Top Air Museums in England

Don’t forget Brooklands.

Oh! Excellent call. How could I have forgotten that? Though I haven’t been since it transformed into Mercedes World 😡

Moggy

I’d just like to echo what Whirlwind 2BA has posted above . Some friends and myself called into Aeroventure today en-route to Finningley to see the Vulcan and were very impressed with both the aircraft and exhibits on show and today was an open cockpit day too so a definite thumbs up all round ! The entrance fees are very reasonable , probably too much so , there is a well stocked shop , hot drinks and snacks and plenty to see with every corner and space filled with aviation related goodies . Well worth a visit if you are ever ‘up north . More details here ; http://www.aeroventure.org.uk/

The Vulcan visit was organised through the VTS team who are now taking bookings for visits on 3 days per week , 3 visits per day – better check the website to make sure though ! It was £10 per head which gets you a vist to the supporters shop in the Robin Hood airport terminal , a reduction in your car parking fee plus of course the chance to get up close and personal with XH558 in her new home in Hangar 3 . We were in there for about 2 hours with a guided tour available or the chance just to wander around at leisure with no barriers to contend with . There is a 20% reduction for VTS members but as they need the cash we paid the full amount , the stafff were very good and we also had rear crew member Barry Masefield with us today and there is a small cafe too . All in all a good day out ! More gen here ;
http://www.vulcantothesky.org/appearances.html

If you want ‘real aircraft’ ;), by that I mean helicopters, then you must go to Doncaster Aeroventure if you are ‘up North’ as they say. A fine example of a Volunteer run museum covering many aspects of aviation from the first ever UK ‘airshow’ at Doncaster in 1909 to a very comprehensive Falklands collection with lots more besides.

NEWARK – in my opinion the best! I mean, they “DO THINGS” Like Cockpitfest and those ace Aeroboots!

They also had a fantastic NIGHT PHOTO SHOOT last year too.

……… Is there an up to date printed guide/directory available which lists all UK aviation museums/collections? – or an online equivalent?

This site is quite a good online version http://www.aviationmuseumguide.co.uk/

Good thread. A “grand tour” is well overdue for me also!
Is there an up to date printed guide/directory available which lists all UK aviation museums/collections? – or an online equivalent?

Flypast does one every now and then.

Air museums in England

Hi.
If you’r in Dumfries and Galloway, call in at the Dumfries Aviation Museum. There are quite a number of aircraft, they are not roped off and you can sit in some of them. There is also a three story control tower packed full of aviation history, Many jet engines and again nothing is roped off. This time of the year it is open on Saturdays and Sunday. May to September, open Wednesday to Sunday.

Ken

There are others such as the Cold war elements at Bentwaters I believe and also a museum at Sywell and the Fenland Museum!!!
Is there not a museum at Wattisham as well?
Is the Booker air museum still a going concern?
There is the Twinwood farm tower museum where Glen Miller flew out from on his fateful mission.
There is also a small museum at Harrington near kettering which was the home of the 801st/492nd BG ‘The Carpetbaggers’.

Good grief, when you really start looking into this, we really are fortunate to have such a wide and varied selection to choose from and I would also think it fairly true to say that there are not really two that are too much alike either.

Bomberboy

And for those of you who like to see/hear your museum exhibits living and breathing there’s Bruntingthorpe!

I’m a little bit surprised not to see a mention of my local museum – the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum – in anyone’s list.

It has a number of significant and/or interesting airframes among its 15 aircraft including 2 World Airspeed Record holders – Donaldson’s 1946 meteor and Duke’s 1953 Hunter – a 1 Squadron Hunter F5 which was based at Tangmere from 1955 and saw operational service in the Suez Crisis, the prototype Sea Harrier FRS2 and the Spitfire Society’s magnificent full-size replica of the prototype Spitfire.

The 3 display halls contain thousands of fascinating artifacts and many of the displays have been upgraded or replaced over the last 5 years or so and a number now include interactive touch screens and audio visual displays. There are also several flight simulators for visitors to try including the magnificent new Lightning simulator which was built entirely in-house and was the subject of a major feature in Flypast a couple of months ago.

If you’ve never been or your last visit was more than 3 years ago, this is definitely one to add to your list.
PP
http://www.tangmere-museum.org.uk/index.php

What about the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop, that has some interesting exhibits seen nowhere else. The Hafner Rotabuggy and Rotachute
Are just bizarre.

Yes I would add the Museum of Army Flying, well worth a visit, just seeing the Horsa and Hamilcar makes you realise the enormous bravery of the people who flew them and the soldiers who were taken into battle in one.

Richard

Good thread. A “grand tour” is well overdue for me also!
Is there an up to date printed guide/directory available which lists all UK aviation museums/collections? – or an online equivalent?

Don’t forget Brooklands.

Been to a lot of the places and all are extremely interesting.

For the big museums:

Duxford, Hendon, Newark, Shuttleworth.

The smaller museums, well I love them: Hawkinge, East Kirkby, Norfolk & Suffolk. Control tower museums such as Parham, Rougham.

If you visit Hawkinge go down the road to the Battle of Britain mermorial at Capel Le Ferne! 😀

James

What about the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop, that has some interesting exhibits seen nowhere else. The Hafner Rotabuggy and Rotachute
Are just bizarre.

Great thread.

Some of the best museums in the uk for me are the ones like Hawkinge, Flixton and some of the control towers. They tend to have lots of parts from crashed aircraft and I find the stories of the crew and the aircraft far more interesting than an aircraft hanging from a roof in some modern building.

One that hasn’t been mentioned is Headcorn in Kent. Packed full of history, in particular Battle Of Britain crash remains. Quite a few engines, Merlins. Daimler Benz etc. Very interesting, only open on Sundays.

Avoids include the IWM North in Manchester. Both as it is (or was a couple of years back) almost devoid of interesting content.

From what I hear, i’ll bet you can’t wait to see what they do at lambeth then!

I’ll leave Scotland for the Scots amongst us to comment on as I really don’t know the museums there very well.

East Fortune is a good museum.

If you like old airfield and tower museums, then also consider;

Bassingbourn Tower – RAF pre & post war/91st BG (Memphis Belle’s wartime home).
Horham – 95th BG Red feather club
Debach – 490th BG
Seething – 448th BG
Bury St Edmunds – 94th BG & have lunch at the Flying Fortress pub.

Big collections for me would be;

Duxford
Yeovilton
Hendon
Cosford
Elvington
Newark

Perhaps it would be good to take in a mixture of some large, some medium and some small

Bomberboy

Thanks gents, this thread’s already full of great ideas and that’s why I came here to ask. I really do appreciate the help. Will certainly be making return trips to Duxford and Hendon, and many of you have suggested places I was thinking about and may add to the list. Moggy’s suggestions regarding the Mosquito Museum and East Kirby are now on the list, and JDK’s idea regarding the Science Museum is brilliant. That’s one I would have overlooked again if not for the tip. I’ve already go a lot to go on, and a lot more research to do. Thanks again everyone.

DC