The RAF celebrated its 100th birthday last week, with a line up of events that were covered by the world's media. From the breathtaking flypast over the skies of London to the centenary service attended by senior Royals. In preparation for this centenary year, we worked closely with the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon to develop new world-class exhibitions.
New exhibitions exploring the first 100 years of the RAF and also its future, sit at the heart of the new site. We've hung countless aircraft over the years but this year's project was probably our most ambitious, at Hendon, to date.
When you're working with such monumental pieces of history, it's difficult not to be in awe of the magnificent engineering that allowed us to fight wars from the skies. It felt like our job to devise equally clever engineering solutions to display these aircraft, with the rigging as unobtrusive and as inconspicuous as possible in order that visitors to the museum barely even know we're there.
For some of these aircraft such as theEurofighter, the Harrier, the Tornado and the Predator, in Hanger Six we were able to suspend from the roof. In total we hung over 30 tonnes of aircraft from that roof – requiring some very clever rigging solutions and very well thought out weight distribution.
Hangar One threw some totally different challenges at us – only light loads could be hung from the roof and so most of the exhibits there – the DH9 and the Gnat & the Spitfire for example are mounted on steel columns. Our biggest challenge however lay in the model F35. This giant craft was to be displayed, at height above an access route – we couldn't use columns, we couldn't hang from the roof so we had to be really innovative. The result is an amazing aircraft that appears to be floating effortlessly above the heads of the museum's visitors. Achieved through foundations underground and steelwork supports running inside diagonal walls and across the ceiling from which the aircraft is suspended. We had to get this piece into its very confined space before the building fit-out was complete and so 100% accuracy was required.
Two Gate Guardians, a Spitfire & Hurricane completed the work
The result of a project that we first began planning for over 18 months ago is an astounding collection that brings visitors to the museum – young and old – closer to history that they are every likely to get. The project was a labour of love. We'd thoroughly recommend a visit this summer – whether you're 9 or 90 it's guaranteed to take your breath away.
New exhibitions exploring the first 100 years of the RAF and also its future, sit at the heart of the new site. We've hung countless aircraft over the years but this year's project was probably our most ambitious, at Hendon, to date.
When you're working with such monumental pieces of history, it's difficult not to be in awe of the magnificent engineering that allowed us to fight wars from the skies. It felt like our job to devise equally clever engineering solutions to display these aircraft, with the rigging as unobtrusive and as inconspicuous as possible in order that visitors to the museum barely even know we're there.
For some of these aircraft such as theEurofighter, the Harrier, the Tornado and the Predator, in Hanger Six we were able to suspend from the roof. In total we hung over 30 tonnes of aircraft from that roof – requiring some very clever rigging solutions and very well thought out weight distribution.
Hangar One threw some totally different challenges at us – only light loads could be hung from the roof and so most of the exhibits there – the DH9 and the Gnat & the Spitfire for example are mounted on steel columns. Our biggest challenge however lay in the model F35. This giant craft was to be displayed, at height above an access route – we couldn't use columns, we couldn't hang from the roof so we had to be really innovative. The result is an amazing aircraft that appears to be floating effortlessly above the heads of the museum's visitors. Achieved through foundations underground and steelwork supports running inside diagonal walls and across the ceiling from which the aircraft is suspended. We had to get this piece into its very confined space before the building fit-out was complete and so 100% accuracy was required.
Two Gate Guardians, a Spitfire & Hurricane completed the work
The result of a project that we first began planning for over 18 months ago is an astounding collection that brings visitors to the museum – young and old – closer to history that they are every likely to get. The project was a labour of love. We'd thoroughly recommend a visit this summer – whether you're 9 or 90 it's guaranteed to take your breath away.