Duxford the best choice?

I wanted to let those of you who were giving me advice a few months ago regarding where to go in England for an aviation museum visit that my wife and I made it to Hendon on our first day in London, I had a great time visiting there(my wife was very kind and came along more or less willingly), saw some great planes, even got the opportunity to go over the ropes in the Graham Factory due to the kindness of the docent on duty and get several cockpit shots. My Battle of Britain pics came out rather dark due to the subdued lighting but all and all a really great collection of aircraft. I guess next time I’ll have to go to Duxford and Shuttleworth. Really enjoyed the time spent in Great Britain. Thanks again to all who provided advice, if you ever plan on coming to Arizona to check out Davis Monthan “Boneyard” or Pima Air Museum in Tucson let me know. Brian Day

I would advise going to Duxford if at all possible.

Yesterday for example there was the opportunity to see a P-47, Spit XIV, Spit V and Hurricane all in the air.

Obviously some days there will be things flying, other days not, but if the weathers good I reckon its worth taking the chance.

Make sure you have a torch though, else you’ll miss the Lancaster and Battle completely…

If you’re heading to Hendon on public transport, take the Northern Line on the Underground to Colindale. Come out of the station, turn left, and it’s about a ten minute walk past a roundabout and then it’s on your right.

Hi Brian

I live in Australia and went to both last year on a 50th Birthday trip.

I love Duxford and have been many times but given your schedule and the fact that they have just renovated / rebuilt Hendon I would go there, but at a future time here are my to 10 picks of the UK in order.

1)Duxford
2)Shuttleworth
3)Hendon
4) Fleet Air arm Museum Yeovalton (Spelling is wrong but you get the drift)
5) IWM Lambeth (London)
6) Yorkshire Aircraft Museum
7) East Fortune
8) Newark Aircraft Museum
9) Mosquito Aircraft Museum (sort of near Duxford)
10) Cosford RAF Museum (Would have been 3 but I forgot!!!!)

There are lots of others I would also go to and you will have a great time at.

As an aside whilst I would not try to tell you how to run your life why don’t you have a chat to your wife about another visit later- I got a whole group of friends together and we had a real hoot for two weeks beating up every museum in sight as well as some airshows – I can steer you to some people who run such tours and they are both cheap and fantastic fun.

Kindest regards
John Parker

What about Hendon?

I have been looking into the best way to get to Duxford and have been rethinking going there due to the time I have available. What about going to Hendon? It appears to have quite an impressive collection of aircraft and it is much closer to London than Duxford. From those of you who offered your advice before, what do you think?

Take the tube from Kensington to Liverpool Street. The tube is very easy and probably the best way to move in London IMO. From Cambridge you could try a train to Whittlesford and walk ther 2 miles to the airfield – unless a bus goes past or one of the monkeys on here is willing to fetch you.

Thanks for the offer. Since I’m not sure how long it will take for us to through the airport and to our hotel, I think we will have to play it by ear as to when we get to Duxford. Some advice on getting from London to Duxford would be appreciated. We are going to be close to the Gloucester Road Tube Station and the Kensington Olympia Train Station. My initial research shows going by National Rail from Liverpool Street to Cambridge on London Eastern Railway. How do we get from Kensington to the Liverpool Station? Is that the best way to get Duxford? Is there a better way? Thanks for your help so far. As for any other day, I’d really love to be able to see the D-Day show but that won’t happen as we will be on our tour somewhere in northern England by then. Brian

Any chance of you delaying your museum day 1 week? There is an airshow, the D-Day one, at Duxford on the 6th…..

Brian, as your next door neighbor (Colorado) and having been over to Duxford twice in the last four years for the Legends airshow, I can tell you you won’t go wrong with seeing Duxford on your ‘aviation day’. I love the place and am not by a long shot done with attending shows over there…the whole place is great, there are historic old hangars, restoration shops, new museums, the Land Warfare hall…so much to see and usually even on the slow days you’ll probably get lucky and see a plane or two of historic importance fly unless the weather is absolute crap. Enjoy the trip and have a Pedigree for me at the pub.

Mark

Brian, I make the 30th of May to be a Sunday, so if you and your missis would like to be guided around Duxford, I’m sure some of us locals would be happy to make you feel welcome.

Thanks for the replies. Looks like Duxford will be the one as I unfortunately only have one day available to visit aviation sites. We’re arriving on the 30th and will go to Duxford as soon as possible on the 30th. Looking forward to what I’ll see. Thanks, Brian

RAF Mausoleum (sorry, Museum!) at Hendon

Its catching on 😀

Shuttleworth if it’s a flying day, no question – history in the air. If not, Duxford, hands down biggest, widest most active collections of a/c in the UK plus boats and tanks too.

If you are in London, alternatives as No.3 would be the RAF Mausoleum (sorry, Museum!) at Hendon – reachable by tube (Collindale, Northern Line, 1/2 hr from the centre) or at No.4 the Science Museum, Kensington, (relatively) central with the most historic collection of a/c in the country.

Hope this helps – what day are you in town?

Duxford and Shuttleworth must be on a par but each so very much different as flying and working museums.

Duxford is huge and you will not take it all in during one visit, the airfield is alive, it is steeped in history, it is a working museum, you can smell the leather and the dope. In my own personal experiences I have found the staff at DX so very helpful too.

Shuttleworth is very much the same, the air display days are a wondrous site.

The only drawback to each (IMO) is that for those on a fixed income, the entrance price is a little steep especially on air show days, but if it is a once in a lifetime trip go to both, to me it would be like winning the lottery twice in a week! 🙂

I have to put in a plug for the Shuttleworth Collection (which is only 30 miles from Duxford), most of the aircraft there are unique in the world.

See www.shutleworth.org

Airbedane

Personally I would say yes – the highlight for me is the TFC hangar where the aircraft smell is all to pervasive. Those aircraft are alive.

My second choice would be Hendon due to the rarity and scope of much of the collection. Can you escape a second day?