UK Museums: Aviation Museums
Aviation Museums in the UK
The United Kingdom as a whole has over 40 museums dedicated to aviation and flight.
There are aviation museums both large and small in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Some focus on military aircraft from particular periods such as the Battle of Britain and the Cold War, others are concerned only with civil aviation or helicopters.
See a listing of aviation museums in Britain.
Avro Heritage Museum
The Avro Heritage Museum is a fun aviation museum for children and adults alike. The site of the museum is the former Woodford Aerodrome, which opened after World War I.
The centerpiece of the museum is is a full scale replica of a Lancaster R5868 "S" Sugar. Visitors can actually enter the aircraft and experience what flying the plane must have been like.
Aircraft on display include the Avro Type F, the nose section and cockpit of an Anson G-AGPG, the nose section and cockpit of a Canberra WK118, the cockpit of a Vickers VC10, a replica of the Roe 1 Triplane and the Vulcan B.MK2 outside the museum. Inside the museum is the cockpit of another Vulcan B.MK2.
Original photographs, wall panels, model aircraft, uniforms and original aeronautical equipment help to explain the history of the company and the men and women who made and flew the aircraft.
The museum is within easy reach of both Stockport and Manchester.
Royal Air Force Museum Cosford
The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford is one of two Royal Air Force museums in the UK. The other is at Royal Air Force Museum London at Colindale (near Hendon).
The museum's large collection includes both passenger aircraft, fighter planes, bombers from the UK and overseas as well as missiles and engines.
Among the many British planes on display are an Avro Vulcan, de Havilland Mosquito TT.35, Gloster Gladiator I, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire I. From overseas aircraft include one of only two intact Junkers Ju 88R-1, a Messerschmitt Me 109G-2/Trop, a Japanese Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka and a Mikoyan MiG-21PF from the Soviet Union.
Located in Shropshire, Cosford is within easy reach of both Birmingham and Coventry as well as nearby Bridgnorth and Ironbridge.
Royal Air Force Museum London
The museum's collection is based at the former Hendon Aerodrome outside London. Hendon was one of the first civilian airfields in the UK, later becoming an RAF station during the two world wars.
There are six hangars holding aircraft each with a different theme. They are Hangar 1, RAF Stories and First to the Future; Hangar 2, the Grahame-White Factory; Hangars 3 and 4, The Historic Hangars (focussing on World War II and the Cold War); Hangars 3 and 4, The Historic Hangars and Hangar 6, RAF in an Age of Uncertainty (planes from 1980 to the present).
Also on display are thousands of books, documents, and photographs.
IWM Duxford
IWM Duxford is part of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is Europe's largest air museum.
It is located at the former RAF Duxford near Cambridge. The vast collection includes around 200 aircraft as well as military vehicles including tanks, missiles, small naval vessels as well as books, documents, film, photographs, and uniforms.
The museum is arranged round various themes and stories - the latter relate the history of the men and women involved in the armed services. It also includes several British Army regimental museums, including the Royal Anglian Regiment and the Parachute Regiment (Airborne Assault), transferred from Aldershot.
Some of the hangars at Duxford date back to the Battle of Britain and are of historic importance. On site are five hangars containing exhibits in addition to the American Air Museum, designed by Norman Foster and the Land Warfare Hall.
The Imperial War Museum is made up of five museums. These are the IWM London, the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall, IWM Duxford, HMS Belfast on the River Thames and IWM North in Manchester.
Duxford is also the venue for air shows throughout the year with performances by the Red Arrows and other airplanes both vintage and modern.
Yorkshire Air Museum
The Yorkshire Air Museum is based at the former RAF Elvington not far from York. The original buildings and hangars house exhibits related to the history of aviation in the UK. There is a recreation of a NAAFI canteen, a World War II operations room, and a French Officers' Mess.
Other buildings display bombs, medals, model aircraft, small arms, uniforms and heavy weapons such as machine guns and surface to air missiles.
There are also around 50 aircraft on display. These include an original Nimrod, DC3 Dakota, Buccaneer and Sea Devon.
There are several replicas also on display: a Spitfire, a Messerschmitt Bf-109G6 and Wright Flyer - the first successful heavier-than-air plane.
The museum's grounds has many military vehicles including tanks, armoured cars and even fire engines.
Elvington, York YO41 4AU
Gatwick Aviation Museum
Gatwick Aviation Museum close to Gatwick Airport in Charlwood, Surrey, south of London has a collection of aircraft on display both in hangars and in the open. In addition visitors can also see hundreds of model aircraft, over 20 aircraft engines and the nose sections of various planes.
Among the dozen or so airplanes at the museum are an Avro Shackleton Mk.3 PH3, Gloster Meteor T7, English Electric Lightning F53 and de Havilland Venom FB50. The museum also features the history of nearby Gatwick Airport, the second largest international airport in Britain after Heathrow Airport.
The 21 or 22 bus from Crawley bus station stops near the museum. The nearest train station is Gatwick Airport with connections to London Victoria Station.
Fleet Air Arm Museum
The Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, Somerset is dedicated to the history and aircraft of British naval aviation.
Among the diverse collection on show are both civilian and military aircraft, models of aircraft and Royal Navy vessels (in particular aircraft carriers) and aero engines.
The four main halls have aircraft ranging from wooden biplanes such as the Sopwith Baby used in World War I to the Sea Harrier, which went into service in the 1980s.
Bristol, Taunton and Yeovil are the main points of access to the museum. If coming by car exit the M5 motorway at junction 25 at Taunton. Both Lytes Cary Manor and the Haynes International Motor Museum are just a short drive away.
National Museum of Flight
The National Museum of Flight is Scotland's national aviation museum. Located at East Fortune Airfield, a former RAF station, the museum has over 40 aircraft on display. Pride of place is the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde G-BOAA along with an Avro Vulcan, English Electric Lightning, SEPECAT Jaguar and Supermarine Spitfire. Foreign aircraft on show include a Messerschmitt Me 163 (Germany), the forward fuselage of a Boeing 707 (USA) and Druine Turbulent (France). Visitors can also see aero engines, parts, photographs, medals, models, uniforms and weapons.
The museum is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. Drem is the nearest station on the line from Edinburgh Waverley Station to North Berwick. the 121 bus runs to the museum from both Drem and North Berwick.
Other Aviation Museums
Smaller aviation museums in the UK include the Wellington Aviation Museum located in an old Victorian school building in Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds. It has a private collection of RAF memorabilia and aviation art. It is open every Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.
The Armstrong and Aviation Artefacts Museum in Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland displays many of William Armstrong's inventions. Armstrong (1810-1900) was a prolific inventor and engineer who developed and manufactured hydraulic cranes, breech-loading artillery and even later warships.
The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare has over 80 helicopters on display. Visitors can enter the cockpits and take a helicopter ride.
Five miles west of Cheltenham, the Jet Age Museum is an aviation museum run by the Gloucestershire Aviation Collection. Located next to Gloucestershire Airport, the museum has a collection of aircraft, aero engines, cockpits, photographs and other items. In particular, aircraft produced by the Gloster Aircraft Company feature heavily with the Gloster Meteor F.8, Gloster Javelin FAW.9 and Gloster Gladiator II on show or under restoration.
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