Museums are ranked by how many early jet airframes their inventories list, cockpits and replicas included. Each museum page has the full checklist.
Where to go
East of England: museums with early jet aircraft
| Museum | early jet airframes | Adult entry | Airframes | Examples | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation MuseumBungay, Suffolk | 27 | £10 | 65 | English Electric Canberra T.4 WH840 English Electric Canberra B(I).8 nose section XM279 English Electric Canberra B.2/6 nose section WG789 |
Depends who you ask — the joy is the oddities. Come for the Bloodhound missiles and decoy rarities; stay for volunteer flight-simulator… |
| IWM DuxfordCambridge, Cambridgeshire | 22 | £29 | 146 | Avro Vulcan B.2 XJ824 Gloster Javelin FAW.9 XH897 Handley Page Hastings C.1A TG528 |
Concorde 101 (G-AXDN), the pre-production development aircraft and the fastest Concorde of them all at Mach 2.23 — plus an SR-71A… |
| City of Norwich Aviation MuseumNorwich, Norfolk | 16 | £9 | 33 | Avro Vulcan B.2 XM612 Cessna 401 G-OVNE Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche N30NW |
City of Norwich Aviation Museum at Horsham St Faith: Norfolk's largest, ~30 airframes including a Vulcan and Nimrod with bookable… |
| Suffolk Aviation Heritage MuseumIpswich, Suffolk | 5 | £5 | 5 | Hawker Hunter F.6 XG274 de Havilland Vampire T.11 XD506 English Electric Canberra PR.7 nose section WH798 |
Kesgrave's Suffolk Aviation Heritage Museum: a Vampire, Jet Provost and Hunter plus a strong Falklands room, run with infectious… |
| Bentwaters Cold War MuseumWoodbridge, Suffolk | 4 | £7.50 | 9 | Gloster Meteor F.8 WH453 Hawker Hunter GA.11 XE707 Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star 19252 |
Bentwaters Cold War Museum occupies the actual USAF hardened command post — war room, battle cabin and decontamination showers intact —… |
| The Shuttleworth CollectionBiggleswade, Bedfordshire | 4 | £19.50 | 55 | de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk 22 G-BNZC Percival Provost T.1 G-KAPW Elliotts Primary EoN BGA580 |
The 1934 DH.88 Comet 'Grosvenor House', winner of the MacRobertson England–Australia air race, restored to fly; and the Edwardians —… |
| RAF Coltishall Heritage CentreNorwich, Norfolk | 2 | Free | 5 | Gloster Meteor T.7 (composite) WL332 Hawker Hunter T.7 nose section N-302 |
RAF Coltishall's guardroom museum, curated by veterans of the base — the Jaguar force's spiritual home, free to enter on open days, with… |
| Stow Maries Great War AerodromeChelmsford, Essex | 1 | £12 | 11 | Grumman AA-5B Tiger cockpit section | The aerodrome itself: 24 listed RFC buildings, plus flying examples of Great War types on event days (a Fairey Swordfish cameo got… |
| Vulcan Restoration Trust (XL426), SouthendSouthend-on-Sea, Essex | 1 | £10 | 1 | Avro Vulcan B.2, live and taxiable XL426 | XL426 herself, ex-Scampton display aircraft, whose APU-powered control-surface demos let visitors in the cockpit actually waggle a… |
The era
Early jet age, 1943–1957
The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton has the most, 26, including Canberra T.4 WH840. IWM Duxford has 21, including Vulcan XJ824 and Victor XH648. The City of Norwich Aviation Museum has 14, among them Vulcan XM612 and a Mystère IVA. At Southend, the Vulcan Restoration Trust keeps XL426 in taxiable condition.
- XL426 at Southend runs visit days and fast-taxi days; check the trust’s dates.
- The Suffolk Aviation Heritage Museum near Ipswich has Hunter F.6 XG274 and opens on Sundays.
- Bentwaters keeps Meteor F.8 WH453 and Hunter XE707 alongside its Cold War jets.
What to see
Early jet age types on display in East of England
1943Gloster Meteor61943de Havilland Vampire41944Hawker Sea Fury21945de Havilland Dove family11945Cessna, Piper & the American light aircraft31946de Havilland Canada Chipmunk31946Handley Page Hastings11947Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1511947Hawker Sea Hawk21947Bristol Sycamore21947Vickers Valetta & Varsity11947Airspeed Ambassador11947de Havilland Canada Beaver11947EoN Olympia & the Elliotts gliders11948Slingsby glider family31948Percival Pembroke & Sea Prince11948Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star31948Saunders-Roe Skeeter11948Vickers Viscount11949English Electric Canberra71949Avro Shackleton21949North American T-28 Trojan11949de Havilland Comet11950Percival Provost21950Republic F-84F Thunderstreak11951Hawker Hunter91951Gloster Javelin21951Dassault Mystère IV21951Vickers Valiant21952Avro Vulcan31952Handley Page Victor31952Bristol Britannia11953North American F-100 Super Sabre11953Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)41954Hunting Jet Provost3
Questions
Frequently asked
Where can I see a Vulcan in the East of England?
Duxford (XJ824), the City of Norwich Aviation Museum (XM612) and Southend, where XL426 is kept taxiable.
Which East of England museum has the most early jets?
The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton, with 26 from 1943–1957.
Can you see a Vulcan taxi in the East?
Yes. XL426 at Southend has fast-taxi days; check the Vulcan Restoration Trust’s calendar.