Museums are ranked by how many Cold War airframes their inventories list, cockpits and replicas included. Each museum page has the full checklist.
Where to go
South East England: museums with Cold War aircraft
| Museum | Cold War airframes | Adult entry | Airframes | Examples | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Flying MuseumStockbridge, Hampshire | 18 | £18 | 43 | Westland Scout AH.1 XP847 Westland Scout AH.1 XP910 Westland Scout AH.1 XV127 |
Middle Wallop's Army Flying Museum covers everything the Army has flown from observation balloons to Apaches, with superb dioramas and a… |
| Farnborough Air Sciences Trust MuseumFarnborough, Hampshire | 12 | Free | 16 | English Electric Lightning T.5 XS420 GAF Jindivik ZJ496 Northrop Chukar D.2 ZG631 |
FAST at Farnborough guards the birthplace of British aviation science — Cody, the RAE, wind tunnels — with sit-in Harrier, Puma and Lynx… |
| RAF Manston History MuseumRamsgate, Kent | 10 | £7 | 22 | English Electric Lightning F.6 XR770 English Electric P.1B XA847 SEPECAT Jaguar GR.3A XZ106 |
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… |
| Gatwick Aviation MuseumGatwick, Surrey | 8 | £12.50 | 16 | Blackburn Buccaneer S.1 XN923 English Electric Lightning F.53 ZF579 English Electric Lightning F.53 cockpit section ZF589 |
Avro Shackleton WR982 (the £5 guided tour is unanimously endorsed) and a live-engined English Electric Lightning. There's also… |
| Solent SkySouthampton, Hampshire | 5 | £14 | 23 | Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 cockpit section XV760 de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ571 Britten-Norman BN-1F G-ALZE |
Supermarine S.6A N248, the 1929 Schneider Trophy racer from the bloodline that begat the Spitfire — parked beneath its descendant for… |
| Tangmere Military Aviation MuseumChichester, West Sussex | 5 | £15 | 23 | de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ580 English Electric Lightning F.53 ZF578 Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 XV744 |
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;… |
| The Gliding Heritage CentreAlton, Hampshire | 3 | Donation | 72 | Schleicher Ka 3 BGA.2689 Schleicher Ka 8B G-CHRJ Schleicher Ka 8B G-DCGH |
Lasham's Gliding Heritage Centre: Europe's finest vintage-glider collection, most of them airworthy and actually flown, with free… |
| Robertsbridge Aviation SocietyRobertsbridge, East Sussex | 2 | Free | 6 | de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.1 nose XJ488 English Electric Lightning F.3 nose XP701 |
Robertsbridge Aviation Society — a village-hall-sized museum of recovered WWII relics and six jet cockpit sections, curated with… |
| Wings Aviation MuseumHaywards Heath, West Sussex | 2 | £13 | 25 | Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 fuselage XS694 Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 nose section XV786 |
The Wings Museum near Balcombe displays Eastern Front and D-Day aircraft archaeology in crash-site dioramas — raw, unpolished and… |
| Wight Aviation MuseumSandown, Isle of Wight | 1 | Free | 2 | Scottish Aviation Bulldog 120 fuselage G-CCOA | Free volunteer-run museum on Sandown airfield covering the Island's surprising aviation industry — including a full-size Black Arrow… |
The era
Cold War, 1957–1989
The Army Flying Museum has 12 Cold War airframes, mostly Scouts, Lynx and an Alouette. The Farnborough Air Sciences Trust also has 12, including Lightning T.5 XS420 and Harrier T.4 XW934. RAF Manston History Museum has Lightning F.6 XR770. Gatwick Aviation Museum has Buccaneer S.1 XN923 and a Lightning F.53 with live engines. Tangmere keeps Phantom FGR.2 XV408.
- Farnborough Air Sciences Trust is free and opens at weekends.
- Manston’s two museums share a site.
- Solent Sky has SUMPAC, Southampton University’s man-powered aircraft.
What to see
Cold War types on display in South East England
1951de Havilland Sea Vixen41953The light rotary flock11954English Electric Lightning71956Bell UH-1 Huey11957GAF Jindivik & the target drones51957Schleicher Ka 831958Westland Wessex21958Blackburn Buccaneer31958McDonnell Douglas Phantom11959Westland Scout & Wasp51960Harrier family61960PZL TS-11 Iskra11961SUMPAC11962Hawker Siddeley Trident11963BAC One-Eleven11963BAC Strikemaster & Bulldog11965Britten-Norman Islander & Trislander31965AH-64 Apache & AH-1 Cobra21965Aérospatiale Puma & Super Frelon11967Aérospatiale Gazelle & Alouette21967Hawker Siddeley Nimrod11968SEPECAT Jaguar31969FMA IA 58 Pucará11969Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde11971Westland Lynx51971Agusta A109 & the civil twin helicopters21973Colomban Cri-Cri & the homebuilt shelf11974Panavia Tornado1
Questions
Frequently asked
Where can I see Army helicopters?
The Army Flying Museum at Middle Wallop has Scouts, Lynx, an Alouette II and earlier Skeeters and Sioux.
Where can I see a Lightning in the South East?
Farnborough (XS420), Manston (XR770), Gatwick (ZF579) and Tangmere (ZF578), among others.
Which South East Cold War museum is free?
The Farnborough Air Sciences Trust museum, with 12 Cold War airframes.