About this museum
Carlisle Airport's Solway Aviation Museum is the Cumbrian outpost of the V-force: a tidy indoor collection, a ramp of Cold War jets, and the singular Spadeadam exhibition covering the Blue Streak missile programme tested up the road — Britain's forgotten space programme, told by the neighbours.
Vulcan XJ823 with pre-bookable crew-compartment visits; a Phantom, Lightning and Canberra (whose three-crew cockpit reviewers describe as 'unbelievably tight') complete the set.
- Vulcan B.2 XJ823, crew-compartment visits
- F-4 Phantom & EE Lightning
- The Blue Streak / Spadeadam story
Weekend-centric opening; check before travelling. The Blue Streak section is the sleeper hit for anyone who thought Britain never did rockets.
“Fantastic museum run by a friendly and dedicated group of knowledgeable volunteers.”— Stuart, 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Avro Vulcan B.2 | XJ823 | |
| BAC Jet Provost T.4 | XS209 | |
| BAC Lightning F.53 | ZF583 | |
| De Havilland Chipmunk T.10 | WB584 | |
| DH Vampire T.11 | WZ515 | |
| English Electric Canberra T.4 | WE188 | |
| Fairey Gannet ECM.6 | XA459 | |
| Gloster Meteor NF.14 | WS832 | |
| Hawker Hunter F.51 | XG190 | |
| Hawker Siddeley Trident | G-ARPP | |
| McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 | XV406 | |
| Panavia Tornado GR.1 | ZA475 | |
| Percival Sea Prince T.1 | WP314 | |
| SEPECAT Jaguar T.4 | XX146 | |
| Sikorsky Whirlwind HAR.21 | WV198 |
Inventory researched 2026-07-18: source 1. Aircraft move between sites; report corrections to the compiler.
Location & contact
- Address
- Aviation House, Carlisle Airport, Crosby on Eden CA6 4NW
- Phone
- 01228 573823
- Website
- www.solway-aviation-museum.co.uk/
- Hours
- Fri–Mon 10.30am–5pm (May–Sep)
(from your local clock — verify before travel) - Gazetteer
- NO-05 on the situation map