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  Location within Greater London | |
Former name | Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon |
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| Established | 15 November 1972; 52 years ago (1972-11-15) |
| Location | Grahame Park Way,Colindale London,NW9 5LL United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°35′56″N0°14′19″W / 51.59889°N 0.23861°W /51.59889; -0.23861 |
| Type | Aviation museum |
| Visitors | 440,338 (2024)[1] |
| Public transit access |  Colindale |
| Website | www |
TheRoyal Air Force Museum London (also commonly known as theRAF Museum) is located on the formerHendon Aerodrome, inNorth London'sBorough of Barnet. It includes five buildings and hangars showing the history ofaviation and theRoyal Air Force. It is part of theRoyal Air Force Museum.[2]
There is another site atRoyal Air Force Museum Midlands atRAF Cosford inShropshire.
The museum site at Colindale was once part of the RAF Hendon station and prior to that, one of the first civilian airfields, acquired byClaude Grahame-White in 1911.
In 1914, the aerodrome was requisitioned for Home Defence during theFirst World War.Hendon became a Royal Naval Air Station, training new pilots in the flying schools on site. Operations ceased after the end of the Great War.
From 1927 to 1939 Hendon housedNo. 601 Squadron, nicknamed the 'Millionaires' Squadron' due to the wealth and upper social class of its volunteers. In 1939, the outbreak of war saw Hendon once again become an operational RAF station, home toNo. 24 Transport and Communications Squadron. RAF Hendon also served briefly as a fighter station during theBattle of Britain.
The last flight to Hendon by a fixed-wing aircraft took place on 19 June 1968, when the last operationalBlackburn Beverley was delivered to the museum prior to its royal opening in 1972. Soon afterwards, the runways were removed to make way for theGrahame Park Housing Estate.[3] The official closure ofRAF Hendon took place on 1 April 1987.
The museum was officially opened at theColindale (then part ofHendon) London site on 15 November 1972 byQueen Elizabeth II. The hangars housed 36aircraft at opening. Over the years, the collection has increased in size substantially, and aircraft not on display at Hendon were stored or displayed at smaller local RAF station museums.
The first director of the museum was Dr John Tanner, who retired in 1987. In 1988, DrMichael A. Fopp (who had previously directed theLondon Transport Museum) was appointed director general of all three sites (London, Cosford and Stafford) operated by the museum. Retired Air Vice-Marshal Peter Dye replaced Fopp as director general on 9 June 2010.[4] In October 2014, it was announced thatMaggie Appleton was to be appointed as CEO of the museum.[5]
The Battle of Britain Museum (later Hall) was opened byQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in November 1978. On 3 October 2016 the Battle of Britain Hall was permanently closed and refurbished.
The London site has been regularly expanded. For example, in recent years landscaping had taking place to illustrate what the former Hendon airfield was like, in what has become a heavily urbanised area.[6]
As of 2012, it had over 100 aircraft, including theAvro LancasterS-Sugar, which flew 137 night sorties.[7][8] It also includes the only completeHawker Typhoon. Added in 2018, as part of the RAF Centenary exhibitions, were aWestland Sea King helicopter (once flown byPrince William, Duke of Cambridge), aGnat jet trainer of theRed Arrows, and a full-scale mock-up of theF-35 Lightning II stealth fighter.[9]
The Royal Air Force Museum is a National Museum, a Government non-departmental public body (NDPB) and also is a registered charity.
The Royal Air Force Museum London is displayed over six hangars.
Two exhibitions, RAF Stories and RAF First to the Future, opened in 2018 to commemorate the RAF centenary:
RAF Stories, The First 100 years 1918–2018 of the RAF. This exhibition observes the RAF's first 100 years, from its creation in 1918 as the world's first independent air force. It explores the different roles of the people of the RAF, alongside the changes in technology.[6][10]
Hangar 1 forms the main point of entry to the museum.
Also known as theGrahame-White Factory shows the earliest days of flight on the site of The London Aerodrome, through to the formation of the independent Royal Air Force in 1918.[11][12][13]
These hangars focus on the aircraft of the Second World War and the Cold War. It includes original Battle of Britain fighter aircraft: theHawker Hurricane,Messerschmitt Bf 109 andSupermarine Spitfire;[14] helicopters, and some Cold War jet aircraft.[15]
Battle of Britain: shows the GermanJunkers Ju 87 Stuka andHeinkel He 111 bombers which were types used during the Battle of Britain.[12][16]
The RAF from 1980 to the 21st century.[17][10]
The museum contains a public restaurant built within a 1930s mess store building.[18] Next to it is a children's play area with mini RAF aircraft, vehicles and buildings.[19] A volunteer centre has been created within Building 69, originally a parachute packing RAF building.[20]
The museum's archives, containing thousands of paper documents, books and photographs are situated on the top floor of Hangars 3/4/5.[21][22]
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