World Helicopter Day takes place on Sunday 19 August and to mark the occasion The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare is hosting a special Family Fun Day which includes opening some of its more unusual exhibits, that have rarely been open to the public before.

The aim of the day is to raise awareness of the contributions that helicopters make to society and to celebrate the diverse range of people that design, fly and support these unique machines. All around the World ‘rotary flight’ themed events will be taking place and in Weston-super-Mare, the home of many iconic helicopters, the day will be celebrated with a myriad of flight themed family activities, open cockpits and actual helicopter flights over the local coastline.

“Weston-super-Mare has a vast helicopter heritage, so it is only right that we help celebrate this very special day.” Said Museum Manager Lee Mills “Every day there are people relying on helicopters for rescue, disaster relief, transport, firefighting, medical transfers, agriculture and many other roles.”

Perhaps most exciting will be the chance for all visitors to sit in the cockpit of the museum’s Mil Mi-24 ‘Hind’. The Russian aircraft, nicknamed the Flying Tank, is one of the museum’s most iconic helicopters and is only opened during World Helicopter Day.

The Helicopter Museum houses the World’s largest collection of helicopters including two aircraft of the Queens Royal Flight and the World’s fastest Helicopter, with several of its aircraft enjoying top benchmark status on the National Aviation Heritage Register.

World Helicopter Day takes place on Sunday 19th August