RAF museum London – July 21st, 2023
Good day all,
During our family holiday trip to London, I was able to spent half a day at the RAF museum. Personally, I could have spent multiple days at the museum, unfortunately my family was not into that. It was therefore a relatively quick visit and I was mainly taking as much pictures as possible. Still I'm very happy that my family did spent those exiting moments with me. Surprisingly, the entrance of the museum is even free. To support those enthusiasts keeping all those aircraft in perfect condition, and have a nice remembrance, I bought a nice book about the Spitfire history in the souvenir shop. There are six halls packed full with very interesting aircraft. You are even able to walk through the Short Sunderland, this aircraft is so big, it could as well be a large apartment, very impressive. For me it was also the first time facing so many German aircraft and even Japanese aircraft of WWII. It was really one of my best days ever and felt like a little boy in a toy store. If any of you has ever the change of visiting London, this museum should definitely be on your list.
Below the list of the aircraft seen that day and the corresponding picture of it: (if you see any mistake in the order of the list, please let me know)
1 - De Havilland DH9A
2 - Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb
3 - Hawker Siddeley Gnat T1
4 - Westland Sea King HAR3
5 - Short Sunderland MR5
6 - Bleriot XXVII
7 - Avro 504K
8 - Caudron G3
9 - Sopwith Triplane
10 - Royal Aircraft Factory FE2b
11 - Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a
12 - Bristol Fb2 Fighter
13 - Sopwith F1 Camel
14 - Fokker DVII
15 - Albatros DVa
16 - Royal Aircraft Factory RE8
17 - Vickers FB5 Gunbus
18 - Sopwith 5F1 Dolphin
19 - Royal Aircraft Factory BE2b
20 - Eurofighter Typhoon
21 - Panavia Tornado
22 - Hawker Siddely Buccaneer S2B
23 - Sepecat Jaguar
24 - British Aerospace Harrier GR9a
25 - Focke Wulf Fw190A8-R1
26 - Junkers Ju87D-G2
27 - Heinkel He111H-20
28 - Avro Anson MkI
29 - Handley Page Halifax II
30 - Avro Lancaster I
31 - Consolidated B24L Liberator
32 - Kawasaki Ki100-1b
33 - Mitsubishi Ki43 III Dinah
34 - Yokosukha MXYZ Ohka Model 11 Baka
35 - Airspeed Oxford MkI
36 - Messerschmitt Bf110G-4
37 - Fairey Battle MkI
38 - de Havilland Mosquito B35
39 - Avro Vulcan
40 - Westland Lysander
41 - Messerschmitt Me163B-1a Komet
42 - North American P51D Mustang
43 - Heinkel He162 Salamander
44 - Boeing B17 Flying Fortress
45 - Messerschmitt Bf109E-3
46 - Fiat CR42 Falco
47 - de Havilland Vampire F3
48 - Hawker Tempest V
49 - Gloster Meteor F8
50 - English Electric Canberra PR3
51 - British Aircraft Corporation Provost T5a
52 - British Aircraft Corporation Lightning F6
53 - Curtiss Kittyhawk III
54 - Taylorcraft Auster MkI
55 - Hawker Hart
56 - Hawker Typhoon Ib
57 - North American Hardvard IIb
58 - McDonnall Douglas Phantom FGR2
59 - Supermarine Spitfire MkXVI
60 - Bristol Bulldog
61 - Sopwith Snipe
62 - Supermarine Southampton I
63 - Bristol Beaufighter TFX
64 - Bristol Beaufort
65 - Lockheed Hudson
66 - Supermarine Stranraer
67 - Westland Gazelle
68 - Westland Belvedere HC1
69 - Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly
70 - Hawker Hurricane MkI
71 - Supermarine Spitfire MkI
72 - Panavia Tornado F3
73 - Myself in front of my favorite aircraft
John, looks like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing the photos!
@guitarhack, I definitely had an amazing time overthere.
John, thank you for sharing your photos of your visit to this great museum. I was there 5 years ago and would love to go back to it again and spend more time there. I was there for 2 hours and missed quite a bit of it.
@v1pro, you're welcome. I was able to keep my family interested for three hours but even that is not enough to see everything in detail. I do have an excuse now to visit once more.
Someday I'd love to cross the pond and visit there but until then, thanks for sharing, John. Great pics! Love all the WW1 birds.
@gwskat, shared with please, Gary. The WWI aircraft are amazing. Some of them replicas, but still. Hard to imagine that some of those aircraft were even able to get airborn.
Wow, lots of nice exhibits
great pics
@grimreaper, thank you, Reinhard.
Wonderful pics, John! You obviously had a superb time there.
