Museums are ranked by how many pioneer airframes their inventories list, cockpits and replicas included. Each museum page has the full checklist.
Where to go
museums with pioneer aircraft
| Museum | pioneer airframes | Adult entry | Airframes | Examples | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Shuttleworth CollectionBiggleswade, Bedfordshire | 8 | £19.50 | 55 | Roe IV Triplane replica G-ARSG Blackburn Type D G-AANI Blériot XI G-AANG |
The 1934 DH.88 Comet 'Grosvenor House', winner of the MacRobertson England–Australia air race, restored to fly; and the Edwardians —… |
| Brooklands MuseumWeybridge, Surrey | 6 | £24–£27 | 32 | Bleriot XI replica G-LOTI Santos-Dumont Demoiselle replica BAPC.256 Roe I Biplane replica |
Concorde G-BBDG, the British production-test aircraft, bookended by a Wellington bomber dredged out of Loch Ness in 1985 and the only… |
| Yorkshire Air MuseumYork, North Yorkshire | 3 | £17 | 54 | Blackburn Mercury replica BAPC.130 Cayley Glider replica Wright Flyer replica |
Halifax 'Friday the 13th' — the world's only complete Halifax reconstruction, honouring the type that flew from this very field —… |
| Avro Heritage MuseumStockport, Greater Manchester | 2 | £9 | 14 | Avro Type F (replica) Roe I Triplane (replica) |
Vulcan XM603 — the only all-white Vulcan on display anywhere, in original anti-flash nuclear livery — plus walk-in Lancaster and Nimrod… |
| South Yorkshire Aircraft MuseumDoncaster, South Yorkshire | 2 | £7.50 | 109 | Cayley glider replica Bleriot XI replica |
Doncaster's South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum sprawls across the old RAF Doncaster site: dozens of airframes and helicopters, strong… |
| The Gliding Heritage CentreAlton, Hampshire | 2 | Donation | 72 | Weiss Olive 5/8-scale replica TWK Clarke Chanute BAPC.100 |
Lasham's Gliding Heritage Centre: Europe's finest vintage-glider collection, most of them airworthy and actually flown, with free… |
| Aerospace BristolBristol, Gloucestershire | 1 | £20 | 14 | Bristol Boxkite replica | Concorde G-BOAF, the last Concorde ever built and the last ever to fly (26 November 2003, into Filton, forever). You can board her.… |
| Army Flying MuseumStockbridge, Hampshire | 1 | £18 | 43 | Cody man-lifting kite | Middle Wallop's Army Flying Museum covers everything the Army has flown from observation balloons to Apaches, with superb dioramas and a… |
| Fleet Air Arm MuseumYeovil, Somerset | 1 | £21 | 97 | Short S.27 replica BAPC 149 | Concorde 002 (G-BSST), the first British-assembled Concorde, which made her maiden flight from Filton in 1969 and now headlines a hall of… |
| Hooton Park HangarsEllesmere Port, Cheshire | 1 | £9 | 45 | Roe I Triplane replica BAPC.6 | Hooton Park's 1917 Belfast-truss hangars — among the finest WWI aviation buildings surviving — hold aircraft, buses and a printing museum… |
| Midland Air MuseumCoventry, Warwickshire | 1 | £11 | 66 | Humber Monoplane replica BAPC.9 | Vulcan XL360 with cockpit access and volunteer-led tours (ask for the instrumentation talk), plus the Whittle jet heritage collection a… |
| Newark Air MuseumNewark, Nottinghamshire | 1 | £12.50 | 95 | Lee-Richards annular biplane (replica) BAPC 20 | Vulcan XM594, with cockpit tours occasionally given by former Vulcan aircrew, which reviewers describe with the reverence normally… |
| Royal Air Force Museum LondonLondon, Greater London | 1 | Free | 88 | Blériot XXVII 433 | Avro Lancaster R5868 'S-Sugar' — 137 operations, the RAF's highest-scoring surviving heavy — under the same roof as a Vulcan, a… |
| Stow Maries Great War AerodromeChelmsford, Essex | 1 | £12 | 11 | Sopwith Tabloid replica 168 | The aerodrome itself: 24 listed RFC buildings, plus flying examples of Great War types on event days (a Fairey Swordfish cameo got… |
| Ulster Aviation Society (Maze Long Kesh)Lisburn, County Antrim | 1 | By appointment | 63 | Ferguson Flyer 1911 replica G-CJEN | The Shorts family — SC.1 vertical take-off research aircraft included — plus a Buccaneer, Phantom, Wildcat, and a newly arrived AV-8… |
The era
Pioneer era, 1849–1914
The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden is the exception, with six pioneer types. They include Blériot XI G-AANG, described as the world’s oldest airworthy aircraft, and the 1912 Blackburn Type D, the oldest airworthy British aeroplane. Elsewhere it is a few exhibits each. The RAF Museum has a Blériot XXVII; Aerospace Bristol a Boxkite replica; Elvington Cayley glider and Wright Flyer replicas.
- Shuttleworth’s Edwardian aircraft fly only in calm air, usually at summer evening displays.
- The RAF Museum London, home of the Blériot XXVII, is free to enter.
- Roe I Triplane replicas are at both the Avro Heritage Museum and Hooton Park.
What to see
Pioneer era types on display
1853Cayley Glider21896Pilcher’s Hawk11903Wright Flyer11907Santos-Dumont Demoiselle & the pioneer replicas111909Blériot XI31909Roe I Triplane21910Roe IV Triplane11910Bristol Boxkite21910Deperdussin Type A11910Humber Monoplane11911Blackburn Mercury11911Blériot XXVII11912Blackburn Type D11912Avro Type F11913Sopwith Tabloid21913Lee-Richards Annular Biplane1
Questions
Frequently asked
Where can I see the oldest aeroplane in the UK?
At the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, where Blériot XI G-AANG is described as the world’s oldest airworthy aircraft.
Can you see pre-1914 aircraft fly?
Yes, at Shuttleworth displays, when the weather is calm enough. The Blériot, Deperdussin and Blackburn Type D all fly.
How many UK museums have pioneer aircraft?
Ten in the gazetteer hold at least one airframe from before 1914, many of them replicas.