We’re starting our series about aviation museums in the London area with a closer look at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon — that is, it’s actually closer to Colindale but let’s get back to that in a minute.
About the museum
The museum occupies an area that was earlier part of the Hendon Aerodrome, one of the country’s first airfields, which became an active RAF base just prior to World War I. As World War II came to an end, London found itself surrounded by military airfields and it became rather clear that not only was there little use for all of them in peacetime, but several of them were also unsuitable for the Cold War generation of much larger and, often, supersonic aircraft that appeared. So in the 1970s, the remaining RAF activities were moved from Hendon to other airbases further away from London, and the runways were removed to make place for residential buildings as the urbanization of greater London continued relentlessly.
The museum was opened in 1972 and has grown steadily in size and popularity since. 5 former hangars and some buildings that housed the Grahame-White Aviation Company provide excellent indoor facilities for the exhibition, which includes a wide range of aircraft ranging from the era of first flight in the 1900s up to the present time.
What to see
Many visitors come to see some of the iconic WWII fighters such as the Spitfire and the Hurricane and, albeit there are better places to go if that’s your main interest, you will not be disappointed. Similarly, there is a Mustang, a Messerschmidt BF109, the always impressive Avro Lancaster, and a fair number of other planes from the same generation. But even more interesting in our opinion is the WWI collection which features a rich assortment of original planes, replicas and engines, which you will find in Hangar 2 — the original factory in which some of them were made.
Other highlights worth mentioning are the Short Sunderland flying boat (often open to visitors) and the Cold War Avro Vulcan, which you can walk underneath and experience one of all times’ most impressive delta-wing aircraft first-hand. As a complement to the aeroplanes, the museum has added a significant amount of stories about people and events. Some of these are told in short films, others via walls-of-fame and theme stands throughout the exhibition.
How much time to spend
The Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon is worth seeing for anyone whether you’re a warbird enthusiast or just modestly interested in technology and historic events. We recommend that you set aside approx. 1.5 – 2 hours for a walk-through with sporadic focus on a few items, but you could easily spend twice that if you start deep-diving into descriptions, films and special artefacts.
How to get there
The museum is easily accessible by car, just off the M1 not too far from Brent Cross and Edgware. There is plenty of parking space on the grounds, but during public holidays and bank holiday weekends, the lot tends to fill up quickly. If you’re travelling from central London, we would advise that you take the Underground instead. The closest station is Colindale on the Northern line (Edgware branch) from which it’s only a 10-minute walk.
Address
Grahame Park Way,
London NW9 5LL
