News / Aerospace Bristol
Preserving Bristol’s aviation history and inspiring future engineers
A Grade II-listed former aircraft hangar will provide a fitting workshop space for a conservation project aiming to inspire engineers of the future.
In January, Aerospace Bristol announced plans for a £500,000 restoration of the 103-year-old building and now the museum is set to launch its new Conservation in Action workshop in the summer of 2020.
The idea is to have experienced volunteers working alongside young people to conserve aircraft such as the Bristol Bolingbroke, in a project that will help preserve the city’s aviation heritage and enable aspiring engineers and apprentices to gain important practical experience.
Hangar 16M was built by the Royal Flying Corps as part of Filton’s Aircraft Acceptance park and is described by English Heritage as “a rare surviving example of the earliest standard type of hangar”
Jess Stone (main photo), a former volunteer at the museum who went on to join the Airbus Graduate Programme, said: “Throughout my time volunteering at Aerospace Bristol, I was lucky enough to work alongside many volunteer engineers and was hugely inspired by their work and stories.
“I felt so much pride in my city’s aerospace industry and heritage, and the experience really fueled my passion for engineering. I can’t wait for the new workshop to open next summer, as I’m sure many young people will be inspired, just as I was.”
Aerospace Bristol has received partial funding for the project but has launched an appeal to help cover the cost of delivering the workshop, necessary resources and equipment.
Paul Jones, conservation manager at Aerospace Bristol, said: “The new workshop will provide a fitting home for our important conservation work and the Engineering Futures appeal will give our volunteer team the vital tools and resources they need on a daily basis.
“For instance, £10 could purchase rivets to be used on the aircraft, £25 might cover the cost of specialist work wear, or £50 could enable a young person to gain hands-on experience of heritage skills. As a charity, we rely on this support to make our work possible and preserve our heritage.”
Museum bosses also hope the new workshops will enhance the visitor experience at Aerospace Bristol.
Graham Kilsby (right) meets Aerospace Bristol’s conservation manager, Paul Jones (5th from left) and
museum volunteers, as he signs over the Bristol Bolingbroke to Aerospace Bristol
One of the aircraft set to enter the hangar is Bristol Bolingbroke 9048, a WWII bomber donated to the museum by aviation enthusiast Graham Kilsby. The aircraft served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Nova Scotia and Alaska, before falling into disrepair in storage in Los Angeles.
Amy Seadon, learning & community engagement manager at Aerospace Bristol, said: “The new workshop will allow young people to learn traditional engineering skills through work experience programmes and skills sharing sessions alongside our experienced conservation team.
“Practical encounters with STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) in action like this are key to inspiring the next generation to engage with these subjects and enable them to see themselves as the engineers and scientists of the future.”
The Conservation in Action Workshop is set to open in summer 2020 and will become the third publicly accessible aircraft hangar at the museum. Visitors can currently see inside the Concorde Hangar, which houses the last Concorde ever to fly, and the grade-II listed Hangar 16S, which houses the main museum exhibition and learning spaces.
The Grade II-listed building on the former Filton Airfield will be restored and re-purposed into a ‘conservation in action’ workshop by Aerospace Bristol
To find out more and support the appeal, visit www.aerospacebristol.org/engineering-futures-appeal
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