Aviation nerd in London, England. What to see?
 

Greetings

My family and I will be arriving in London for a week over xmas thanks to staff travel.

I have picked up on some covert discussions between my wife and daughter that indicate they may spend considerable time shopping.

Which means I may sneak away for some aviation related entertainment.

The only museum I have seen is Hendon but I was wonder what else is to be seen around London or slightly further afield?

I would love to see an EE Lightning doing engine runs and taxi but not sure if thats a thing anymore?

cheers in advance and merry xmas.

Brooklands is worth a visit for the aviation and other content. https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/

Bentley Priory in Stanmore for a quiet afternoon of reflection in a lovely setting.
Battle of Britain | Bentley Priory Museum

bentley priory museum - 検索 (bing.com)

The Flight section of the Science Museum is well worth a visit

Imperial War Museums Duxford and London.
Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk)

Farnborough Museum at Farnborough listed as the FAST (Farnborough Aerospace Sciences Trust) Museum, various exhibits and right underneath final approach for.Farnborough Airport.
Reachable via train from Waterloo, just south of the River Thames to Farnborough. If you're a historian, you can also see the tomb of Emperor Napolean 3rd, along with Empress Eugenie and their son Prince Louis just north of the railway station..

Avro museum near Manchester is well worth a visit. I stumbled upon it last time I was there and the Vulcan exhibits are superb.

For museums in central London, I also recommend the Science Museum and the Imperial War Museum.

Another vote for the Imperial War Museum.
I visited the Science Museum many years ago, but didn't have enough time to properly check it out. What I did see didn't thrill me, but as noted it was a seriously abbreviated visit (memory says it was closing early that day for some reason).
Duxford is on the short list of places I want to visit next time I'm over there.

The de Havilland museum also worth a visit. They have the original Mosquito prototype in their collection. Directions both by car and public transport are on their website.
https://www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk/

I'll second the DH Museum. There is a good museum near Newark, which is probably reachable by train, but a bit far perhaps. Forget Everything I said about train. Over Christmas, you'd have a better chance of catching a passing Zeppelin.

How about Hendon?
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/...nd-directions/

Maybe not this trip but Shuttleworth at Old Warden is a must do when you can though you do really need a car. Biggleswade is the nearest railway station and it's a 3 mile walk or a trip in a taxi - trains take about a half hour from Kings Cross. Frequent afternoon and evening airshows between May and October which are a joy.

Have a ride on the London Cable Car over the river .. nice views, including London City Airport.. dump the girls at the O2 for shopping and go and see the planes landing on the steep approach .. all easily reachable by the Docklands Railway.

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/london-cabl...ce?intcmp=1445

The Imperial War Museum London has some planes as well .. Spitfire, parts of a Lancaster and a Zero.. the other attractions noted are great, but some are quite a trek out of London.

I’d recommend the IWM in London & , reachable by train , ( if they’re running ) Duxford.
Duxford also has a great ‘Land warfare’ exhibit - it ain’t aviation but you’re there , it doesn’t cost any extra & it is fascinating.
Also in Cambridge , tho’ you may be pushed for time, the American cemetery

In addition to the museums recommended: If you're flying into Heathrow, try and get yourself a right-hand window seat. Assuming a westerly wind component, you'll get great views of Central London on your approach weather permitting. That being said, from Central London, you'll also get good views of stuff on the approach to Heathrow coming in at about 3000 ft AGL.

London helicopter tours are also available. Although I can't make any specific recommendations on any organisations, I'm sure they all do a fine job :)

The Battle of Britain Memorial, Embankment near Cleopatra's Needle which also has WW1 bomb damage.
The RAF Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park.
Bomber Harris Statue.

I dont have a problem with any of the recomendations but please check opening times before you travel.

It is Christmas and I guess many places will be shut. And we may have rail strikes!!

Enjoy your trip.

The IWM at Duxford is a must: it's situated on an authentic Battle of Britain airfield (if you've seen the movie of the same name you will already have seen many of the buildings and airfield) and, as well as being the largest aviation museum in the UK, has a large purpose-built building devoted to American aviation.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford/whats-here

And fairly easy to get to:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford/getting-here

St Clement Danes Church in the Strand. Battle of Britain memorial chapel in Westminster Abbey.