Display Hall 1

Welcome to the main hall in the Grade 2* listed Trenchard Building.

Exhibits to look out for include Frank Whittle’s 1943 Whittle W2/700 Jet engine and the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2, which was tested in November 1943 on the Gloster Meteor.  The Vickers F.2 was a more powerful engine than the Whittle design, but in spite of this, it had reliability issues and never saw use during the war.

For those interested in WWI, and in particular the work undertaken by the Royal Aircraft Factory in support of the war effort, an exhibition commemorating the event is currently in place.

Many examples of aviation technology are on display.  Have you ever wondered what a black box flight recorder looks like? Or how an ejection seat works? You can find out with FAST!

A huge collection of model aircraft tracks aircraft development through the 20th century in graphic fashion.

This is just a flavour of the many exhibits, which are constantly being updated.  There is always something new to discover!

Cody Pavilion

The Cody Pavilion was constructed in 2008 to house the full-scale replica of Samuel Cody’s Flyer. The replica is on show in a striking and modern building – the outer cover is similar to the roof of the Millennium Dome. Also – very appropriately – it closely resembles the Balloon Hangar of 1912 that has been restored and re-erected in the adjoining business park, which can be seen in the background from the Museum site.

The Cody Flyer Project was an ambitious undertaking by FAST volunteers to construct a full-scale replica of Samuel Franklin Cody’s British Army Aeroplane No1A. The highly accurate non-flying replica was constructed to commemorate the centenary of the first aeroplane to make a powered, controlled and sustained flight in Great Britain, which took place at Farnborough on 16 October 1908. Built at Farnborough, the replica construction took over 18 months and this extremely large exhibit (53ft wingspan) is now a visitor highlight of the FAST Museum.

Also housed in the pavilion is a replica man-carrying kite.  These were developed by Samuel Cody as a pre-cursor to his fixed wing aeroplane, to overcome the problem of not being able to use balloons for military purposes on windy days.

The Pavilion is also home to museum temporary exhibits, currently the Black Arrow Rocket and Zephyr, a lightweight solar powered UAV.

And finally, look out for the Rolls Royce Merlin Engine as used to power Britain’s outstanding Hurricane, Spitfire, Lancaster and Mosquito aircraft, as well as transforming the American Mustang from indifferent to excellent.

For a 360 degree view, please click the icon below.