Hawker P.1127 XP831 RAF

Airship No.17 ‘Beta II’ Gondola 1912
This Airship was originally built as the Beta I by the Army Balloon Factory in 1910. In 1912 it was reconstructed with a new, larger, envelope and became the ‘Beta II’. Initially used by the Army, it came under RNAS control in January 1914 (along with all other British Airships) and was given the identity ‘HMA No17’. It was retired in 1916 and the Gondola was preserved by the Science Museum.

Antoinette Type VII (BAPC.55)
One of a series of monoplane types designed by Leon Levavasseur and built in France, the Type VII first flew in 1909. It was the type used by French Aviation pioneer Hubert Latham, in his second attempt to cross the English Channel. This took place on 27th July 1909, just two days after Louis Bleriot had successfully made the crossing. Unfortunately the aircraft ditched just under a mile away from the English coast, so near and yet so far!!
This example was built for Robert Blackburn, and joined the Science Museum in 1926.

Avro 504K D7560 Royal Flying Corps

Cierva C.30A Autogiro (G-ACWP) AP507/KX-P RAF

Cody type V 304
This is the second of the two Cody V Biplanes. The first was built in 1912 from the remains of two earlier aircraft, both of which had crashed. In September 1912 it was declared the winner of the Military Trials held at Salisbury and it subsequently joined No4 Sqn, Royal Flying Corps, in December 1912.
The second aeroplane first flew in January 1913, but in April 1913 the first machine broke up mid-air, after which the second was not flown again. In November that year it joined the Science Museum.

de Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth G-AAAH ‘Jason’ Amy Johnson
Built 1928. This is the actual Gipsy Moth that was flown by Amy Johnson on her epic solo flight from Great Britain to Australia in 1930, becoming the first woman pilot to do so. She flew from Croydon in Greater London, to Darwin in the Northern Territory, a journey of some 11,000 miles. ‘Jason’ joined the Science Museum in 1931.

Douglas C-47B Dakota KN448 RCAF

Fieseler Fi-103A-1 V-1 442795 (BAPC-199) Luftwaffe

Fokker E.III Eindecker (210/16) Luftwaffe

Gloster E28/39 W4041/G RAF  Built 1941. Britain’s first successful jet aircraft, the Gloster E28/39 first flew on 15 May 1941 with test pilot Gerry Sayer at the controls. This experimental aircraft was built to test the new jet engine developed by Frank Whittle. The E28/39 led to the creation of the Gloster Meteor, the first British jet fighter to see active service, in July 1944.

Handley Page H.P.39 Gugnunc G-AACN

Hawker Hurricane I L1592/KW-Z RAF

Hawker P.1127 XP831 RAF
Built 1960. This is the first prototype P1127 and the first to achieve a vertical take-off, on 21st October 1960. The P 1127 developed into the Kestrel and then the Harrier, the world’s first operational vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet fighter. The second generation of Harrier remains in service with various international air arms, including the US Marines.

Hawker-Siddeley 125-1A/522 G-ASSM

JAP-Harding monoplane (BAPC-54)
This is a British built copy of the French Bleriot XI. It was built by JA Prestwich in North London (builders of JAP motorcycle engines) for HJ Harding, a former motorcycle racer and the Paris representative of JAP engines. The aircraft was built to demonstrates JAP’s eight cylinder aero engine which, along with a four cylinder version, was supplied to various British aircraft companies. It first flew in April 1910 at Lea Marshes, close to JAP’s factory at Tottenham, and was then taken to France where Harding was awarded his French Aero Certificate using it, and then back to the UK and was flown at the Blackpool aviation meeting later in the year. After that it was stored in Tottenham until 1930.

Lockheed 10A Electra NC5171N (G-LIOA)

Meggitt BTT-3 Banshee 300 1364

Messerschmitt Me163B-1a Komet 191316 Yellow 6 Luftwaffe

Roe Triplane (BAPC.50)
Built in 1909, the Roe Triplane was the first all-British aircraft to fly. It was piloted by it’s creator, Alliot Verdon Roe, on 13 July 1909 at Lea Marshes, Essex and managed to fly 100ft. The aeroplane was constructed from wood and paper, and was powered by a 9 hp JAP engine. Roe, of course, went on to create Avro, which became one of the world’s greatest aircraft manufacturing companies.
This is the second of the two examples built (it has a tailskid instead of a tailwheel) and joined the Science Museum in 1925.

