A TEAM of volunteers from the Helicopter Museum has restored an orginal control tower from Weston Airfield for an exhibition. 

The exhibition, which will be opened by actor Richard Gibson on April 8 has been in the planning for several years and was funded by a £134,000 grant from the Coastal Communities Fund.

Lee Mills, general manager of the Helicopter Museum, based in Weston-super-Mare said:“There is a certain irony about Herr Flick opening this exhibition.

“Bearing in mind the huge contribution made to the war effort by the shadow factories and RAF Locking during the Second World War.

"We are all really excited about the opening and look forward to welcoming all the Veterans who will be attending.

“The Weston-super-Mare area actually has a rich vein of aviation history, stretching all the way back to before the First World War.

 “Airline operations from the new airport took place from the mid1930s and Bristol Aeroplane Co. shadow factories and RAF Locking were established in the early days of the Second World War.

“The control tower is especially notable as having originally been a cab shelter on Weston seafront, relocated to the airfield when the Borough Council agreed to establish an airport on the outskirts of the town in 1935.”

 Organisers say the new control tower will be launched during a special commemorative weekend featuring WWII Veterans, around 150 re-enactors, military displays and 40 vehicles.

Special guests include the last surviving Dambuster, George 'Johnny' Johnson who will be attending the event over the weekend to chat to visitors about his unique aviation history and to view the new exhibition.

Elfan Ap Rees, chairman of The Helicopter Museum Trustees, said:“When the idea of a museum to represent the history of the helicopter was first initiated in the late 1970s, we registered the name as 'The British Rotorcraft Museum and Avon Air Collection Limited' with the idea in our minds of eventually covering the wider local aviation scene.

"It’s taken nearly 40 years to happen and we are very grateful to the volunteers and support from local companies that has enabled us to complete the project at a fraction of the cost that would normally be budgeted by most museums.

"We now hope the new exhibition will remind visitors and new residents to the town, of the part Weston played in the West Country’s aviation history.”

The Museum said they are now also is keen to set up a new group of volunteer wardens who are willing to give up three or four hours a week to show visitors around the exhibition and share their own local aviation knowledge.

For more information email helimuseum@btconnect.com or call 01934-635227.