Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton - 15/08/2008

Having stopped off at WSM's heli museum on the way down, it seemed to make sense to come home via Yeovilton and the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Despite having been to VL several times in the past, and having visited Cobham Hall over the road, I'd never actually been to see the FAAM.

The first thing that struck me was the fantastic use that had been made of allowing the public to get elevated views of the exhibits.

The light in Hall 1, however, was very orange on the exhibits, but there were also big windows allowing big banks of light in, making the task of getting the colours right really difficult (*at least for me!)

The second area wasn't so well lit, but what light there was was more consistent.

Then we came to the Carrier display! We stepped inside the Wessex helicopter and "were flown" to the carrier. As we arrived a Buccaneer happened to be recovering.

Light on the Flight Deck, even when the spotlights were on was almost non-existent. ISO1600 and 1/4 of a second was as good as I could manage at best.

After the Flight Deck wander, you get to see some of the 'non-flying' aspects of carrier life. It's all very well orchestrated by stop and go lights, and a video commentary.

Once again, lots of nice elevated views were available

So that just left Hangar 4.

There were lots of different levels of elevation available in this hangar, and the light was pretty strong and white.

All in all a very well thought out museum that does what it sets out to very effectively. A little more (and in some cases whiter) light would make the photographer's life easier, but there aren't many museums that those sentiments can't be applied to.