June 1, 2010
The Battle of Britain Beacon
Artist's rendering of the Battle of Britain Beacon.
To mark this year’s 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force Museum has begun initial planning for a new exhibition building, tentatively called the Battle of Britain Beacon.
The 350-foot-tall structure (taller than Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty, and the United States Capitol building) will feature dogfighting aircraft suspended at the building’s top, outside a glass roof. Visitors, notes the RAF Museum Web site, will experience all aspects of the Battle, “from the work of the groundcrews, whose tireless endeavours kept the aircraft in the air, through the life of the civilian population, to the gallant efforts of those who fought in the skies above Great Britain.”
The museum’s aircraft collection includes a Gloster Gladiator, a Hawker Hurricane, a Supermarine Spitfire, a Supermarine Seagull, a de Havilland Tiger Moth, a Junkers Ju87G-2 and Ju88R-1, Messerschmitts Bf 109E-3 and 110G-2, among others.
The museum’s press release ends with a caveat: “The provision of the required private sector funding…will dictate when the Trustees of the Museum will take the final decision to proceed with construction. However, by the 75th Anniversary of the Battle in 2015, only a small number of the gallant ‘Few’ who flew in the Battle would be able to witness this project becoming a reality.”
Watch a video clip of the proposed exhibition building, below:
Almost more modern-art sculpture than building – very cool.
Comment by YJ — June 9, 2010 @ 10:32 am