Collection: Duxford Aviation Society Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Duxford Aviation Society (DAS) evolved out of the East Anglian Aviation Society (EAAS), a group of aviation enthusiasts that had been working since 1971 at the former RAF airfield at Duxford restoring aircraft owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and the Shuttleworth Collection. At this time the airfield was owned by the Ministry of Defence and there was no museum on the site – IWM Duxford did not open as a public museum until 1976, when three hangars on the site were used to display some of its exhibits.

  Some EAAS volunteers recognised that there was at that time no collection in the UK devoted to the preservation of British civil airliners, so decided to establish one and what became The British Airliner Collection began in 1974 when a de Havilland Comet 4 was leased to the EAAS by its last operator Dan-Air. This historically important aircraft made the first ever West-to-East scheduled crossing of the Atlantic by a jet airliner on 4^th October 1958. In April 1975 DAS was formed by former EAAS members to develop the airliner collection, since when it has grown to 13 airliners:

  Acquisition	Aircraft Type	First Flight
  1974	De Havilland Comet 4	1958
  1975	Bristol Britannia 312	1958
  1976	Vickers Viscount 701	1952
  1977	BAC-Aerospatiale Concorde 101	1971
  1980	Vickers Super VC-10	1965
  1981	Handley Page Hermes IV	1949
  1982	Hawker Siddeley Trident 2	1967
  1984	De Havilland DH 104 Dove	1948
  1986	Avro York	1946
  1986	Airspeed Ambassador 2	1952
  1993	British Aircraft Corporation BAC 1-11	1969
  2017	Britten-Norman Trislander	1977
  2022	Bae146-100 CC2 Statesman	1986

  This is now the most comprehensive collection of post-war British airliners in the world and illustrates the technical and commercial development of civil aviation in Britain since World War Two. Each aircraft represents an important technical development or has commercial and historical significance; two are unique, being the sole survivors of their type and three have been completely rebuilt since their arrival at Duxford in dismantled condition. Perhaps the most significant are the Vickers Viscount, the oldest surviving example of the world’s first turbine-powered airliner and Concorde 101, the most popular exhibit at Duxford: open to the public every day IWM Duxford is open, the aircraft is visited by over 200,000 people every year. It was donated to DAS by the then Department of Industry in 1977 and is the only Concorde in Britain owned and managed by a volunteer organisation.

  In 2000, with support from the IWM, a bid was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable the covered accommodation of four airliners (York, Hermes, Comet, Concorde) in the IWM’s projected AirSpace exhibition hangar at Duxford. The bid was successful and a grant of £314,500 was forthcoming, allowing the aircraft to be overhauled, re-painted and installed in the hangar for its opening in 2006, together with the development of new audio-visual interpretation for each one.

  While the ability to maintain some of our more important airliners under cover was invaluable, one consequence of the move and the greatly increased presence of the IWM across the site was that the separate identity of the airliners as a coordinated historical collection became less apparent to visitors. It was also felt that the name “Duxford Aviation Society” no longer described the organisation’s main purpose so in 2011 DAS embarked on a programme to remedy this and the name “The British Airliner Collection” was coined for the airliners. This was followed by a series of displays, publications and other material, all carrying The British Airliner Collection logo, now the universally recognised identity of the Collection, both on site and in the media.

  Duxford Airfield, where the Collection is located, is owned and operated by the IWM. In 2019 DAS entered into a Partnership Agreement with the IWM that formalises the presence of The British Airliner Collection at Duxford and gives Security of Tenure on the site. This not only acknowledges the importance of the airliner collection and its contribution to Duxford’s public offer but for the first time establishes a legal framework for future co-operation between DAS and the IWM.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: Not known

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The core of the Museum is the 13 British airliners comprising The British Airliner Collection. These were acquired by purchase, donation or are covered by long-term secure lease or loan agreements: All have been accessioned.

  Aircraft Type	Acquired	Tenure
  De Havilland Comet 4	1974	99 year lease from British Airways dated 23rd Feb 1983*
  Bristol Britannia 312	1975	Purchased from Monarch Holdings Ltd 2017
  Vickers Viscount 701	1976	Donated by Viscount Preservation Trust 2011
  BAC-Aerospatiale Concorde 101	1977	Donated by UK Dept of Industry 1975
  Vickers Super VC-10	1980	Donated by British Airways
  Handley Page Hermes IV	1981	Donated by Handley Page Association
  Hawker Siddeley Trident 2	1982	Purchased from British Airways
  De Havilland DH 104 Dove	1984	Donated By IWM
  Avro York and Airspeed Ambassador	1986	99 year lease from British Airways dated 19th March 1986 *
  British Aircraft Corporation BAC 1-11	1993	Purchased from British Airways
  Britten-Norman Trislander	2017	Donated by Aurigny
  BAe 146-100 CC2 Statesman	2022	Donated by Pionair (Australia)

  * These aircraft were originally acquired from the now defunct airline Dan-Air, whose assets are now owned by British Airways.

  The long-term leases or open-ended loan agreements are currently being replaced with ownership being transferred to the Duxford Aviation Society.

  Five of the airliners are displayed in the IWM Duxford AirSpace exhibition hangar and the remaining eight are displayed on the airfield on a publicly accessible concrete apron. Except for one aircraft (de Havilland Dove) that is displayed suspended from the AirSpace roof, all are provided with air stairs and facilities to enable safe access for the public. TV screens are provided outside each of the four accessible airliners in AirSpace to allow those unable to climb the air stairs to view the interior of the airliner from ground level.

  The interior of one of the aircraft in Airspace, the Handley Page Hermes, has been converted to a permanent museum space devoted to the history of commercial aviation in Britain since the Second World War and explaining the role of the Collection’s aircraft in that history.

  The Collection’s Concorde is open to the public every day – with interpretation to educate the public on the development of supersonic passenger flight. Part of this is a mobile telephone app that provides a virtual tour of the aircraft for those unable to board and can be accessed by the wider public for a nominal charge.

  The other accessible aircraft are open to the public when volunteer Guides are available to ensure public safety and help with interpretation. Each airliner contains displays of memorabilia and interpretation illustrating their part in the development of civil aviation in the UK. Explanatory educational tours of the outside aircraft are available at weekends in the summer. During the winter months these aircraft are normally closed for conservation reasons. Visitors can see conservation in action during good weather. Escorted boarding tours for pilots, students and small special interest groups are bookable.

  Apart from acquiring the airliners themselves, since its formation in 1975 DAS has received donations, often unsolicited, of aviation related items such as log books, passenger memorabilia, civil aviation related books, photographs and documents. Very often, these donations were not recorded and items were simply put in storage or displayed on the aircraft. The provenance and history of these items is therefore often unrecorded and unknown. The extent of this material is currently being investigated, but an approximation is:

  • ±2000 photographs
  • ±40 digitised video recordings showing the Collection’s aircraft during development or in service.
  • ± 200 books

  Maintenance manuals for each aircraft in the Collection

  Various memorabilia, presently unquantified, such as tickets, in-flight menus and airline and aircraft manufacturers’ publicity material.

  Various aircraft spares.

  Various documents of historical interest

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date:

  Licence: CC BY-NC