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2021/09/02 Imperial War Museum in Duxford
π 2021-09-02 01:01 in England2021, Flying, Nflying
Lots of flight museums in the UK, I'm glad I got to see the main ones:
  • London Science Museum's Airplane Section
  • RAF Museum North of London
  • RAF Museum in Cosford (30mn from Birmingham and Stafford)
  • Imperial War Museum in Duxford (this one)
  • Flight Over Cambridge From IWM Duxford (while there, I rented a plane for a short flight)
  • There are multiple Imperial War Museums in the UK, and Duxford is likely the biggest plane museum in the country, 7 hangars and next to an active runway used to demonstrations and flights you can rent/pay for. I was there for opening time (took an uber from cambridge as it's not convenient to go by public transport):

    first impression: it's big
    first impression: it's big

    I had a tour booked to get a private tour of a spitfire and sit in the cockpit. I didn't know that for just 60 times more money, I could have flown in one for 30mn. A bargain :)




    this was the actual aircraft, recovered on the beach in normandy
    this was the actual aircraft, recovered on the beach in normandy


    I then went to sit in it
    I then went to sit in it








    After my tour, I went to visit the hangars:










    auto gyro
    auto gyro









    I went back to hangar #1 to see the concorde that closes earlier:






    They had one of the 6 concorde prototypes in the world. I had seen severals, but prototypes are always special, so it was worth seeing:







    it never had passengers, it was a test airplane for multiple systems including anti-icing and engine management
    it never had passengers, it was a test airplane for multiple systems including anti-icing and engine management

    the seats in the passenger versions, were much smaller
    the seats in the passenger versions, were much smaller


    lots of test equipment
    lots of test equipment

    cockpit was off limits
    cockpit was off limits

    the numbers were references to see how much icing happened
    the numbers were references to see how much icing happened














    harrier engines are awesome
    harrier engines are awesome



    Next, I went to the restoration hangar, lots of planes being worked on:












    Next was a small control room that re-enacted the only real air attack from Germany that was stopped:



    Further down was a very nice hangar filled with US planes. Not as interesting to me since I had seem them all many times in the US, but still worth the walk through:









    Last, but not least, was land warfare, this was a war museum, not just a plane museum:






    And that was it for the visit, I finished just 30mn before closing time.
    Also, while I was there, I got to

  • fly myself to cambridge for some nice pictures
  • and see many other cool planes fly during the day








  • Those planes did inspire me to do my own flight Over Cambridge From IWM Duxford.

    Getting back home was also not easy, no ubers at all, and taxis were a 45mn wait. I got lucky and shared a cab with a woman who had already called a cab herself and was also going to the train station in cambridge.

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    More pages: August 2021 September 2021

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