I wanted to refresh photographs of historic airplanes on display at RAF Hendon from several years earlier using a modern digital camera.
My recent visit to RAF Hendon was on 4th February 2022 using modern professional cameras and lenses. Equipped with this equipment, I was set to create high-quality images free of noise and camera shake, and people!
This post does not go into detail on any of the exhibits. The RAF Hendon website and other online resources give excellent commentaries that would satisfy the most enthusiastic student of flight and air warfare.
Entry to the museum is free. Parking is £5 for three hours.
Pre 1911 Bleriot single-wing airplane that would help create a template for subsequent aircraft from the earliest days of flight to today.
The undercarriage of Vulcan V wing bomber with bomb payload. A far cry from the simple unarmed Bleriot model pictured opposite.
The slide show plays all the photographs as a video. Individual images can be viewed in the galleries below. I have not captured all the airplanes on display. Detailed information on the museum and the exhibits are on their website.
Located on the original aerodrome, the museum is purpose-built to house aircraft and exhibits in a modern and spacious environment.
The highlight exhibit in Hall 1 is a Sunderland Flying Boat used for coastal and submarine warfare. This airplane is huge and impressive. Visitors can go inside the aircraft to get an impression of the design and layout of the seaplane.
Halls 3,4 and 5 showcase Battle of Britain fighters and bombers from the UK and Germany. These include Spitfires (MK1 to MK4), a Hurricane, Kittyhawk, Typhoon, Lancaster, Liberator, and B17 Bombers. A Mosquito and Beaufort bomber is displayed. Axis aircraft include a 109 and 190 fighters, a Stuka dive bomber and light bomber used during the blitz.
The evolution of warbirds is shown in comparison with more modern jets from the Korean period and the cold war to the latest machines on display in Hall 6.
Recovered from a fjord in Norway, this airframe shows flack damage and crash impact.
ME109, FW190, and Axis bombers complete the Battle of Britain exhibit.
Aircraft from WW1 are displayed in Hall 2. They range from a recreated Bleriot model to fighters and bombers used by both sides during the war. Later examples are shown in other halls to show how aircraft developed over time and by function.
Copyright 2022 David P. Stewart Photography