Aviodrome Lelystad

[arthur harbrow]

Has anyone visited the Aviodrome at Lelystad recently?
If so perhaps you could post your thoughts as i may be able to visit next month.
Thanks

[Willie Winglet]

I was there about a month ago. I wasn't sure what to expect, and had never visited the old Aviodome at Schiphol, so had no real ideas of what the content might be.

I think it cost about 12Euros, plus another couple for parking. The main exhibit halls are well laid out, with good close access to the aircraft. The downside of that is that it's difficult to get photos without people in shot. There are plenty of supporting documents, old route charts for KLM, photographs etc., all of which help to build the atmosphere. Most, if not all, of the display boards and caption boards are in Dutch, so unless you know the language, you don't get the whole story. I reckon if you were pushed for time you could get round the main exhibit areas in about 1.5 to 2 hours, but you could easily spend up to 4 or 5 hours if youwanted a more leisurely visit.

When I visited, the storage hangar was open, but only a few aircraft were available for close-up viewing - the rest were in a roped-off area, with some stored up on a balcony at the back of the hangar. At a guess, I'd say they have at least as many aircraft in store as they have on show in the main part of the museum.

Summary: it's very new, they have some fascinating exhibits, and it's pretty well laid out, if you follow the intended route. If you've never been to a Dutch aircraft museum, it's certainly worth a visit, in my opinion.

[Jhieminga]

I visited the place a couple of months ago. Having seen the old Aviodome a few times the new setup is a huge improvement with regards to space and options. There are many more possibilities in this building, in the old dome the whole collection was a bit cramped. When I was at Lelystad the place still had a bit of an 'unfinished' look, this will probably still be the case but they are working hard.

Indeed a few airframes are still stored, partly in the storage hangar, but there are also a couple of lorry loads of smaller bits still in storage at Schiphol I think. The storage hangar should be open most days, but the rear area will remain as it is for a while. In a way it's an interesting guessing game: see who can spot the most aircraft and identify them all ;) Some of the airframes here weren't on view in the old dome either, so there's probably plenty of work to be done on them before they're fit to go on display.

Overall the museum is definitively worth a visit. If you've got the time then I'd try to visit both the Aviodrome and the Military museum at Soesterberg. They are about an hour's driving apart and the Soesterberg museum is another quality setup.

This site has a large collection of photos taken in and around the Aviodrome, mainly focussing on the move over there. It gives an idea of the amount of work that was put in. http://www.aviation-top-pics.com/
(look in the menu on the left for aviodrome)