Aircraft/Collections
Airfield dioramas
Collections in 3D
12 model airfields, one for each period, where 90 of the Hangar’s aircraft taxi out, take off, fly the circuit and land again, with every aircraft drawn from the side, from above and head-on.
- 12
- Dioramas
- 90
- Aircraft
- 1912–1988
- First flights
01 · Western Front aerodrome · 1917–18
Aircraft of the First World War
Canvas hangars, a mown strip and a line of poplars: the Royal Flying Corps at war, with every machine on the field built to scale from the aircraft that survive in British museums.
12 aircraft: B.E.2c, 504K, Scout D, Pup, Triplane, R.E.8, M.1C, F.2B Fighter, S.E.5a, Camel F.1, DH.9, Dr.I
02 · Expansion-era aerodrome · 1919–38
Aircraft between the wars
Silver biplanes, brick hangars and an aerodrome circle cut in the grass: the years when the RAF fought to survive, then rearmed against a new war.
10 aircraft: Hind, Gladiator, Tiger Moth II, Anson, Magister, Swordfish, Walrus, Rota I, Flying Flea, S.6A
03 · Fighter station · summer 1940
Aircraft of the Battle of Britain
Hurricanes and Spitfires scramble from a grass fighter station while German bombers and their escorts cross overhead: the summer of 1940, to scale.
9 aircraft: Spitfire, Hurricane, Blenheim Mk IV, Gladiator, Lysander, Magister, Bf 109E, Bf 110, He 111
04 · Heavy bomber station · 1943–45
Bomber Command at war
Concrete runways laid in an A, T2 hangars, Nissen huts and dispersals round the perimeter track: the bomber airfields that covered Lincolnshire and East Anglia.
7 aircraft: Lancaster, Halifax, Wellington, Hampden, Mosquito B.35, Blenheim Mk IV, Oxford
05 · Eighth Air Force station · 1943–45
The Americans in wartime Britain
Flying Fortresses and Liberators on the hardstands, Mustangs and Thunderbolts in the circuit: the American air forces that filled East Anglia from 1942.
8 aircraft: Flying Fortress, Liberator, Mitchell, Mustang, Thunderbolt, Dakota IV, Argus, Harvard
06 · Jet fighter station · 1944–55
The early jet age
Straight wings give way to swept ones in a decade: the first jet fighters and bombers, from the Meteor that chased flying bombs to the Hunter that broke the world speed record.
10 aircraft: Meteor, Vampire, Venom FB.4, Sabre F.4, T-33A, Canberra, Swift, Hunter, Chipmunk, Provost
07 · V-bomber station · 1956–70s
The V-force and Quick Reaction Alert
Four-minute warnings, crews in caravans at the runway’s end and delta-winged bombers that could be airborne together in under two minutes: the Cold War RAF at its height.
8 aircraft: Vulcan, Victor, Lightning, Javelin FAW.9, Shackleton MR.3, Buccaneer, Gnat T.1, Whirlwind
08 · Hardened airbase · 1975–91
RAF Germany and the late Cold War
Concrete shelters in the pine woods, camouflage wrapped round every aircraft and a war expected at a few minutes’ notice: the front line of the 1980s.
6 aircraft: Jaguar, Harrier, Buccaneer, Hawk T.1A, Puma HC.1, Gazelle HCC.4
09 · Royal Naval Air Station · 1936–2006
The Fleet Air Arm
Biplane torpedo bombers, jet fighters with folding wings and the helicopters that hunted submarines: seventy years of the Royal Navy in the air.
11 aircraft: Swordfish, Walrus, Martlet I, Firefly, Sea Hawk FGA.6, Venom FB.4, Buccaneer, Sea Harrier FA.2, Wasp HAS.1, Sea King HAR.3, Lynx HAS.3
10 · Helicopter base · 1950–2018
British military helicopters
From licence-built Sikorskys to Anglo-French designs and the fastest helicopter of its day: seventy years of rotary wings, lifting off from their pads.
9 aircraft: Sycamore HR.14, Dragonfly, Skeeter AOP.12, Whirlwind, Wasp HAS.1, Puma HC.1, Gazelle HCC.4, Sea King HAR.3, Lynx HAS.3
11 · Airport · 1946–2001
Classic British airliners
Turboprops, rear-engined jets and a supersonic delta: half a century of British airliners, sharing one runway.
12 aircraft: Dove, Dakota IV, Viscount 701, Argosy, Trident 2E, VC10, One-Eleven 510ED, Andover, BN-2A-26 Islander, Concorde, Jetstream 31, BAe 146 CC.2
12 · Flying training school · 1932–today
Learning to fly: RAF trainers
Every RAF pilot started somewhere: biplanes, piston monoplanes, the first jet trainers and the Hawk, flying circuits and bumps together.
11 aircraft: Tiger Moth II, Magister, Kaydet, Harvard, Oxford, Chipmunk, Provost, Gnat T.1, Bulldog T.1, Dominie T.1, Hawk T.1A
Every aircraft here is also a plate in The Hangar, where its 3D model can be turned, zoomed and downloaded.