Last updated on August 23rd, 2023 at 11:45 am
Having been weaned on tales of Douglas Bader, Stamford Tuck and Guy Gibson, I get quite excited visiting places like Duxford. IWM Duxford is home to most of the Imperial War Museum’s collection of rather large exhibits – mainly aircraft. And, when I say ‘places like Duxford’, to be fair I’m not sure there is anywhere else in the UK, or maybe even in Europe, quite like Duxford – though there are certainly scores of other historic aircraft museums, some of them, notably the RAF Museums, very worthy competitors. Oh – and for the benefit of our very young and overseas readers (both of them), Douglas Bader (1910-82) and Bob Stamford Tuck (1916-87) were WW2 Royal Air Force aces who flew in the Battle of Britain; Bader lost both his legs in a flying accident in 1931, rejoining the RAF on the outbreak of war; Tuck ended up on the Russian Front; both men were inspirational leaders. A replica Hawker Hurricane fighter, painted in Bader’s 242 Squadron markings, greets you at Duxford’s entrance. Guy Gibson (1918-44) led the famous Dambusters raid in 1943, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Anyway – the point is that I wander round aircraft museums like a kid in a chocolate factory (or a middle-aged bloke looking at old aeroplanes), beaming generally and periodically saying things to myself like, “Oh, look at that”. So the long-suffering Mrs Britain agreed to take me to Duxford provided I was very good and didn’t embarrass her too much.
If you’re going to have an aircraft museum, it probably needs to be on an airfield. Even better if the airfield has a bit of history as well. Duxford began life as a training air station toward the end of the Great War and became home to the Cambridge University Air Squadron in 1925. From 1924 to 1961, it was an operational fighter station. In 1938, 19 Squadron, based at Duxford, became the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the new, cutting edge, Supermarine Spitfire aircraft. During the Battle of Britain and until 1943, Duxford was a sector station of 12 Group Fighter Command, protecting the English Midlands, Norfolk and North Wales, and supporting 11 Group, which guarded Britain’s south coast. Three 12 Group Squadrons, Nos 19 (Spitfires), 242 (Canadian, commanded by Bader, flying Hurricanes) and 310 (Czech, also equipped with Hurricanes), formed the first ‘big wing’ of fighters, under Bader’s command, which then expanded to five squadrons known as ‘the Duxford Wing’, and which first flew in September 1940.
In April 1943, RAF Duxford became Base 357 of the US Army Air Force and home to the 82nd, 83rd and 84th Fighter Squadrons of the 78th Fighter Group. The P-47 Thunderbolt and, later, the outstanding P-51 Mustang, flew from Duxford, escorting US bombers during daylight raids over Germany and occupied Europe, and taking part in Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe.
The Americans left in December 1945 and, until 1961, RAF Duxford was in the front line of the new Cold War with the Soviet Union, flying Gloster Meteor, Javelin and Hawker Hunter jets. However, Duxford’s facilities couldn’t cope with the demands of Britain’s first operational supersonic fighter, the English Electric Lightning, and the station closed. For several years, no one seemed to know what to do with it. The Imperial War Museum got involved, initially using it to store aircraft and, in 1976, Duxford opened to the public for the first time. It has also featured in several movies, notably the 1968 all-star classic ‘Battle of Britain’ in which one of the airfield’s unwanted hangers was spectacularly blown up, and the 1990 film ‘Memphis Belle’. Part of the 2014 film ‘Monuments Men’ was also shot at Duxford.
I had visited Duxford several times before, so knew roughly what to expect when Mrs B and I bowled up one September morning. But, as with most museums, collections evolve and therefore so do the displays. There are several discrete areas or exhibitions to explore at Duxford, which I’ll describe selectively and briefly for you. Polite warning: if you don’t like pictures of aeroplanes, now might be a good time to go and make yourself a cup of tea. Come to think of it, if you don’t like pictures of aeroplanes, why are you even reading this?
All of the historic displays at Duxford are accompanied by useful information boards which not only tell you a bit about the individual aircraft (or whatever) generally, but also the provenance of the particular exhibit. And, scattered throughout are first-hand accounts which illuminate these often quite lovely, albeit equally often quite deadly, machines and bring them to life.
