The Bristol Aeroplane Plastics Division was responsible for manufacturing various substances to be used in many items. One such substance was Glassfibre Reinforced Plastic (GRP), which was produced for several uses.

The Alpha Dinghy was a sail boat built in the 1950's, which has a hull made from GRP. It was recovered by Mike Jones from a location in Cardiff.

The Plastics Division at Filton produced many different products, include body shells for the Lotus Elan sports car in the 1960's.

In the 1960's, Filton airfield was very active, not just with from the aircraft factory, but with aircraft used as engine test beds. The Fire Service at Filton have always played a crucial role in aircraft and engine development, so this display is an important one.

This tender was built by Hampshire Car Bodies on a Thornycroft 'Nubian' six-wheel drive chassis, and the fully equiped tender was delivered on 23rd March 1963. 28 RHY spent its entire working life at Filton in the role of Airfield Crash Tender. Among a few incidents and notable occasions, this appliance attended the roll-out of the first British Concorde in September 1968, and stood by for the first flight of the same aircraft on 9th March 1969.

Although primarily for airfield use, this tender was used to attend workplace and domestic incidents when required, to act as assistance or stand-in for regular appliances. 28 RHY was retired from active service in 1990, and was presented by British Aerospace for preservation and exhibition.

Developed in the 1930's by Edward Link, the Link trainer was the first flight simulator. Although it resembles something out of a fairground, it was a serious attempt to train a pilot to fly on instruments only. It can replicate the movements of an aircraft in three axis, and was used extensively during World War 2 by both the Americans and the Japanese.

This link trainer came to us from 2152 Squadron Air Training Corps, and is being restored to fully-operational status.

Before the days of fork lift trucks, manufacturing companies relied on other means of transporting heavy equipment around their plants. The Electricar is a platform truck used by the Bristol Aeroplane Company from the late 1930's to the 1950's.

This example has been recently restored, and painted in its original green colour scheme. It was used in the Aero Engines factory at Patchway, and has tag which indicates it was the second example acquired by the Bristol Aeroplane Company.

You can read more about the restoration of this Electricar at http://www.hallvw.clara.co.uk/flying/ECweb/electricar.htm.