Planning on a aviation museum roadtrip east England

Well there’s enough to chose from, five days is too short:D
Thanks again.
Cheers
Cees

Whilst not a museum the new Memorial at the International Bomber Command Centre is well worth a visit. Even more so if you have any relatives who were lost while with Bomber Command.
The staff are very helpful and will give you a poppy to place next to a name on the steel panels. It is about 30 mins from East Kirkby.

https://internationalbcc.co.uk/

Have a good trip

Mike

Also in Kent, and going back to the earliest days of UK aviation, is the Isle of Sheppey. Shellbeach/Leysdown was the first home of the Royal Aero Club and there is a rather good statue of Maurice, Eustace and Oswald Short on the site. Just a couple of minutes away is the former Eastchurch airfield, with several listed buildings and now a new museum on the site too. This was another important early aviation site and a former RNAS/RAF airfield. There’s also an aviators’ memorial in Eastchurch village.

https://eastchurchaviationmuseum.org.uk/

Not too far from there is Rochester Airport, home of Medway Aircraft Preservation Society. Current projects are a Short Scion and a Spit. Open to visitors only on select mornings, check ahead before travelling.

https://www.mapsl.co.uk/

If you can stretch your journey a few junctions anti-clockwise round the M25 from Essex, try the De Havilland museum. Three Mosquitos among other things.

Just to add to the impossibility, there are also museums at Wethersfield and Ridgwell in Essex, bothe former Stirling (amongst other types) bases.

Adrian

East Essex Aviation Group at the Martello tower, Point Clear, near Clacton.

They have lots of small exhibits, as well as the front end of a P51 “little Zippie ?”.

Bob T.

Hi cebro
Im glad your taking in the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Hawkinge you are going to need best part of a day to get around this Gem dont forget the Bristol Blenheim project is also on show, there are also some great Museums being put forward above.

What a great idea for a road trip please keep us in touch with your journey.

Not so much of a museum, but the B-17 cockpit project is in Essex and open to visitors who want to sit in an stock B-17 cockpit

Don’t forget USAAF museums eg 100BG at Thorpe Abbots, 453BG at Old Buckenham, 448BG tower at Seething and 94BG tower at Rougham….amongst others. Training dome at RAF Langham, RAF Radar Museum at RRH Neatishead and if you want somewhere to stay, the control tower at the old North Creake base in North Norfolk is now a B&B (well recommended apparently)….

Cees
Invest in the latest edition of Wrecks and Relics and take it from there, literally and metaphorically.

Most museums and places of interest can be found on tracesofwar.com. You can filter on country, county and then filter on museum.

Some stuff in Kent https://goo.gl/maps/8wKkLbLcAok

Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge & the Capel the Fern Memorial both very close to Folkestone

Bleriot Memorial and Secret Tunnels at Dover Castle. You could easily spend a day here!

Manston for the RAF Museum and the Spitfire & Hurricane Museum (don’t worry they’re next to each other)

Past Reculver beach where the bouncing Bomb was tested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reculver#Bouncing_bombs

RAF West Malling Control Tower & Twitch Inn if your trip coincides with the 8th & 9th of September
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=raf%20west%20malling
http://www.themallingsociety.org.uk/about/twitch-heritage-centre/

Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar https://bigginhillheritagehangar.co.uk/

Dates for your dairy would be Shuttleworth airshows are Sunday 5th August, 2nd September and 7th October, with the annual DH Moth Club gathering on 12th August.

DH Moth Club gathering (Moth Rally lite!!) is indeed on the 12 Aug but is at HENLOW not Old Warden. You also need to pre-book with the
Moth Club to gain admission. You cannot just “turn up” on the gate.

Shuttleworth collection in Bedfordshire is a must!

Dates for your dairy would be Shuttleworth airshows are Sunday 5th August, 2nd September and 7th October, with the annual DH Moth Club gathering on 12th August.

Thanks chaps,

Very useful. Planned length of the trip is 5 days. Will do some research.
Cees

Depending on your time scale would suggest.
Dover to Manston, both a museum with a collection of RAF types Hunter, Jaguar, Meteor ect and the Spitfire / Hurricane memorial. Note these are separate museums with different opening times.
to North Weald, not really a museum but lots of interesting things to see. The airfield is open, if stopped at the gate just say your visiting the Cafe / Squadron. Sure others will give a better idea of what you can see / photograph ect
to Duxford (or leave Duxford for the return journey ?)
From Cambridge head east via Mildenhall and Lakenheath (F-100 on main gate), dont forget there is a Hunter F6 at Beck Row, just north of Mildenhall, private owned but should be photographable from the road.
to Bungay and the Norfolk and Suffolk air museum at Flixton, do not under estimate how much there is to see and learn at this collection, from there north to Norwich, Norwich city council office have a Jaguar on a pole, Norwich Airport has the Air Museum, Heading west along the A47 you past close to RAF Marham, not sure how close you can get to see the Canberra, Tornado and Victor ? Continuing along the A17 you will past Fleet Hargate with a Hunter in the car park at road side cafe.
Into Lincolnshire, the sea side town of Skegness has a Lightning T5 at a campsite / aqua park. Heading inland you will find East Kirby and ten miles away RAF Coningsby. The BBMF visitors centre and cafe are open daily, but the Phantom and Tornado on the main gate require advance permission to photograph, a Lightning can be seen next to the main Typhoon ramp, and another Lightning and Harrier are within the HAS site. Just north at Tattershall Thorpe is another easily seen Lightning F1.
Back on the A17 heading west you past RAF Cranwell, the Jet Provost and Domine are easily seen from the road running past the guard room, suggest you ask permission to stop and photograph them, to the south of the A17 is a heritage centre with a JP in the court yard and a Vampire nose inside. 15 mile further is Newark Air Museum.
That is probably the limit of your road trip time to head south ?
RAF Wittering has Harrier GR9 on the gate, the base has a heritage hanger with very limited opening times but contains P1127, GR3, GR7 and T4, worth trying to arrange a visit ?, straight down the A1 at Biggleswade you will find the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden. Continue down the A1 just inside the M25, is the Mosquito Museum and further you will find RAF Museum Hendon

Hope I can leave you to look at opening times, length of visit and driving time, but any question please ask.

Paul

Hi Cees

A must for Essex is Stow Maries Airfield: http://www.stowmaries.org.uk/

Are you planning a summer trip or something later in the year?

You could always pop over the Lincolnshire border into Nottinghamshire and pay Newark Air Museum a visit!

http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/

well Cees

If you can go as far as Cambridgeshire, there’s a certain Stirling that awaits your attention 🙂

John