Pitts Special S-1S G-AZPH

Rolls Royce Thrust Measuring Rig XJ314 RAF
Built 1954. This was a pioneering vertical take-off and landing aircraft developed by Rolls-Royce in the 1950s. It used two Nene turbojet engines mounted back-to-back horizontally within a steel framework, raised upon four legs with castors for wheels. It had no lifting or stabilising surfaces (wings, blades, etc.) and was commonly known as the ‘Flying Bedstead’.
It joined the Science Museum in 1961

Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5A Scout G-EBIB Savage Skywriting Company
Saw Royal Flying Corps service as ‘F937’ After World War I, British Army Royal Flying Corps (RFC) Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a biplane fighter F937 was demilitarised and sold to the Savage Skywriting Company as G-EBIB, their second of three SE5a skywriters. G-EBIB was retired in 1939 and donated to the Science Museum in London.

Saro Skeeter AOP.12 XN344 AAC

Schempp-Hirth HS.4 Standard Cirrus DFY (BGA2091)

Short SC.1 XG900 RAF
This was the first British fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. It was designed to study the problems with VTOL flight and the transition to and from forward flight and first flew in 1957.
It joined the Science Museum in 1971

Supermarine S.6B S1595 RAF
Winner of the Schneider Trophy, 1931. Designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, it was a development of Mitchell’s earlier S.4 which had won the 1925 Schneider Trophy race. The S.6B was powered by a supercharged Rolls-Royce 1900 hp engine. It marked the culmination of Mitchell’s quest to “perfect the design of the racing seaplane” and represented the cutting edge of aerodynamic technology. It is one of the major technical achievements in British aviation between the two world wars. Not only did the aircraft win the 1931 Schneider Trophy, but also, two weeks later, became the fastest vehicle on earth, setting an absolute speed record of 407.5 mph. This was the third consecutive win for the British, and the Schneider Trophy was permanently awarded to Great Britain.

Supermarine Spitfire Ia P9444/RN-D RAF

Vickers Vimy IV (BAPC-51)
This is the aircraft in which John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown made the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in June 1919. The Vimy had been designed in 1917 as a bomber, but when the First World War ended this example was converted with extra fuel tanks to attempt the crossing. The pair left Newfoundland on 15 June and landed at Clifden in Connemara, Ireland some 16 hours later to become national heroes.
It joined the Science Museum in 1919 and is remains on display in the ‘Flight’ Hall.

Westland-Hill Pterodactyl Ia J8067
Built 1926. Sole survivor of a series of experimental tailless designs from the late 1920’s.

Goddard rocket, the first liquid-fueled rocket

Mittelwerk GmbH V-2 Rocket

Black Arrow

Apollo 10 Command Module (CM-106) ‘Charlie Brown’

Appolo 10 Command Module Simulator main display consol

Moonlander

Pressure Suit, A7-L, Aldrin, Apollo 11, Flown

Soyuz TMA-19M descent module
After a record-breaking national tour, the Soyuz TMA-19M descent module that safely carried astronauts Tim Peake, Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra back from the International Space Station in 2016.

Soyuz TMA-19M descent module

Helen Sharman Sokol KV-2 spacesuit for MIR

Early Airships

Stringfellow steam-powered monoplane
One of several experimental aircraft designed by Sheffield-born John Stringfellow (1799-1883). In 1848 Stringfellow achieved the first ever powered flight using an unmanned 10 ft wingspan steam-powered monoplane, built in a disused lace factory in Chard, Somerset. Employing two contra-rotating propellers on the first attempt, made indoors, the machine flew ten feet before becoming destabilised, damaging the craft. The second attempt was more successful, the machine leaving a guide wire to fly freely, achieving some thirty yards of straight and level powered flight.

William Henson’s 1:7 scale model Aerial Steam Carriage
In 1842 William Samuel Henson (1812-1888) patented a design for a steam-powered monoplane which he called an ‘Aerial Steam Carriage’. The machine was never built but Henson and his partner, John Stringfellow, later constructed this scale model of the machine with which they carried out trials in 1845. Henson and Stringfellow planned to set up an airfreight company, the ‘Aerial Steam Transit Company’, to transport goods around the world. However sustained flight was never achieved and, in 1847, Henson abandoned his plans and emigrated to the United States. Although its flights were limited, this was the first powered aircraft to be built, albeit a model, that in any way approached a rational design.

Early aviation

WWII aircraft British and German

Avro Lancaster radio

320 H.P. A.B.C. Dragonfly engine No. 60185

Supersonic Airliner Free Flight Test Model and Hawker P.1127 Wind Tunnel model