What's On Next Month, June 2008

Ideas & Innovation

3 May - 1 June

This May is Museums & Galleries month, the theme for which is Ideas & Innovation. To tie in with this, the Museum is giving budding artists during EACH WEEKEND IN MAY the opportunity to add their own creativity to some ground breaking aircraft - ranging from the Eurofighter Typhoon to the record breaking Gypsy Moth by generating new designs for them, as well as creating their own designs for aircraft of the future.

Accompanying this activity, there will be a small exhibition in the Museum’s Aeronauts Interactive Gallery on Development of Flight & Equipment.

The Aeronauts Interactive Gallery is open every weekend from 10.00 – 18.00. Last admission to the Museum is 17.30.

Place your bids for a Aviation Conservation Experience Day

24 May - 2 June

The Royal Air Force Museum has teamed up with Top Lots UK to enable you to bid on an Aviation Conservation Experience Day for two at the Museums Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at Cosford.

For further details, please refer to the news section of our website.

Set Course For A Trailblazing Exhibition

31 May - 31 December

Many people identify the Golden Age of aviation as the period between the two World Wars, a time when young men and women sought thrills, danger and, ultimately, international recognition through trailblazing aviation exploits that set the world alight.

This small group of pioneers were the first to conquer oceans and seas or just the physical and mental demands of long distance flying, without the comfort of the modern technologies that we take for granted today, making their achievements, for many, even more wondrous.

In this the Centenary Year of British Powered Flight, the Royal Air Force Museum has decided to honour this band of intrepid aviators with a free six month exhibition. ‘Trailblazers’ focuses on four individuals whose courage, grit and determination captured the world’s imagination during the 1920s and 30s.

•Alex Henshaw, Spitfire Test Pilot and British Air Racer who flew in 1939 from London to Cape Town covering all 6,377 miles in just over 39 hours, a few short months before the outbreak of World War II.

•Amy Johnson who, in 1930, became the first woman successfully to complete a long distance solo flight to Australia – in a second-hand De Havilland Gipsy Moth.

•Francis Chichester, a superb navigator who, in 1931, was the first to make a solo east-west crossing of the Tasman Sea in his Gipsy Moth.

•Charles Lindbergh, the first pilot to cross the Atlantic single-handed in 1927, with just a compass and the stars to navigate his way.

On 31st May ‘Trailblazers’ will re-introduce these pioneers, their achievements and aircraft associated with them to a new generation of young explorers in the appropriately named Milestones of Flight Hall at the Museum’s London site.

For further information, please call 0208 205 2266

Hendon Pageant - Edwardian Extravaganza

14 June - 15 June

This year, the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon will celebrate the 90th birthday of the RAF and the centenary of powered flight in Britain by staging "The Hendon Pageant". Come and join in the Edwardian summer splendour on the weekend of the 14th and 15th June 2008.

Have a ride on the carousel!

Meet some pioneers of flight!

Admire our First World War aircraft, and meet the crew!

Let your children create Edwardian style hats to wear as you peruse the fine aircraft of this era of flight!

Come and 'Enchant the ladies and steal the scenes' in your Edwardian costume - A hamper is on offer for the most authentically dressed Edwardian family at 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Celebrate the magnificent men and their flying machines with us…

For further information, please telephone 020 8358 4896.

We make every effort to adhere to our published schedule. However, dates may vary without notice. Please confirm dates and times prior to the event to avoid disappointment.