The Helicopter Museum

The seaside town of Weston-super-Mare near Bristol is home to the largest museum in the world dedicated to helicopters. The collection was started privately by the aviation writer Elfan ap Rees in 1958 and moved to a former airfield at Weston-super-Mare in 1978. It continued to build its collection, often saving helicopters from being scrapped. The museum is now a charity that aims to preserve an authoritative collection of helicopters for the long term. It opened to the public fully in 1989. There are 100 helicopters and autogyros in its collection, from Britain, the United States, Russia and other European countries. The museum also has 50 helicopter engines. Nearly all the British aircraft were built by Westland, the other European ones are mainly by Mil and Aérospatiale and the American ones by Bell or Hughes, but the diversity is enormous and includes many lesser-known manufacturers.

The Helicopter Museum
Locking Moor Road
BS24 8PP Weston-super-Mare
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 1934 - 635227
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