The Museum Of Flight is located at East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian, Scotland. The museum is part of the National Museums Scotland organisation. The buildings which house the museum were originally part of RAF East Fortune, a military airfield with a long history dating back to the First World War.
Today the museum has an extensive and varied collection of military and civilian aircraft, ranging from a microlight to the supersonic airliner Concorde. The main aircraft collection is housed the original hangars of the East Fortune Airfield- these are the four large rectangular buildings in the Google satellite view below.
The Collection
The Military Aviation Hangar features combat aircraft. The Museum’s collection includes a Spitfire LF.XVIe, a Harrier GR.1, a Tornado F3, an English Electric Lightning F2.A and a Jaguar GR.1A. Many of the internal systems of the aircraft not usually visible have been removed for display, including engines, radar, ejection seats and weapons.
The Civil Avaition Hangar features a wide variety of civilian aircraft, from microlights to small airliners. Highlights include a de Havilland Dragon Mk.1, a Beech E-18S, a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer Series 3, a British Aerospace Jetstream 31, and de Havilland Dove Series 6.
The Concorde Experience features the pride of the museum’s collection: Concorde, in the colours of British Airways. Also on display is a Hawk T.1A in the colours of the UK Royal Air Force’s aerobatic display team, the Red Arrows.
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The museum also features large aircraft on display outdoors. These are an Avro Vulcan B.2A bomber, and two airliners: a De Havilland DH106 Comet 4C in Dan Air colours, and a BAC 111-510ED in British Airways colours. You can see these aircraft in the Google satellite view below.
Events
Throughout the year the museum usually hosts various special events, including an annual airshow. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, there are no events currently scheduled.
Please Note:
This website is not affiliated to the National Museum of Flight. If you are planning a visit, please check the Museum’s official website for the latest information:
Around The Site
The Google Map below shows a satellite view of the buildings of the museum as they are today. However, there’s much more to the old RAF East Fortune airfield than what you see in this view, so let’s explore.
Use the +/- zoom buttons at the bottom right of the map to zoom out. You’ll eventually see the three runways of the old airfield. As you can see, the site covers a very large area, with the museum only occupying a small part of it.
Just to the right (east) of the runways is the location of the Melville Motorcycle Club. They have adapted part of the runways and some of the old airfield roads to form a motorcycle racing circuit.
Now move to the extreme left (west) of the airfield. The area of runway to the left of the B1347 road was built as an extension during the Cold War, to allow United States Air Force strategic bombers to use East Fortune as a dispersal base. This part of the runway is now the home of East of Scotland Microlights, and is the only part of the airfield which is still used for flying.
Finally, navigate to the very top (north) of the airfield on the map. The row of buildings at the end of the runway are the remains of East Fortune Hospital. The hospital was originally established between the two world wars, when some of the airfield’s buildings and land were sold. The hospital was moved to another location during World War 2 when the airfield was needed by the Air Ministry. After the war, it was re-established at East Fortune, and remained open until 1997.
