RAF Museum at Hendon, London

19 December 2012

The RAF museum in Hendon is located in the outskirts of London. Getting there took 30 minutes from Central London by London Underground from Leicester Square to the Colindale Station, and a 8 minutes bus ride (Bus #303) from the Station. Bus #303 passes by the entrance to the Museum with a frequency of 5 minutes. The bus stop for this service is located directly outside the exit of Colindale Underground Station. We could have walked to the museum but it was raining slightly so we took the bus. It was a “perfect” day for a visit to the museum since the weather forecast was rain and rain for the whole day. Entrance to the museum is free of charge.

I was fascinated by airplanes ever since boyhood. I build my first Airfix 1:72 scale Spitfire model and then went on to build many more WW2 era model planes. Those days, reading the WW2 picture comics from Air Ace and Battle Picture Library and Commandos Comics helped stimulate the interest too.

A Bloodhound missile battery welcomed us as we entered the museum ground. A Spitfire and a Hurricane are also on displayed further in.

Spitfire and Hurricane outside the Battle of Britain Hall. The rest of the exhibits are indoor.

The museum is divided into many halls. First up was the Milestones of Flight Hall. This building was built in 2003, exactly 100 years after the first powered flight by the Wright brothers on 17th December 1903.

Scaled Model of the first plane built by the Wright Brothers in 1903.

P51 Mustang.

Some WW1 era bi-planes.

2 seater WW1 plane with a waist gun turret. Have to be careful not to shoot your own tail fin off as in a Indiana Jones movie.

Harrier Jumpjet –  a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) plane that saw action in the Falklands war.

Underneath the Harrier, with the unique rotatable thrusters that enable the plane to do the Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL).

The Milestone of Flight Hall highlights a few of the airplanes that signify major breakthrough in aircraft design.

Messerschmitt ME262 – first jet fighter that went to battle.

The next hall was the Bomber Hall where we could view the Lancaster, Buccaneer, Vulcan and a shot-downed Halifax bomber.

We stopped by to view the video documentary of the Dambuster Raid where the Lancasters of 617 Squadron dropped specially designed, bouncing, dam-buster bombs to destroy the Rhur dams during WW2.

It was a very interesting piece of war history that illustrated how engineers overcome constraints using ingenuity and how brave young man trained hard to take on seemingly impossible and dangerous missions and carried them out successfully, although many never returned.

Avro Lancaster bomber at the Bomber Hall.

The number of bombs painted signifying the number of completed missions over Germany or  “Reich Territory”.

Recovered wreck of a shot-down Halifax bomber.

The bomber hall also displayed one of the my favourite WW2 aircraft, the B17 Flying Fortress. As the name implied, this is one of the heaviest armed bomber in WW2, with 12 machine guns (based on the model I built) spread all over providing all round defence. 

B17 Flying Fortress.

In contrast to the Lancaster, the B17 was painted silver as it was a day bomber while the Lancaster and all British bombers were painted black as they were doing the night bombings. The silver coloured B17 actually showed the air superiority of the Allied forces towards the end of WW2 as there was no need for camouflage. The tailfin was actually painted in bright colours to help the squadrons identify each other in the air and facilitates forming up correctly before flying to Germany.

B17 in the background. A yellow Messerschmitt ME-109 (German fighter) in the front. Predator and prey. Who is predator and who is prey? Sometimes it could be hard to tell.

Chin turret of the B17 operated by the bombardier when he is not busy aiming and dropping bombs.

B24 Liberator bomber – another US bomber during WW2.

Towards the end of the bomber hall, a Vulcan bomber is displayed. This is not a famous bomber but it has an impressively large wingspan.

The Historic Hangers showcase helicopters, planes used by the RAF in overseas deployment.

Curtiss P40 Warhawk or Kittyhawk – used in North Africa, Pacific and also China and also this was the fighter plane featured in the movie Pearl Harbour.

Interesting story of a German U-boat (U-570) surrendering to a plane during WW2.

The Battle of Britain Hall is located on a separate building. This exhibition tells the story of the world’s first decisive air battle. Besides aircraft display, there are audio-visual presentations and interactive displays giving an insight into the those days where ”so many, owe so much, to so few”.

Here, the famous Battle of Britain fighters Sptifire and Hurricane are displayed. Plus German bombers such as Heinkel, Junker Ju 88 and fighters like ME109 and 110 which did bombings of Britain.

Heinkel He111 German bomber used to bomb English cities and airfields during Battle of Britain.

ME-110 Twin engine German fighter with antennas for night fighting.

Junker Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers.

German V2 rocket – world’s first Surface to Surface long range ballistic missile.

At this hall, we could walk through a Short Sunderland Flying Boat to appreciate what it was like to be in one.

Sunderland Flying Boat that can take off and land on water.

We walked back to the Colindale Underground Station and took the train back to Leicester Square. Earlier in the day, we have bought discount tickets from TKTS for the Phantom of the Opera showing at Her Majesty Theatre near Leicester Square.

It was a unanimous decision as to where to take our dinner before the show – Burger and Lobster at 36 Dean Street again. The Sicilian waiter, Michaele, recognised us and came to serve us again. This time, there is no queue as it was early for dinner. He stopped to chat longer with us this time as the restaurant was less crowded. And I went with him to see the lobster tanks this time.