at my leisure at home on the laptop.

Next time though I might just leave my camera at home and copy the many students who were sketching and writing copious notes about everything that interested them. Photographs, of course, can always be found online. 

Oh and did I mention, admission is free.

The Magnificent Flying Machines

Take To The Skies Once More !

The new Magnificent Flying Machines range comprises balsa plane kits that actually fly !

 

Choose from iconic World War One and Battle of Britain airplanes, vintage civilian aircraft or even a couple of traditional sports fliers including a sports glider.

The Magnificent Flying Machines range has been created by design engineer and keen aero-modeller, Andrew Darby, all models in the range have real airframes, built up from laser-cut balsa sheet and strip parts, covered with lightweight model aircraft tissue to ensure the best possible flying performance.

Some older modellers will have great memories of building and flying rubber-powered balsa planes and this great new range will thrill and inspire a whole new generation to enjoy this fun, outdoor activity.

Model plane kits make terrific presents, they look great once built and offer hours of fun. As well as allowing you to learn new skills, you get a great sense of achievement when the model is complete.

 Just one final word of warning, they are addictive, and you may find you want to collect them all . . .

Come Fly Away! with Guillows Balsa Wood Model Airplanes

A great favourite with Hobbies customers is our extensive range of Guillows Balsa wood model Airplanes
The Guillow model airplane company was founded by Paul K. Guillow, a World War I US Navy Aviator. His experience as a Navy pilot kindled in him a great interest in aviation and eventually lead to the creation and marketing of a line of small balsa wood, shelf model construction kits of famous aircraft. From the Fokker triplane to the Sopwith Camel of WWI to the P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning of WWII.

Balsa airplane models appeal to both the young and the “young at heart”. Everyone will remember the shiny red propellers of their favorite toy airplane!

The most popular kits are surely the Balsa World War II Models with a 16½" wing span - approx 1/30 scale. These easy-to-build balsa airplane kits contain die-cut balsa parts, plastic cowls and canopies, decals , plastic prop, wheels, tissue and a 24-page model building booklet.

The range includes planes such as the Messerschmitt BF-109- the best known German Luftwaffe World War 2 Fighter, and the Supermarine Spitfire Mk-1 - Britain's greatest World War 2 Fighter.

For those with an interest in the History of Flight - Don't miss out on constructing a true piece of Aviation History !! -

A replica of the first powered, heavier than air machine to achieve pilot controlled sustained flight. Guillow's has produced a Museum Quality scale replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer.

This amazing model kit has a 24" wingspan and over 150 laser cut parts.

Great Yarmouth Landmarks Recreated in Colourful Miniature

The exceptional Time & Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth is set an old Victorian Herring curing works and recreates the history of Great Yarmouth for visitors to experience. 

The latest attraction of the museum to captivate and enthrall is a quirky, automated miniature model of mechanical wizardry and saucy seaside tongue-in-cheek fun created by Suffolk toymaker Ron Fuller.

The exhibit was commissioned by the museum in response to visitor feedback requesting more interactive items, and it more than fits the bill with its bawdy, buxom Britannia swivelling her hips and spinning, a Greek Orthadox priest swinging his incense, and a couple of fishing wives riding the Joyland Snails (a great favourite of tourists and locals of Great Yarmouth, as well as some Hobbies staff ). 

Two clowns tumble a ball, a Spitfire circles a colourful revolving tower; Nelson walks the plank, an excitable dog barks, and a cheeky seagull swoops to steal a tasty treat - all fun scenes depicting Great Yarmouth's history and humourous holiday heyday. The mechanical exhibit will be the centrepiece of a  newly modelled Seaside Gallery which includes a 1950s themed seaside display showing fashions of the day, and even a replica bathing hut. Admission to the exhibit is 20p

Mr Fuller, 77, said he had great fun making the exhibit which has "as many working pieces as a Boeing 747". It took him 11 weeks and over 500 hours to complete the exhibit which meticulously recreates details of tattoo studios and seafront toilets featuring alongside a Circus Spectacular, and even a figure, representing the growing Portugese community, waving to the crowd. The exhibit also features two of Great Yarmouth's unique attractions which are no longer there, namely the Revolving Tower and the Hotchkiss Railway. The tower was removed for the war effort with the metal used to build Spitfires. The Hotchkiss Railway was a bizarre commuter track for cyclists and was sold to Blackpool.

Mr Fuller studied art & theatre design at the Royal College of Art. He had a career in teaching before going on to make wooden toys for a living in 1972. His work is highly prized and sold in specialist shops world-wide. 

Flypast for Norwich by Britain's only Female Spitfire Pilot

There's an exciting 'first' happening in Norwich on Saturday 29th June, 2013.

Appearing at 'Sparks in the Park,' at Poringland Memorial Playfield, Norwich, Norfolk. NR14 7RF. Britain's only female Spitfire pilot is flying her 1944 restored ML407 Spitfire over Poringland, Norwich

'Sparks in the Park,' is the family fun event featuring live music, children's entertainment, classic cars, funfair rides, food & drink, and a grand finale firework display at 10.30pm. The event will be opened at 2.30pm by ITV weather reporter Amanda Houston. Music from Scratch the Cat; The Nigel King Band; Dale Bullimore ( Michael Buble Tribute ); Emma Crowther & Just Jazz. The Spitfire display will be between 3 - 3.30pm dependant on weather and flight paths. Pay on the gate. Tickets are £5 per adult, children under 15 are free.

"The Spitfire embodies Britain at its very best. When this country was on its knees, it came to the forefront," says Carolyn Grace, owner and pilot of the 1944 Grace Spitfire.



Carolyn Grace is currently the only female spitfire pilot in the country. She has been flying displays for 21 years and is known for her acrobatic loops and rolls as she presents every possible angle of the Spitfire to her spectators. Carolyn took on the expert tuition required to be a Spitfire pilot in memory of her husband Nick, who tragically died in a car accident in 1988 after spending three years restoring the aircraft. In 1990 she gained solo certification, and in 1991 her display permit. Since then the Grace Spitfire has been a regular on the display circuit, and can even be hired for private fly pasts.



The Grace Spitfire is thought to be just one of two 2-seater Spitfires that are airworthy in the UK. It was built in 1944 and was involved in 176 operations during World War II in the service of New Zealand, Belgian, Polish, Norwegian and Free French RAF squadrons. It was the first Allied plane to shoot down an enemy aircraft above the Normandy beaches on D-Day by Pilot Johnnie Houlton, of the 485 New Zealand Squadron. Of the 20,000 Spitfires built for World War II, there are only 28 still flying in the UK. One sold for nearly £2 million not long ago.

The Spitfire was not built with energy efficiency in mind: it has three fuel tanks - one at the front, two in the wings - which between them hold 160 gallons, giving the aircraft a range of approximately 650 miles.
At full pelt, the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines gobble 120 gallons of fuel per hour. That's an incredible £1000 worth of fuel!