HIGH SHERIFF HEARS MORE ABOUT MUSEUM’S ‘BRING THE SPARTAN HOME’ CAMPAIGN

High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, Graham Biss, recently paid a visit to Wight Aviation Museum to find out more about the organisation’s campaign to bring home a Spartan aircraft called ‘Helen of Troy’, which currently resides in New Zealand. Graham, who only recently began his tenure as High Sheriff, was presented with a ‘Bring the Spartan Home’ brochure, detailing the museum’s campaign to bring the plane back to the Isle of Wight as its natural ‘retirement home’. The aircraft, which was built in Cowes, is the last of its type. During his visit, Graham also learnt about the rich and diverse heritage of aviation and aerospace on the Isle of Wight. He was given a guided tour by the enthusiastic volunteers of the Wight Aviation Museum (WAM) team. In the Holleyman Shed, Richard Holleyman, a founder member of WAM, explained how the early airframes were constructed for the wood and canvas planes. Helen Blake, Chairperson, also talked about the well-known WWII pilot Mary Ellis, from the Air Transport Auxillary, who lived on the Island and was manager of Sandown Airport in the 1950s. Part of the display includes Mary’s ATA uniform donated by her family. Finally, the High Sheriff viewed the Isle of Wight Rockets display where WAM volunteer Grant Goodwin talked about the Black Knight and Black Arrow rockets which were designed, built and tested on the Isle of Wight before being shipped to Woomera, Australia for launching. The final launch in 1971, of Black Arrow R3, placed the X3 satellite into orbit around the Earth where it remains today. The High Sheriff was very impressed with museum and what the WAM Team have achieved, saying:

“I am very pleased to see the Wight Aviation Museum is developing so well, preserving and displaying artefacts and exhibits from the Isle of Wight aviation heritage but also its focus on the stories of the people from the island involved in that history!”

Helen Blake, Chairperson of WAM, enthused:

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“It’s really encouraging for the WAM Team to get prestigious visitors such as the High Sheriff and for them to appreciate our work.”