About this museum
The Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum runs on a single glorious doctrine, quoted verbatim in its own literature: 'if it's got a ladder or steps — jump in.' Twenty-eight cockpits are open, from trainers to fast jets, staffed by volunteers largely drawn from the test-flying world of Boscombe Down itself, who will strap your eight-year-old into an ejection seat and fit the helmet properly.
The Lancaster cockpit reproduction tour, and a test-and-evaluation pedigree collection you can physically inhabit rather than admire through rope.
- The Lancaster cockpit reproduction, toured daily
- Hunter, Jaguar & Harvard cockpits to occupy
Old Sarum airfield next door supplies live circuits. Reviewers report planning 90 minutes and surfacing at closing time. Possibly Britain's best museum-per-square-metre.
“This place was a hidden gem.”— Mark, visitor report
Airframe checklist
Tick them off as you go. Identities are as held in the gazetteer survey — verify against the museum’s own labels if something has moved.
| Type | Identity | |
|---|---|---|
| …and twenty more open cockpits, trainers to fast jets | — | |
| BAC Jet Provost fleet | — | |
| EE Canberra cockpit | — | |
| English Electric Lightning cockpit | — | |
| Folland Gnat | — | |
| Hawker Hunter cockpits | — | |
| Hawker Siddeley Harrier | — | |
| Lancaster cockpit reproduction (guided tours) | — | |
| SEPECAT Jaguar | — |
Location & contact
- Address
- Hangar 1 South, Old Sarum Airfield, Old Sarum, Salisbury SP4 6DZ
- Phone
- 01722 323636
- Website
- boscombedownaviationcollection.co.uk/
- Hours
- Tue–Sun 10am–5pm (Feb–Oct)
(from your local clock — verify before travel) - Gazetteer
- SW-03 on the situation map