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Overview
Navigator contains information and in some cases images relating to items in the RAF Museum collection. While it is not a complete catalogue, it does offer you an opportunity to search and discover more about the variety of objects we hold. To help you there are listings of current subject areas and updates in What’s New. To introduce our collections we have compiled a small selection of highlights below... |
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Aircraft
The RAF Museum holds one of the largest and most significant collections of aircraft in the world. Over 250 aircraft are preserved by the Museum. The selection shown here gives you an idea of our diverse collection, which includes fighters, bombers, transport aircraft, monoplanes, biplanes, triplanes, seaplanes, flying boats, gyroplanes and helicopters. |
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Seascapes
Flying boats were designed to take off and land on water and used their fuselage as a floating hull. During the Second World War they were chiefly used for maritime patrols and air sea rescue. This selection of Fine Art shows flying boats and other aircraft in flight over the sea. |
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Aircraft Equipment
In addition to entire airframes, the RAF Museum holds larges numbers of aircraft pieces. These include structures such as rudders, wheels, weapon systems and system components, as well as fittings and equipment of various types. Here you will find a small selection of these objects. |
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Captured Aircraft
Pilot error, forced landings and crashes meant that aircraft sometimes fell into enemy hands. These captured aircraft were often taken apart and studied. They were used to practice combat techniques and sometimes carried out missions behind the lines of the enemy territory from which they came. These photographs show both German and British captured aircraft from the Second World War. |
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Air Diagrams
Air diagrams are posters first produced during the First World War as pictorial training aids designed to impress a particular message on trainees, be they air or ground crews. They covered a variety of topics, including flight safety, parachute and ditching drills and survival tactics. Many graphic artists were employed by the Air Ministry and Ministry of Aircraft Production to produce the designs, but the majority of them remain anonymous. Shown here is a small selection of posters from the Museum's collection of over 10,000 air diagrams. |
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Vehicles
Various types of vehicle have been used by the RAF during its history. This is a selection of just some of the many and varied vehicles in our collection, which includes armoured cars, tractors, refuelling tankers, motorcycles, a rescue launch, a barrage balloon winch lorry and a locomotive. |
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