Welcome

Welcome to the oldest aviation museum in the UK dedicated to the preservation and display of de Havilland Aircraft. The de Havilland Aircraft Company played an important role in the history of aircraft development in 20th century Britain. The de Havilland company created world beating aeronautical innovations including many iconic aircraft such as the de Havilland Mosquito – “The Wooden Wonder”, the Comet – the world’s first jet airliner, the Tiger Moth – the “backbone “of the RAF’s training aircraft in WWII and the Airspeed Horsa Glider – used extensively by our airborne troops in 1944 during D-Day, Arnhem and the Rhine crossing.

We are a “working museum” where we actively restore de Havilland Aircraft so you are likely to see our volunteers at work, who are always willing to answer your questions.

The de Havilland Aircraft Museum is mostly staffed by unpaid volunteers who perform a wide range of tasks according to their skills.

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY AWARDS £1.9MILLION GRANT TO THE DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT MUSEUM

THANKS to money raised by National Lottery players, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded a grant of nearly £2 million to the “de Havilland Aircraft Museum in the 21st Century Project”, a significant investment in Hertfordshire’s aviation heritage.

We applied for the grant three years ago to enable us to build a large new hangar to provide  covered space for our exhibits and a range of community and education facilities.

After learning of the National Lottery funding decision, the museum chairman Alan Brackley said:

“The Trustees of the museum are delighted that the HLF has awarded them £1.9 million to build the new hangar.

“Thanks to the money raised by the National Lottery players the project will not only safely display several important aircraft exhibits inside the new building away from the rigours of the British weather, including the DH Comet 1a, the world’s first passenger jet airliner, and DH Sea Vixen, but it will be able to offer the local community an exciting venue for meetings, conferences, parties, learning and other social events.”

The National Lottery funding will enable the museum to move on to the next phase of its development programme and construction work on the new hangar is expected to begin in July and completed in 2019.

“The Museum needs to fund-raise a further £250,000, before we get the National Lottery’s permission to start the building works,” added Mr Brackley, “so all support and donations are very welcome.

You can make a donation to the Hangar fund by clicking here

We need your support in our quest to build a new hangar.

Many of our aircraft are on display outside and exposed to the weather including the last example of the Comet 1A-the world’s first Jet Airliner. To ensure their survival we need to protect these aircraft and the construction of a new large hangar is essential if we are to continue the restoration process.

The Museum has been granted planning permission to build a large Hangar that will replace a smaller building and it will enable us to protect more of our aircraft that are currently displayed outside. We have applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of £1.5Million-the hangar will cost over £2.2million.

We have already used our own funds to prepare the foundations.

However we need your help to raise a further £250,000 that will enable the museum to get the National Lottery’s permission to start the building works.

You can make a donation to the Hangar fund by clicking here

Sir Geoffrey de Havilland Hangar virtual tour

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=gkQaxUt6Fcr