A spectacular festival of motoring and aviation not only brought a fabulous array of vehicles and aircraft from across the country roaring into the Army Flying Museum at Middle Wallop, Hampshire last Saturday (13 July), but also saw air displays introduced into the event for the very first time. 

The Army Flying Museum, and the adjacent Army Air Corps airfield, saw aircraft, motorcycles, classic and super cars descend for the fourth Wallop, Wheels and Wings event, attracting over 4000 visitors. The event, which was sponsored by GKN Aerospace and Rolls-Royce Ltd, was undoubtedly the biggest and best it has hosted, and the air displays began in style with a superb performance from the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team.  The afternoon saw displays from the Rolls-Royce Heritage Flight’s Spitfire PR.XIX and P-51 D-25NA Mustang, along with the Navy Wings Stinson Reliant I and culminated with a breathtaking display from the Gazelle Squadron, with their four Westland Gazelle HT2/3 helicopters.

On the ground there were many classic and super car clubs in attendance, spanning over one hundred years of motoring including the Wessex Area Lotus Club, Aston Martin Owners’ Club, the MX5 Owners Club and the Austin Healey Club, along with a wide range of superbikes and vintage motorcycles.

Special displays for 2024 included a commemoration to D-Day 80 with Men or Arnhem and Ham and Jam Living History Groups, which also saw visitors able to experience sitting in a replica Horsa Fuselage and to bring the displays completely up to date, visitors were also able to view the new Boeing AH-64E Apache AH1 which was especially brought out of the hangar for visitors to see.

For the first time, the event showcased a number of interactive STEM activities in its Discovery Den, with hands on opportunities including VR Headsets, Wind Machines and lots more to keep young minds buzzing, including GKN’s very own robot.

A shopping village showcased many local traders and visitors were treated to lots of great delights from local businesses including The Gin Palace, New Forest Shortbread, Homemade Brownie Company and many more.

Lucy Johnson, Army Flying Museum CEO, said: We are so thrilled to have welcomed over 4000 people to our biggest and best-ever Wallop Wheels & Wings. This is the key event in the museum’s fundraising calendar, and it is so important in helping to raise the profile of the Museum and the work that we do. It was fantastic to see so many happy, smiling faces and to see such a magnificent display of cars, bikes and aircraft join us, our highest number of exhibitors to date.  Introducing air display elements to the event this year was particularly special and it was great to see the delight on our visitors faces as they watched the spectacular displays taking place.  Roll on 2025!" 

Wallop Wheels and Wings 2025 is set to take place on Saturday 12 July.