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Newark Air Museum is at Winthorpe, near Newark-on-Trent, in Nottinghamshire. The air museum is located on part of the former World War Two airfield of RAF Winthorpe, close to the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire border.
The museum contains a variety of aircraft and holds various events throughout the year including the popular Cockpit-Fest.
History
Newark Air Museum is located on a former Royal Air Force station at Winthorpe, near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. RAF Winthorpe was opened in September 1940 and from 1942 to 1944 housed '1661 Heavy Conversion Unit' which trained Avro Lancaster crews. In 1945 it transferred to 'Transport Command'.
In 1964, 200 acres of the former airfield were purchased by the Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society, who have since held the Newark and Nottinghamshire County Show. A limited company called Newark (Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire) Air Museum was formed in 1968. The museum officially opened on 14 April 1973.
At Easter 1990 the museum opened its first Aircraft Display Hall to the public and it provided 1,860 square metres of space. In 1994 the trustees instigated negotiations to purchase farmland on the museum's southern boundary with the aim of guaranteeing the museum's long-term future. Formal searches and formalities were eventually completed, allowing the purchase of 5.01 hectares of farmland to be completed prior to Christmas 1995.
In November 2004 the Museum opened its second Aircraft Display Hall to the public on completion of an extremely successful project in conjunction with the Heritage Lottery Fund. The museum continues to evolve and has achieved Accredited Museum status and the VAQAS quality standard. The museum is proud to be one of the largest volunteer managed aviation museums in Great Britain.
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