Thanks for sharing!
@fiveten, I absolutely did have the time of my life. Incredible to see so much aircraft brought together and presented in such a way that you can every detail of it. Luckily not too many people so capturing the entire aircraft without people was ideal.
Wow looks like an amazing place but you're right half a day is not nearly enough, incidentally most museums and galleries are free in the U.K.
@neil-foster, half a day is far from sufficient indeed. During our stay in London I understood that indeed a lot of museums are free, the RAF museum being one of them.
Thanks for share those pictures! Awesome...
@eduardomorcego, you're welcome, Eduardo.
Great photos John. I visited the museum back in 1994. I didn't have anywhere near the number of planes it has now back then.
@dtravis, thanks, Dale. Currently the amount of aircraft is overwhelmig. You should go there once more.
John,besides the great pics,nice to see you happy around all those aircraft.Thank you very much for sharing the photos.
@mvtb, it is my pleasure to share the pictures, Marcus. Happy as a little boy unpacking his gifts during Christmas.
Been there twice, just about the same as marriages!
@johnb
Good selection, one that truly left an impression on me was the Lancaster! Big and bad!
Also have a fun memory sitting with my kids in a Gnat (was it? I really canβt tell by nowβ¦) cockpit moving the control grip much their joyβ¦oh! and also a Messerschmitt T-shirt from the gift shop on my way out
A must see museum for sure. Thanks for sharing my friend
@holzhamer, although it was my third time to London, it was my first visit at the museum. It is on the 'must see' list for sure when I'm going to London once more.
You obviously had a great time there, @johnb, I hope you find the time to return to what is obviously a terrific museum, maybe organize an iModeler day out and meet up with some friends.
@chinesegeorge, sounds like a wonderful idea to have an iModeler reunion overthere.
Excellent pics and tons of eye candy to view. Yep, half a day wouldn't be enough but it looks you none the less had an enjoyable time.
@tom-bebout, thnak you, Tom. An enjoyable time indeed, and still a happy family after the visit, so I think the time spent was chosen well.
I would O.D on all of those aircraft. You have my sympathies John. 3 hours is not enough time to go through the museum. Being the Family Guy has its compromises. However, your photos where time well spent. Thanks , for sharing. Still working on my Mustang. Getting ready to decal the kit. Knock on wood.
@stephen-w-towle, thanks, Stephen. In this case I might convince my family to return to the museum during another London visit. At least I have lots of photos now which I can go through at home.
I have been planning to go there next month (family trip to London) and your photo report has whetted my appetite. I can hardly wait!
@pjotri69, what a wonderful trip you have ahead of you, especially the museum visit. Please prepare your family on seeing lots of aircraft.
Thanks for sharing your adventure , John @johnb !
Some great aircraft on display there.
@ssgt, a pleasure to share the exhibits in this awesome museum, Jay.
Woah John @johnb, looks like you had a spectacular day! The photos are fantastic reference! Does your family even realize what an awesome dad you are considering you spent only half a day there? I could spend an entire day just looking at that gorgeous Spitfire Mk.1.
@fxrob, is was spectacular indeed. Ofcourse I made some more close up pictures as well. Spending just half a day kept at least the family spirit positive. I do now have a reason for another visit sometime.
It's a great place John. Glad you enjoyed it π
@thom, it definitely is, Guy.
Nice pics John!
@gkittinger, thanks, Greg.
Great pictures! It looks very analogous to the USAF Museum in the states, and that is also free. I find the young kids enjoy it while I stretch my time looking for new to me information. Anyway, a wonderful show of various aircraft, thank you for sharing
@pb_legend, thank you, Andrew. My pleasure to share this with all of you. Will add the USAF museum to my wishlist as well, is it the one in Ohio.
Yes sir. π
This looks like one of the great airplane Meccas. Will have to visit if I ever am in England. Thanks for sharing your travel pics.
@dbdlee, you're welcome, Dan. If you ever have the chance you should definitely go there.
Great pics John, thank you.
Living in Australia, it's unlikely I'll get to see these aircraft myself anytime soon so it's great to have these.
All the best,
Paul.
@paulwoodyvanacker, you never know, Paul. You should keep dreams alive.
It's definitely alive and well.
I'll get there. π
Thanks for sharing these fantastic photos, John @johnb. There are so many great air museums in England there is no way one can get to them all with out making multiple trips to London and Manchester. Members of my family are not all that interested either. We solved the problem by going in different directions on the same day. Iβve learned to go by myself.
@eb801, more than welcome, Eric. Even though I'm a person who likes to do things together with my family, I think your approach might be wise for a next visit.
Great! Do You have more photos of Beaufort?