royal air force scampton museum

georgesp74

RAF Scampton is the present home of the Red Arrows and has a museum which is certainly worth visiting but I beleive that one has to call first to arrange a visit as it it is not always open. RAF Scampton had a strategique involvement during WW2.

jenni08_13

We were booked on a tour, which you have to do as the heritage centre only opens once or twice a week. The induction outside points out various bombs carried by Lancasters including the famous Dambusters bouncing bomb. You also get to see Guy Gibson's beloved Labrador's grave.Inside we first went the the recreated 1943 crew room and Guy Gibson's office and exhibition of many original and copy artifacts. Downstairs there are many rooms about the history of the airfield at Scampton from WWI to current Red Arrows headquarters. All fascinating and well explained by very knowlegeable guides. Cup of tea/coffee and then into the hanger to see planes and missiles and bombs and wreckage. There is heaps about the Dambusters. Fascinating, moving and inspiring stories. If you are lucky you will have some or all of the Red Arrows practising or flying in from somewhere. It was amazing to see them up so close. Loved the whole day. The guides are brilliant.

G313VLrichardw

A group of us visited the museum on an organised tour.A complete surprise. The Guides were excellent and brought the whole museum to life. The hangard exhibits were fascinating and the "Dambuster" memorabilia very moving. The additional exhibitions, including the Fire Service Museum, combined with the Red Arrows flying a display made for a memorable day.Good to see the respect given to these remarkable people.It needs our support.

jules2352

this is a must visit if you are interested in anything to do with the dambusters.Its full of history on the bombing raids in ww2. you can sit at Guy Gibsons desk,which is very emotive. excellent !!will go again

littlegracie

Visited whilst ona weekend break. Absolutely excellent would highly recommend. You need to contact the base prior to visiting to arrange a visit, but this was no problem. We had a personal guide who was extremely knowledgeable and even saw the Red Arrows taking off for a practice. Brilliant.

RobD358

The walk around the site is full of interesting bits and artifacts. Lots of things I never knew.Fascinating.Only drawback is that you have to book in advance, but well worth the planning.

gozogeezer

Spent a few hours there together with the fire fighting museum next door. Dedicated band of volunteers to show you around, we really enjoyed it.

Redkite48

I sent an email requesting a visit, stating date, time, vehicle details, names, mobile number etc and never got reply, so I telephoned a few days later and got the answer machine, which said to send an email !!!!!!!A pity they are not as efficient as there neighbours at the Fire Museum who could not do enough for us when we went there.

nomadic21

This was an excellent day out. Lots to see and do with especially good guides. I would recommend this to all ex Airforce especiall.

yashimoto

Well worth a look. Very historical RAF Station. Informative visit and made even better by a visit to the Museum of RAF Firefighting, right next door. Best of both worlds. Allow a few hours and definately visit both. Give a good donation to the fire museum as they deserve it and rely soley on donations.

601simone

We were visiting the firefighting museum and were offered the chance to view this collection. We were taken round by some very knowlagable people who showed us a good collecton of cockpit sections and also complete aircaraft, that had operated from this airfield. The highlight for me on the eve of rememberance was a private visit to Guy Gibsons office, which overlooked his dogs grave. Standing in that room was very thought provoking and humbleing looking over some saved articles from the Danbusters missions. Well worth a visit on its own.

821traceyj

I truely recomend a visit. This was a day filled with wonderful and interesting facts and history surrounding RAF Scampton. The staff were so friendly and welcoming and greeted us with hot drinks, lovely! The tour was informative and extremely interesting, many of the exhibits provided personally by Steve Shirley, RAF Fire Fighter.All the talks given were thoroughly thought out and well supported with lots of visual prompts, from beautiful glass fire grenades to magnificient fire engines and a Lancaster fuselage! The museum is small but the space expertly utilised given full benefit to the wonderful displays.The only drawback is it needs to expand to fully display all the wonderful things they have, particularly the large collection of mainly military fire engines so please visit and support to keep this museum open with a positive future!

AgedMan

We were so lucky. The Red Arrows had finished their display season in September and so they were on station when we visited and we were treated to a free airshow during our visit watching them stat up, taxi out, take off, display, land and taxi in. The Dam Buster Story and the tour of the base was very well done and informative. All free although there is an opportunity to make a donation over a cup of tea or coffee (again free) at the end. I noted several members of our group never donated a penny. What a shame for something that's completely voluntary. It also is such a shame that so much of the base is no longer occupied with only about 10% of the former number of personnel now stationed there. I would have thought that the listed building could be retained and the camp/airfield restructured to make better use of the available land with the Red Arrows moving to another location nearby. Was a bit eerie walking around the place. Imagine wha it is like when the RA are not there.

AL1999

Home of the 617 Dambusters squadron and now the Red Arrows - We had a great visit to the heritage centre which is run by volunteers. You do need to book this by prior arrangement. There were only about fifteen people visiting on the day. The guides were very knowledgeable and Passionate - you cant help but soak in the history of the place. Its all free and you even get a tea or coffee thrown in to but of course its nice to give a donation. We had a good few laughs and jokes during the tour but there were also many poignant moments looking at the exhibits and considering the sacrifice and bravery of the men and women who served then and now. It’s a privilege to be allowed on base and follow the footsteps of such great people. We were also lucky that the Red Arrows ran a training flight – they put on a fine show and that is something we will always remember. It is probably somewhere we will go back to as you will get a different experience each time depending on the weather and any planned station events and that makes it all the more special. The local Dambusters Inn is also worth a visit.

Christian-palmer

Have family that live nearby so thought we would visit the base, spent half a day there. Well worth it, lots to see and do and very interesting day out, something for everyone too see, staff friendly