Cockpit access changes with volunteers, weather and restoration work. Where a museum's own site confirms it, the table says how and when; otherwise ask at the desk.
Open cockpits in South East England
| Museum | Cockpits | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnborough Air Sciences Trust MuseumFarnborough, Hampshire | Look in Weekend and bank holiday opening days, subject to volunteer availability |
Free | 16 | FAST at Farnborough guards the birthplace of British aviation science — Cody, the RAE, wind tunnels — with sit-in Harrier, Puma and Lynx… |
| Gatwick Aviation MuseumGatwick, Surrey | Sit in Every open day; Shackleton tours subject to weather and volunteer availability English Electric Canberra B.2 nose section Britten-Norman Islander cockpit Robinson R22 helicopter Avro Shackleton MR.3 |
£12.50 | 16 | Avro Shackleton WR982 (the £5 guided tour is unanimously endorsed) and a live-engined English Electric Lightning. There's also… |
| RAF Manston History MuseumRamsgate, Kent | Open-cockpit days Open Cockpit Weekend, held in April in 2026 (11–12 April) |
£7 | 22 | RAF Manston's history museum spans 1916 RNAS days to Cold War Meteors, with strong 1940s room-sets — and it sits next door to the… |
| Solent SkySouthampton, Hampshire | Sit in Every open day Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 cockpit section Supermarine Swift F.5 cockpit Short Sandringham flying boat |
£14 | 23 | Supermarine S.6A N248, the 1929 Schneider Trophy racer from the bloodline that begat the Spitfire — parked beneath its descendant for… |
| Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum, ManstonRamsgate, Kent | On tours Booked simulator flights Supermarine Spitfire simulator (life-size cockpit) Avro Lancaster simulator |
Free | 3 | Free-entry memorial museum holding Spitfire TB752 and Hurricane LF751 plus a dense Manston story — the emergency runway where crippled… |
| Tangmere Military Aviation MuseumChichester, West Sussex | Sit in Every open day |
£15 | 23 | Hawker Hunter WB188 in one-off scarlet, in which Neville Duke took the world air speed record to 727.63 mph off this coast in 1953;… |
| Trenchard MuseumAylesbury, Buckinghamshire | Sit in Every open day Folland Gnat de Havilland Chipmunk cockpit |
By appointment | 6 | The Trenchard Museum at RAF Halton tells the story of the RAF's apprentice scheme — 'Trenchard's Brats' — on the working base where… |
| Wings Aviation MuseumHaywards Heath, West Sussex | Open-cockpit days Open Cockpit Events, e.g. the D-Day weekend in June Douglas C-47A Skytrain fuselage and cockpit |
£13 | 25 | The Wings Museum near Balcombe displays Eastern Front and D-Day aircraft archaeology in crash-site dioramas — raw, unpolished and… |
Worth knowing
Gatwick Aviation Museum lets you climb into a Canberra nose, an Islander cockpit and an R22 helicopter. Solent Sky has the Harrier GR.3 and Swift cockpits. Tangmere’s include a Hunter F.4, Venom and Canberra B.2. The Trenchard Museum has a Gnat and a Chipmunk cockpit. Farnborough opens cockpits when volunteers are available. Wings opens its C-47 on Open Cockpit Events, and RAF Manston History Museum holds an Open Cockpit Weekend each spring.
- Sit-in on any visit: Gatwick, Solent Sky, Tangmere and the Trenchard Museum. Tangmere’s website does not say which cockpits are open on a given day.
- At Gatwick, book the £5 on-board Shackleton tour on arrival. There are no under-5s, and it depends on weather and volunteers.
- The Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum’s simulators need booking: £35 for the Spitfire, £75 for the Lancaster, each a 30-minute flight.
- Wings’ Open Cockpit Events cost £25 on the day, including entry. RAF Manston’s Open Cockpit Weekend in 2026 was 11–12 April.
Frequently asked
Can you sit in the Spitfire at Manston?
Not the real one. The Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum’s Spitfire and Hurricane are not open to sit in. Its life-size Spitfire simulator is, as a booked 30-minute flight for £35.
Can you go inside the Shackleton at Gatwick?
Yes, on a 45-minute on-board tour with former crew. It costs £5, is booked on arrival, and depends on weather and volunteers.
Where can you sit in a jet cockpit without booking?
Solent Sky has the Harrier GR.3 and Swift, and Tangmere the Hunter F.4 and Venom. Gatwick has its Canberra nose and the Trenchard Museum its Gnat, all on any open day.
- https://www.gamc.org.uk/exhibit
- https://www.solentsky.org/exhibitions
- https://tangmere-museum.org.uk/about-us/
- https://www.trenchardmuseum.org.uk/museum
- https://airsciences.org.uk/plan-your-visit/
- https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/events/
- https://rafmanston.co.uk/whats-on/open-cockpit-weekend-2026/
- https://www.spitfiremuseum.org.uk/simulator