The unrestored Halifax
Hit by flak, crash-landed on a frozen Norwegian lake in 1942 and sank; raised in 1973 and shown exactly as it came out of the water; the most powerful sight here.
Panhard — CC BY 2.5 · hugh llewelyn — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Clemens Vasters — CC BY 2.0 · Clemens Vasters — CC BY 2.0
A Lancaster bomber that flew 137 night raids over Europe and came home every time now stands silent in a hangar in a quiet north London suburb, and nobody pays a penny to see it. This is the RAF Museum, built on the grass of Hendon Aerodrome, one of Britain's first civilian airfields, and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in November 1972. Six adjoining hangars hold more than a hundred aircraft, from wood-and-canvas First World War machines to a Eurofighter Typhoon of the type still flying today, and entry to all of it is free. The layout is roughly chronological: Hangar 1 tells the RAF's first hundred years and holds the Sunderland flying boat, which you can usually walk inside; Hangar 2 is the Grahame-White Factory and the First World War; Hangars 3 to 5 cover 1918 to 1980, where the names every aviation lover knows are lined up: a Spitfire and Hurricane from the Battle of Britain, Lancaster 'S for Sugar' and the nuclear-era Vulcan with its vast delta wing. The exhibit that stays with you is not the prettiest but the most broken: a Halifax bomber hit by flak while attacking the Tirpitz, which crash-landed on a frozen Norwegian lake in April 1942 and sank through the ice, was raised in 1973 and is shown exactly as it came out of the water, crumpled and rusted, deliberately unrestored. Hangar 6 carries the story past 1980 with a Harrier, a Chinook and the Typhoon. For children this is one of the most successful museums in London. The space is enormous, the aircraft stand a few feet away, and almost everything is at floor level so pushchairs roll freely between them; there is also plenty to do rather than merely look at: miniature cockpits to climb into for free in Hangar 1, a three-axis Typhoon simulator at £5 for a six-minute ride (£4.50 booked online, minimum height 107 cm), a paid Spitfire Experience that puts over-8s in a real Second World War cockpit for ten minutes at £30, a 4D cinema that was closed for refurbishment at the time of writing, a huge airbase-themed outdoor playground with a mini Spitfire and Vimy to climb, and picnic benches and lawns where bringing your own food is welcomed. The Hendon Kitchen café serves simple lunches but has no clear halal options, so bringing your own food is easiest. Quiet rooms in Hangars 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 will serve for prayer if needed. The only real problem is where it is. Colindale is an ordinary suburb with nothing else to see, and the journey from the centre is about forty minutes on the Northern line (Edgware branch) plus a ten-minute walk; get off at Colindale, not Hendon Central. Booking the free entry ticket is recommended rather than compulsory, and on a normal summer day there are no queues to speak of. Parking is paid: £8.50 for up to three hours, £11 for up to six. If nobody in the family lives for aeroplanes, the British Museum and Science Museum are closer and a better use of a London day; if somebody does, set aside a full half-day and you will not regret it.
Hit by flak, crash-landed on a frozen Norwegian lake in 1942 and sank; raised in 1973 and shown exactly as it came out of the water; the most powerful sight here.
A bomber that survived 137 night raids beside the delta-winged nuclear bomber, in Hangars 3-5 where the Battle of Britain names gather.
A six-minute, three-axis simulator flight for £5, a paid seat in a real Spitfire cockpit for over-8s, and a huge airbase playground to run it off afterwards.
Grahame Park Way, Colindale, London NW9 5LL
If someone in the family is aeroplane-mad, yes without hesitation: a hundred real aircraft you can stand beside and in some cases walk inside, which neither the IWM nor the Science Museum offers. If not, it is forty minutes each way to a suburb with nothing else in it, while the other two sit in the centre next to other sights. The decision hangs on your children, not on the museum.
No, booking is only recommended, not required, and on most days you can walk straight in with no wait. The exception is the occasional special-event day, when entry may be by event ticket only, so check the what's-on page before you go.