The closest display to the museum entrance is the AirSpace hanger. This is a display of more than 30 military and civil aircraft, including (in no particular order): an Avro Lancaster Mk X; Concorde 101; an Avro Vulcan; an English Electric Lightning; a Short Sunderland flying-boat (this is not a truncated aeroplane; ‘Short’ is the name of the manufacturer); the amazing wooden-framed De Havilland Mosquito; a Westland Lysander (the aircraft employed to land agents into occupied Europe during WW2); a Fairey Swordfish; an Avro Anson; a BAe Harrier; Panavia Tornado; Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV and, from the First World War, an original DH9 as well as an RE8 that was delivered to the RAF the day the war ended. It is possible to board both the Concorde and the Lancaster – but you need to book, and book early, for the latter. If a reminder is needed of the business of any of these aircraft, by the way, it isn’t that long ago that Duxford’s Harrier saw action in the Falklands War and its Tornado in the Gulf War. In a hanger next door to AirSpace was a lonely Eurofighter Typhoon, billed on its website as “the world’s most powerful and reliable swing-role combat aircraft.” It is currently in service with the RAF, as well as with the air forces of Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Have you ever considered the names given to aircraft? Of course, many are intended to evoke characteristics the manufacturers want to be associated with their products – extreme speed, aggression, or whatever. Some are named after gods, people, or places. The really uninspiring ones are given alpha-numeric labels – presumably, those manufactures cleverly worked out that they’d rapidly run out of appropriately inspirational descriptive handles, but there’s an infinite combination of letters and numbers. Concorde was a good term for a joint venture aircraft. But you don’t see too many cuddly aeroplane names, do you – though the de Havilland Beaver and the Sopwith Pup are two exceptions that sprang to mind as soon as I wrote that. Still, I don’t suppose you’d sell many multi-combat role supersonic armed-to-the-teeth aircraft called something like ‘Wise Owl’, or ‘Little Pink Pussycat’; more’s the pity. No, a warplane needs to be called something ferocious and threatening, like “Bet you never saw that coming, did you?” That suggestion may lack a certain snappiness, so I reckon it’s only a question of time before someone comes up with the supreme assault aircraft: the “O – M – G”.
Anyway, I digress. There are things other than aircraft to see in the AirSpace exhibition, not least the Airborne Assault Museum, which is the museum of the Parachute Regiment and airborne forces; the clue’s in the name. I loved the bit in the compelling series ‘Band of Brothers’, which tells the story of Easy Company of the US 101st Airborne Div, when it’s suggested to the CO that there’s a risk of being surrounded and the CO replies, “We’re paratroopers, Lootennant; we’re supposed to be surrounded.”
One of the things about Duxford is that there’s always something to see outside – and often something going on too. I remember, years ago, gazing awestruck at a B-52 parked on the apron, silhouetted against the evening sky; there is something particularly menacing about this aircraft. Perhaps it’s the sheer size of it; perhaps it’s footage of seemingly endless bombs being voided from its belly over Vietnam. I wish I could find the photographs I took. Anyway, on the last visit, resting gracefully by the runway was a B-17 Flying Fortress, the ‘Sally B’. Dating from 1945, she still flies and has several TV and movie credits to her name, including Memphis Belle. Indeed, the Memphis Belle artwork is on one side of her nose, with Sally B on the other. We watched a stream of smaller aircraft taxi, take off, do a few circuits and land. There were several de Havilland Tiger Moth biplanes, an interesting monoplane that I have subsequently identified as a North American Harvard from the 1950s, finished in the colours of the Portuguese Air Force, and another biplane, one I’ve never heard of, a very pretty Boeing Stearman Kaydet. To one side, parked up and looking magical, were a couple of iconic (not a word I use lightly) Spitfires – one converted to take a passenger (I bet RJ Mitchell would have been pleased). Next to them was a P-51 Mustang and – something I have certainly never seen in the flesh (as it were) – a MiG 15. It is possible to book flights in some of these aircraft; flights in the two-seater Spitfire a mere snip starting at £2750 (as of 2019). Flights in a Tiger Moth are even cheaper. Irritatingly, the IWM website says you need to ‘pre-book’. So you can’t simply book – and you certainly can’t post-book.
Lined up opposite some other hangers was a row of civilian aircraft which, I’m afraid to say, didn’t really do much for me. Passenger aeroplanes are the perfect thing for whisking you off to a Greek island, but I can’t get too excited about watching them do nothing; in fact, I’m fidgeting just thinking about it. The one exception might be the VC-10, partly because it is rather elegant – but mostly because I had a (much smaller) battery-operated version as a child, which used to taxi hesitantly across the carpet flashing its lights whilst making a very satisfying whirring noise. The dog hated it.
You can’t really visit Duxford without spending some time in the historic Duxford exhibition, which tells the story of the airfield with the help of audio-visuals and first-hand accounts. You also need to experience the 1940 Operation Room – which neatly demonstrates part of the RAF’s outstanding command and control system of the time – and, of course, pop into the Battle of Britain hanger. You’ll find several photos of this, and an account of the battle, in the article Battle of Britain Day. In some ways, I feel the IWM misses an opportunity with the Battle of Britain exhibition. It is good, but a little clinical. Despite the presence of a really knowledgeable and friendly volunteer, nothing conveyed the sense of danger of the time, the fear of imminent invasion and the ultimate avoidance of that, which enabled the war against one of the most odious, evil, regimes ever, to be continued. It didn’t help that some of the exhibits, including a Soviet MiG 21, courtesy of the Hungarian Air Force, were nothing to do with the Battle of Britain. I guess the museum is short of space – it’s not easy to collect and store such large exhibits; certainly, some of the hangers are rammed full of aircraft, tanks and what-not.
