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We've changed our name!

The Manx Aviation Presrvation Society has changed its name to The Manx Aviation and Military Museum. This is simply to reflect the fact that the society now concentrates its efforts on the museum which, after all, is its public face. 

We've got a new board of trustees and we hope that their enthusiasm will mean that we shall be able to embark on new projects in the future as well as keeping the museum as the top-ranked heritage attraction in the Isle of Man (See Tripadvisor)

We shall change our website very soon.

North Barrule B-17 Flying Fortress film

Culture Vannin has produced this moving film of MAPS member Mike Corlett at the crash site of USAAF B-17G 43-38856 on North Barrule.

31 American servicemen died on 23rd April 1945 when the aircraft flew into the hillside in low cloud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqBnseRKXow

 

Museum Garden and Canadian Airmen's Memorial

The museum garden and Canadian Airmen's Memorial were opened on July 6th 2014.

The memorial to 28 Canadian airmen who died in the Isle of Man in flying accidents between 1941 and 1944 was unveiled by Colonel Marc Bigaouette of the High Commission of Canada, Air Force Advisor to the United Kingdom, in the presence of the Island's Lieutenant Governor, Mr Adam Wood and Trustees, members and guests of the Manx Aviation Preservation Society. 

A memorial to the victims of B-17 "Combined Operations"

On the 67th anniversary of the crash of B-17G 42-37840 "Combined Operations" of the 306th Bomb Group of the United States Army Air Force a black granite memorial was dedicated in the presence of the family of one of the victims.

Eleven people died in the accident in which the aircraft inexplicably flew into a low hillside in the south of the Isle of Man on April 14th 1945. Ten were serving USAAF personnel whilst the eleventh was a female officer of the American Red Cross.

 

 

Island at War 2011

The museum's Morris-Commercial C9/B Self-propelled Bofors gun provided anti-aircraft cover for Douglas Railway Station for two days in August 2011 during the first "Island at War" event organised by Isle of Man Railways. The event was a great success and it will be repeated in 2012.

 

NASA Astronauts visit North Barrule

July 4 2011 - Independence Day in the USA - and four of the crew of the Space Shuttle "Discovery" are pictured on North Barrule at the memorial to the 31 Americans who were killed in the crash of B-17G Flying Fortress 43-38856 on April 23 1945

This report is taken from the December 2011 issue of "Station Flight", the MAPS newsletter. It is written by Ivor Ramsden.

The Morris-Commercial C9/B Self-propelled Bofors gun

In  March  2010  the  museum  put  its  Morris-Commercial  C9/B Self-propelled Bofors gun on display.

The Embraer Bandeirante

EMBRAER EMB-110P1 “BANDEIRANTE”, G-BGYT Manufacturer’s number 110-234, built in 1979 by Embraer in Brazil. Powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 engines.

Wartime bell

In April 2006 The Manx Aviation and Military Museum put on display a bell which originally belonged to the Royal Navy radar training station, HMS Valkyrie, in Douglas in the Second World War.

Motorcycle Museum

In late September 2005 we learned of the closure of Murray's Motorcycle Museum, a unique attraction at the Bungalow at a foot of Snaefell on the TT Course. Museum Director Ivor Ramsden remembered that he had seen a couple of aviation-related items there on a recent visit and made enquiries as to what might be available. Literally everything was for sale, and Peter Murray was good enough to collect all the aviation items together for him.

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