Transfers from the Royal Air Force Museum’s National Collection
The purpose of the RAF Museum is to share the story of the Royal Air Force, past, present and future – using the narratives of its people and our collections in order to engage, inspire and encourage learning. We do this through our two public sites, in the Midlands and London, and through other relevant organisations and heritage sites across the UK and the world.
Following our RAF Centenary celebrations in 2018 and the development of our 2030 Strategy, we refocused our commitment to ensuring that every object in our collection holds relevance to the RAF Story. To this end, the Museum commenced a Collections Review to ensure that our objects supported this vision. Through the Review, we are ensuring historic aviation artefacts are transferred to appropriate homes, receive continuous care and are enjoyed by the public.
The transfer process follows the Museum’s Collection Development Policy and the Museums Association’s Off the Shelf Toolkit, with priority given to gifting to organisations within the UK public domain.
The advertising period for the most recent objects available for transfer has now closed. Following the completion of the advertising period, the RAF Museum will identify objects with multiple and single bids and gradually contact organisations to confirm the material they can receive through transfer. We plan to complete this process in late 2027, but unfortunately, we can’t provide a precise timeframe due to the level of interest we have received. Because of the level of interest we have received in these objects, we won’t be able to respond to individual questions.