Charlwood Gatwick Aviation Museum

[Londoneye]

A visit to the museum adjacent to Gatwick.
Small but friendly with knowledgeable volunteers. (Especially the Shackleton crew).
Interesting history of the airport, simple little café and gift shop.
For the civil enthusiast, history includes airlines such as Dan-Air, Caledonian, Monarch etc.
Far end of the field has small seated area with limited view of taxiway / runway.
Two fences, so no good for photos.
Pete.


Shackleton RAF WR982 1 Charlwood


Shackleton RAF WR982 8 Charlwood


Lightning Saudi AF 53-671 ZF579 1 Charlwood


Jaguar RAF XX967 Charlwood


Hunter RN (E-430) 1 Charlwood


Buccaneer RN XN923 1 Charlwood


P57 Sea Prince RN WP308 G-GACA 2 Charlwood


Sea Hawk RN XE489 G-JETH 1 Charlwood


Meteor RN VZ638 G-JETM 1 Charlwood


DH110Sea Vixen RN XS587 G-VIXN 1 Charlwood

[Sparts99]

I work round the corner from there, really should get along. We went to an open day there about 30 years ago, they ran up the Sea Vixen. From memory there were only a couple of timber sheds, no aircraft were under cover so its come a long way.

[Mustang531]

Thanks for sharing these, I live locally too and have watched the collection grow over the years. It started with just the Hunter. Thankfully the collection is of a more manageable size these days, so enough to keep the volunteers occupied.

[paddyboy]

Looks like an excellent little museum to me

[Seahawk 11]

Thanks for showing these, its been a few years since I visited, must put on my visit list now.

Rob

[Stratocruiser]

A great selection of great captures.
I always hope to be on the right side of the airframe to view the outside exhibits when I fly in and out of Gatwick and one day hope to actually visit the museum.
Thanks for sharing your superb captures

[B787driver]

Looks like a great museum, but like Strato above, I too have only seen it when getting airborne from 26L. Will have to visit soon!

[Londoneye]

Thanks all for your appreciation.
I too kept putting off visiting. The museum had a rough ride in its early years, facilities and opening times put me off.
Glad I finally did it. I feel these smaller museums need our support or we will lose them.
Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Pete.