Royal Airforce Museums
Shane Thurston • March 16, 2020
Shane's UK aviation tour
On a recent working trip to the UK I had the opportunity to visit several aviation museums. So here’s some tips if you plan to visit the UK.
Royal Airforce Museum, Hendon
About 40 minutes north of London by car or bus. Free entry, but they do ask for a donation.
They have over 100 fully restored aircraft from the early pioneer days through both world wars and to today. Mainly focused on British aircraft but they also have a fine collection of USAF and captured WW2 German Aircraft. I spent the best part of a day here.
Royal Airforce Museum, Cosford
Around 3 hour drive north of London by car. Free entry, but they do ask for a donation.
Cosford is basically an extension of Hendon. It houses many of the larger Transport and bomber type aircraft as well as the obscure stuff like one-off test aircraft, new designs that never went into production, rockets and missiles. Probably not worth the drive just for this unless you are passionate, but a good stop for a couple of hours if you are travelling North towards Manchester or Liverpool.
Imperial War Museum, Duxford
Around a 2 hour drive North-East of London by car near Cambridge.
Entry is £20. You can also join the Imperial War Museum for £35. This gives you unlimited entry for 12 months at Duxford, HMS Belfast, Churchill War rooms and the London Imperial War Museum. If you have the time pay the £35 and visit the lot.
Duxford was by far my favourite, in fact I spent all day there and then went back for another full day a couple of weeks later.
Ex RAF Duxford still retains many of the WW2 hangers and buildings. There are many restored aircraft on display as well as access to the private Warbird hangers and the restoration workshops. Some of the larger aircraft are also open for a walk through such as the Concorde, Comet, and by appointment the Lancaster.
There are three museums in Lincolnshire worth a visit
About 3 hours north of London by car. RAF Scampton is the home of 617 squadron (The Dambusters). This little Museum is run by a group of passionate retirees. It is only open Mon-Fri and is on the RAF base so you need to book 14 days in advance to allow time for a security check to be done. It’s worth the effort if you are interested in the Dambusters. Guy Gibson’s office is still as he left it in 1943 and Nigger’s grave is well maintained. There is a fair bit of Memorabilia but not much in the way of aircraft. If you are lucky you may see the Red Arrows practicing. They are in the air most days of the year.
Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirby
Ex WW2 RAF base. It has been kept in its WW2 configuration. It is home of the Lancaster known as Just Jane
which spent some time with the RAAF in Australia. I visited in winter during their maintenance period but if you visit in Summer you can go for a taxi ride for £300.
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Centre
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Centre is the home of 1 of only 2 remaining airworthy Lancasters (the other is in Canada). They also have a collection of Spitfires, Hurricanes and a DC3. For those of you familiar with the movie “Spitfire” hosted by the DDAC, these are the Spitfires in the movie. In Summer the Memorial Flight perform fly-overs at many major historic events and air shows in the UK. Like everything else in the UK, in winter they are in pieces.
Shane Thurston
DDAC Member
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