British Aerospace Kingston

The Sopwith negatives show the range of products built by the company. The Hawker company was formed in the 1920’s and acquired the assets of Sopwith. They went on to build some of the most famous RAF fighter aircraft. When the company was renamed Hawker-Siddeley the tradition continued.

Aircraft featured include the Camel, Hurricane and Hunter. Some of the collection was retained by British Aerospace but the rest was donated to the RAF Museum when the factory closed. Conservation work is currently being undertaken on this collection which has severely reduced access. We apologise for this disruption but hope you will appreciate the importance of this work which will ultimately improve access and the preservation of this important collection.

You can view and buy prints of some of the Museum’s best-loved photographs at the online photograph store.