Disregarding what aircraft are to be displayed at Hendon, if money has been found to spend then an attempt to link the Main Hangars, Mile Stones and the Battle of Britain buildings should be made. The Mile Stones structure could be extended to meet with the original main entrance thus providing an L shape building. The Battle of Britain building could be again extended, hopefully fully glazed towards the current museum entrance. Sadly a large gap will remain to gain access to the Graham White hangar. After all the expense off moving the GW Hangar and the other old buildings it seems they are in the wrong place, stuck out on a limb, at the end of a long uninviting driveway. Not really sure what can be done apart from some sort of long thin covered walkway, maybe the area could be landscaped with period WW2 revetments, a Harrier GR3 style covered hide, or a Cold War HAS ? complete with vehicles ect. This at least gives interest to the route to the GW. I wait with interest to see the results of the GW Hangar ‘make over’ although I am not impressed with the images so far seen.
As the museum is free entry the management must maximise revenue from the shop and catering, as part of any new building work a new catering area needs to be provided, probably at first floor level with views over the hangar display. With this in mind could the main hangar be extended into the car park providing this two storey extension. This sort of investment needs to pay for itself by generating income and foot fall, making Hendon a place to go for a good meal or an evening entertainment, exhibition space is needed to allow temporary shows, book fairs and the like. I believe these are currently held in and around the aircraft, which in my opinion is not a good idea.
Aircraft wise perhaps the time has come to lose the Mile Stones and Bomber Command themes and simply use the areas to tell the story of Britains military aviation. Obviously the aircraft can not be moved around like Airfix models and some must stay in their current locations. But with correct signage the “themes” can be retained, say colour coded Black for Bomber Command, Green for Fighter Command, Red for training and transport (a field currently over looked) The BoB has a certain appeal, but I think the film show should be shown as an introduction BEFORE entering the building. Money is being spent as we speak in the WW1 collection so best let that be seen before comment, although the removal of aircraft to Cosford will surely dilute the Hendon collection and leave some (overseas) visitors missing out. Hendon has an interesting collection of overseas aircraft maybe they deserve their own space or be displayed as a ‘Friend and Foe’ pairing ? The modern RAF must be promoted, through its history the next generation of service personnel will be inspired to be part of its future.
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