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The first flight of an airplane might’ve been in the United States, but today, aviation connects the world. After rounding up some of our favorite aviation museums in the U.S., we’re turning our eyes abroad, highlighting international aviation museums to add to your travel wish list.
To compile this list, we’ve tapped aviation historian Shea Oakley and aviation expert Dan Bubb, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and former airline pilot, to share with us their personal favorites, plus considered some of our own.
“What I like the most about these museums is not only the wide variety of different types of aircraft spanning different time periods, but the rich history that accompanies them. Visitors will get to experience aviation from its infancy to being highly developed over decades,” says Bubb. “Anyone who appreciates aviation and history will not be disappointed. At each of these museums, visitors must be prepared to set enough time aside because there is much to see, read, and watch.”
Meet the Expert
Shea Oakley is an aviation historian and the executive director emeritus at the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey.
Dan Bubb is a former airline pilot and a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who specializes in commercial aviation and airport history.
Imperial War Museum Duxford, Duxford, United Kingdom
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Housed in one of the first Royal Air Force stations, Imperial War Museum Duxford has some 200 aircraft on display. “Duxford contains the British Airliner Collection which includes an example of just about every post-war airliner built in the U.K., from the Comet to the Concorde,” says Oakley, who also praises its restoration center, which is open to the public, as well as its airshows. “I like to call it a ‘living museum,'” he adds. “As much as I love our Air and Space Museum here in America, everything there is static. Duxford literally brings aviation history to life.”
Museo del Aire y del Espacio, Madrid, Spain
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Spain established its Air Force following the Spanish Civil War, and the Museo del Aire y del Espacio is dedicated to its legacy. Here, you’ll find around 150 aircraft in indoor and outdoor exhibits, from a Fokker DR-1 to a McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II, plus artifacts like uniforms, weapons, and hundreds of model planes. The museum, selected by Bubb for this list, is located on Cuatro Vientos Air Base, about 20 minutes from Madrid’s city center.
British Airways Heritage Center, Harmondsworth, United Kingdom
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Interested in commercial airlines more than warplanes? Visit the British Airways Heritage Center at the airline’s headquarters near Heathrow — it’s free to visit, but you’ll need to make an appointment to do so. “British Airways, like Pan Am in its day, has been one of the largest, oldest, and most significant airlines pioneering commercial aviation history,” says Oakley. “The Heritage Center is chock-full of fascinating memorabilia about BA and its predecessor carriers going all the way back to 1919. Its curator, Jim Davies, is often available to give visitors a personal tour.”
Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, Le Bourget, France
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France has a long aviation history, much of which is chronicled at the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, another Bubb pick. It’s located just a 10-minute drive from Charles de Gaulle at the Paris–Le Bourget Airport, a historic airfield that’s used primarily for business jets today. The museum was founded in 1919 and holds a collection of aircraft that includes a Concorde and a Boeing 747, as well as numerous aviation-related works of art and posters.
Technik Museum Sinsheim and Technik Museum Speyer, Germany
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Though the Technik Museum Sinsheim and Technik Museum Speyer — two linked institutions located about 30 minutes apart between Frankfurt and Stuttgart — are not solely dedicated to aviation, these museums of technology do have an impressive collection of aviation artifacts. At Sinsheim, you can see both a Concorde and a Tupolev Tu-144, a Soviet commercial supersonic jet. At Speyer, you can climb through the interiors of a Boeing 747 (and walk out onto its wing) and spot a Soviet Buran space shuttle.
Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa, Canada
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Located on a former military base in Ottawa, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, one of Bubb’s favorites, is the country’s most extensive aviation collection, with more than 130 military and civilian aircraft and artifacts. Highlights include the World War II–era Lancaster bomber, the largest surviving pieces of an Avro Arrow (the famous Canadian-designed interceptor aircraft), and the Canadarm from the space shuttle Endeavour. The museum also offers scenic flights in helicopters, vintage biplanes, and Cessnas.
The Royal Air Force Museum, London and Cosford, United Kingdom
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Split between locations in London and The Midlands, the Royal Air Force Museum is a testament to the air power of the U.K. from World War I to the current day. The museum has more than 160 aircraft on display, with a particularly robust collection of World War II planes (think: Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes). There are also various thematic exhibitions; subjects range from the Battle of Britain to the Red Arrows, the RAF’s aerobatic display team.
Polish Aviation Museum, Krakow, Poland
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With 250 aircraft and 124 engines, the Polish Aviation Museum has one of the largest collections in Europe — and it’s located at one of the oldest airports in Europe, the now-defunct Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport, built in 1912. Though the Nazis destroyed most Polish pre-war aircraft during the occupation, the museum has the only remaining PZL P.11c Polish fighter aircraft. The museum also has a number of Soviet aircraft from the Cold War, on display in what’s referred to as “MiG Alley.”
Aerospace Bristol, Patchway, United Kingdom
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For the final museum on our list, we’re back in the U.K. — this time at Aerospace Bristol, home of the last Concorde ever to fly. The iconic supersonic aircraft is undoubtedly the highlight of the museum, but there are more than 8,000 artifacts here for you to peruse. The museum is also an archive for the Bristol Aeroplane Company (and its predecessors and successors), honoring the city’s contributions to aviation. The Concorde on display here, for instance, was built in Bristol.
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