We have recently visited the Royal Air Force Museum placed in Hendon, a suburb of London and bring you all the information you really need in order to organize your trip there.

London is a very popular destination inside Europe and not only. Millions of people go there to live their experience beside the river Thames and take photos of  themselves in front of Big Ben. But how many of them know about the Royal Air Force Museum placed in Hendon, London only a few minutes from the center of the city? Actually the RAF Museum opened in 1972 and is placed in Hendon's London Aerodrome in Colindale. It hosts today over 100 aircraft from around the world including some very rare aircraft designs and of course latest modern jets and military aircrafts. To take your tour inside the RAF Museum is totally free and the same applies for the interactive and fun activities, including 3D Cinema etc.  The RAF Museum opens at 10.00 and closes at 18.00 every day. It is only 10 kms from central London which means that is about 30 minutes using the tube. The RAF Museum is situated at Colindale Underground on the Edgware branch (Northern Line). It is important to alight at Colindale and not Hendon Central. Colindale is in Zone 4 of the Underground.  So to travel to the RAF Museum, just get the Northern Line (black line on the map). To get the Northern Line just get any train to Kings Cross Station and from there get a train travelling to EDGWARE (Edgware, High Barnet or Mill Hill East). Do not alight at Hendon Central but at one station before, Colindale. It is about half an hour from Kings Cross. Turn left out of the Colindale Station and walk straight along the road for about 10 minutes following the signs and the Museum is on the right hand side of the road.

Map of the tube. For useful information about how to get there by train please visit the website http://www.tfl.gov.uk .

Of course you can also go by road or bus. In general you can visit the information provided by the official RAF Museum web-site here.   Now a few words about what are you going to see there. We propose to get up early in the morning in order to have plenty of time. Charge the battery of your camera and get ready to take a lot of photos from the five different buildings of the RAF Museum: Grahame-White Factory & Watch Office, Milestones of Flight, Bomber Hall, Historic Hangars & Battle of Britain Hall.

An aerial photo of the museum and the buildings situated.

Let us take a look at the buildings one by one now and what actually can you see there. Of course the fuuly updated RAF Museum web-site will be a fine help in order to be prepared before your visit. Grahame-White Factory & Watch Office This particular building is the first aircraft factory in United Kingdom. It was built in 1917. It includes the surviving part of the original factory and has got all the original equipment of the initial building. It hosts the oldest aircrafts that were designed and built on the same period of time with the building. The visitor is able to watch aircrafts like the Sopwith Triplane, a Hanriot and the SE5-A fighter from World War One. The full collection of Grahame-White Factory & Watch Office here.

Milestones of Flight The Milestones of Flight building opened in the year 2003. There you will find aircrafts and several levels and you can play with interactive technology since there are electronic displayw everywhere. The exhibition there reports the great achievements in the first 100 years of flight so you will watch Royal Air Force but also foreign aircrafts in order to present  the steps in the development of aviation. From an early airship gondola, a Blériot from 1909 to the Eurofighter Typhoon also Harrier, Fokker biplane, Hawker Tempest, P-51D Mustang etc. The full collection of Milestones of Flight building here.

Bomber Hall The Bomber Hall exhibition takes a look to the bomber type of aircrafts from World War I to the technologically advanced bombers of today. Except aircrafts you will also find historical information about the achievements of RAF Bomber Command and the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. This hall is can be considered as a memorial to the 131,000 men who died during the combined bombing offensive in Worl War II. Aircrafts found here are Avro Lancaster, Vulcan B2, B-17G Fortress, Fock Wulf, Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B,  Panavia Tornado GR1A etc. The full collection of Bomber Hall  here.

Historic Hangars The Historic Hangars are connected buildings that actually were part of the old Hendon Aerodrome. They have been linked  by a new building in the center. It is dedicated to Sir Sidney Camm, who was the designer of the Hawker Typhoon. It contains five separate exhibitions that tell us different stories about the Royal Air Force history. In the Historic Hangars find time to see aircrafts and helicopters like CH47D Chinook, Lightning F6, Curtiss Kityhawk, Gloster Meteor, Hawker Typhoon, McDonell Douglas Phantom, Spitfire etc. The full collection of Historic Hangars here.

Battle of Britain Hall The RAF Museum's Battle of Britain Hall has been created tells the story of the Battle of Britain when Royal Air Force stood against Luftwaffe during World War II. The aircraft collection contains aircrafts coming from both sides that took place in the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The actul objective of that campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command. The name derives from a famous speech delivered by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the House of Commons: "... the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin." The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. From July 1940 coastal shipping convoys and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth, were the main targets, one month later the Luftwaffe shifted its attacks to RAF airfields and infrastructure. As the battle progressed the Luftwaffe also targeted aircraft factories and ground infrastructure. Eventually the Luftwaffe resorted to attacking areas of political significance and using terror bombing tactics.[ The failure of Germany to achieve its objectives of destroying Britain's air defences, or forcing Britain to negotiate an armistice or an outright surrender, is considered its first major defeat and one of the crucial turning points in the war. If Germany had gained air superiority, Adolf Hitler might have launched Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain. Do not forget to walk through the road created inside the building and take photos of Bristol Blenheim IV, CASA E3B, Fiat CR42 Falco, Hawker Hurricane 1, Junkers Ju87G-2, Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3, Supermarine Spitfire I etc. The full collection of Battle of Britain Hall here.

At last but not least before you leave the RAF Museum do not forget to visit the Shop which is a collector's paradise. Posters, tshirts, jackets, mugs, patches, models and a variety of things for you and your beloved persons.

Our visit to London would not be the same if did not have the opportunity to visit the RAF Museum. If you are planning to visit London soon please do not forget to incude the RAF Museum to your destinations.

We would really like to thank the personnel of the museum and especially the PR Manager Mr. Ajay Srivastana for their help and cooperation for the preparation of this article.