RAF Museum Hendon - Part Deux

Last April I visited the RAF Museum at Hendon in north London. I shot a lot of photo's on that visit (and posted them here as a slideshow) but somehow managed to miss out two large parts of the museum. Last weekend I had a chance to return to Hendon, visit those parts of the site that I had missed first time around and shoot a load more photo's. Here's a slideshow of this second set of pictures.



The two areas that I missed on my first visit were the Grahame White Factory and the Battle of Britain hall.

The Grahame White Company Building was the UK's first aircraft factory, purpose-built in 1917. It now holds the museums collection of First World War aircraft, including a replica of a huge Vickers Vimy bomber. It also contains a very early Sopwith Triplane, a Hanriot and the famous SE5-A fighter.

The Battle of Britain Hall was the other major part that I missed first time around. Having now seen the whole collection I have to say that visitors would be hard pressed to view it all in only one trip. This building alone kept us occupied and interested for nearly four hours. As the name implies this hall concentrates on the story and aircraft that took part in the Battle of Britain. There is also a short (10 min) film in the main hall that gives a really good overview of the situation leading up to the battle. With a backdrop of the aircraft themselves this was very interesting and moving.

We also visited the Aeronauts Interactive Centre where children can play with over 40 'hands on' experiments that help then learn how aeroplanes fly. The whole museum is nicely laid out and despite the huge collection doesn't feel cramped or crouded. There's plenty of room to get a good all round view almost every aircraft on display which makes photography a lot easier. It's also a Free museum so other than the cost of parking this was a very cheep family day out.