Seaplane Tender (ST) 206
May 31 Following successful trials with prototype vessel RAF 200 undertaken by Aircraftman T.E. Shaw (a.k.a. ‘Lawrence of Arabia’) in March 1931, ordered under contract 104561/31 as …
Location: Hangar 1
de Havilland Comet 1XB
The first flight of the Comet, the world’s first jet powered airliner, took place on 27 July 1949. With a cruising speed of 725kph (450mph) and a …
Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C1
The Argosy was a variant of the civil AW650 freight aircraft. The RAF ordered fifty-six Argosies for use as medium range transport, paratroop and supply aircraft. The …
Avro Anson C.19
Starting life in the RAF in 1936 as a Coastal Command reconnaissance and attack aircraft, the Anson was primarily used on light transport and training duties. The …
Fairchild F-24 Argus
The four-seat Fairchild F24, sporting and training aeroplane, made its first flight in 1932. The design attracted attention from the civilian American market and improved models soon …
Comper CLA.7 Swift
In 1923 Flying Officer Nicholas Comper formed the ‘Cranwell Light Aeroplane Club’ (CLAC) for apprentices at RAF Cranwell. The CLAC built three successful light aircraft, all designed …
de Havilland 9A
The de Havilland DH9A, known as the ‘Ninak’, was developed as a medium bomber. It was produced in 1918 and saw limited service in World War One …
Gloster Meteor F8 Prone Position
A much modified Meteor F8 fighter, the ‘prone position’ Meteor, was used to evaluate the advantages of coping with the effects of gravity while flying lying down. …
Scottish Aviation Jetstream T Mk1
The Jetstream served as the RAF’s standard multi-engined pilot trainer for many years, and was the last aircraft of Handley Page design in RAF service, though a …
de Havilland Chipmunk
One of the RAF’s longest serving aircraft types, the Canadian designed Chipmunk entered RAF service in 1950. Chipmunks replaced the Tiger Moth as an initial pilot trainer, …
Hawker Cygnet
The Cygnet was the first aircraft to be designed by Sydney Camm after he joined what was then the H.G. Hawker Engineering Company. Two were built as …
de Havilland Devon
The Devon aircraft was developed for the RAF from the civil de Havilland Dove 4 as a light communications and transport aircraft. The de Havilland Dove was …
Hawker Siddeley Andover E3A
The Andover was developed from the Avro 748 airliner to meet the requirement for Short Take-off & Landing (STOL) transport aircraft to operate in the trooping, paratrooping, …
Hawker Siddeley Gnat T1
Derived from a single seat fighter project, the Gnat provided advanced flying training for RAF fast jet pilots in the 1960s and 1970s. The Gnat first flew …
Short Sunderland MR5
By the start of World War Two in September 1939 three squadrons had been equipped with the Sunderlands. Seven hundred and forty-nine Sunderlands were built, and they …