Those driving into the show each morning on the main road alongside the airfield will doubtless note the presence of a Soviet-starred MiG-21 and a Royal Danish Air Force Hawker Hunter sitting outside a whitewashed building adjacent to the famous Swan pub.
This is the headquarters of Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST), the conservation group that has been behind the efforts to ensure the historic aspects of the airfield complex did not disappear following the disposal of the RAE site by the UK Ministry of Defence.
It was this modest building - whose construction as the Balloon School of the British Army's Royal Engineers started in 1907 - that became the HQ of the Royal Flying Corps in 1912 and in which the documents 'signing off' the corps' successor, the Royal Air Force, were finalised in 1918.
Newly renovated by FAST volunteers, it is now an Aladdin's cave of aviation artefacts, ranging from an early Whittle jet engine to water-cooled flying suits and wind tunnel models of early supersonic airliner designs. Half-hidden behind two landing gear wheels in a corner lies a WE177 British free-fall nuclear bomb. Inert, one volunteer assured Flight Daily News.
Due to security and flight safety issues, the building is unfortunately closed during the show. It will re-open after the flying display has ended on the final two public days, next Saturday and Sunday, remaining open until late so that show visitors can call in on their way home. After the show, the museum will revert to its normal opening hours of 10:00-16:00 on weekends.
Source: Flight Daily News