I did like the story of Spitfire N3200, pictured here, though. This is a Mark 1a Spitfire, built at Southampton in 1939 and issued to 19 Squadron at Duxford in April 1940, just in time to help with the evacuation from Dunkirk following the German invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson, a friend and contemporary of Douglas Bader’s, flew Spitfire N3200 across the Channel to Dunkirk on 26 May, shot down a Ju87 ‘Stuka’, but was then himself shot down, crash-landing on the beach at Sangatte, near Calais. The incident is shown in the 2017 film, ‘Dunkirk’. Stephenson was captured and spent the rest of the war as a PoW. He was killed in 1954, flying a USAF Super Sabre in Florida. Spitfire N3200, after its first and only operational flight and being photographed by gleeful Germans in 1940, gradually sank beneath the French sands, until it was uncovered by strong tides 45 years later. Amazingly, it was salvaged, rebuilt (though I’m not sure how much of it is original) – and here it is, at IWM Duxford. Amazing.
Slightly removed from the more traditional looking hanger-type buildings at Duxford is the award-winning and elegant American Air Museum. Partly, this tells the story of the partnership between this country and the USA through two world wars – particularly the Second World War – and since. The collection is bang up to date and, apparently, is the best collection of American military aircraft on public display outside of North America; I wouldn’t know – but it’s outstanding anyway.
So, here you can see examples of Second World War fighters such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, the North American P-51 Mustang, and bombers like the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-25 ‘Mitchell’, B-24 Liberator and B-29 ‘Superfortress’. There’s the workhorse of WW2, the DC-3, or ‘Dakota’, painted in 1944 invasion colours. Dwarfing everything else is that B-52 Stratofortress I had photographed years previously. Among the more modern aircraft on display is the still futuristic looking ‘spy-plane’, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the world’s fastest and highest flying air-breathing manned aircraft, built in secret, capable of cruising at more than three times the speed of sound and flown to the very top of our sky. I was surprised to learn that this aircraft first flew as long ago as 1964. The technology was so advanced in its day; heaven knows what the professional descendants of its makers are up to now, particularly if they’re happy to let a friend show the Blackbird off. The American Air Museum has one of Blackbird’s predecessors, too, the U-2, one of which was shot down in 1960 over the Soviet Union and its pilot, Gary Powers, captured. Apparently, updated versions of the U-2 ‘Dragon Lady’ still operate.
Outside and lining the entrance to the American Air Museum is a moving memorial, Counting the Cost. The memorial comprises 52 panels of glass, each one engraved with the scaled outlines of aeroplanes – 7,031 in all – representing the aircraft missing in action in operations flown by American air forces from Britain during the Second World War. According to the IWM, over 200 airfields were occupied or newly-built in Britain by the USAAF during the Second World War. Each airfield housed around 2,500 American service personnel. I haven’t been able to discover, yet, how many of these approximately half a million people made it home safely. Almost 9,000 Americans died while based in the UK, or en route to it, during WW2. They are commemorated not far from Duxford, at the Cambridge American Cemetery.
When we came out of the American War Museum, we were thrilled to see a Spitfire taxiing for take-off; a flying Spitfire and the sound of that Merlin engine still sends shivers down my spine. Sadly, my action shots weren’t up to much. There are other large exhibits nearby; concrete gun emplacements and a V1 launch pad.
At the far end of the airfield the IWM has installed its purpose-built Land Warfare exhibition. There are a few items outside it too. I have to say that this exhibition seems bolted on and a little out of place in what is predominantly an air museum. Maybe an alternative approach, or venue, is needed and, ultimately, perhaps that will happen. Anyway, once inside, you walk past the trenches of the Western Front and, if that doesn’t sound risky enough, you can partake of “the Normandy Experience, the sights and sounds of the D-Day landings”, as the IWM playfully puts it. The walk-through mock-ups are well done and home to a multitude of military hardware, including Field Marshal Montgomery’s three command caravans; he was my dad’s boss in North Africa, so I tried to pay attention. There are pros and cons attempting to show exhibits like this in context; you can’t always walk round them, but I guess the alternative is that you end up with a kind of tank and gun park. The Land Warfare Museum is also home to the Royal Anglian Regiment Museum.
Duxford is amazing, if you like that kind of thing. And there is so much more to it than I have covered here; I haven’t yet mentioned the fascinating conservation hanger, for example, or that it is famous for its air shows. Check out the Duxford website. The trouble is, there is almost too much there – certainly too much to take in over a single day. Among the things we didn’t see this time was one of the permanent exhibitions, Air and Sea, where (surprisingly), you will find naval aircraft, helicopters, torpedoes, a one-man mini-submarine – and an account of a British attack on a Bolshevik cruiser in 1919.
Understandably, admission to Duxford is not cheap; so the obvious advice is to get there early, plan what you want to see, and go for it. Wear comfortable shoes, be prepared for weather between buildings, take a picnic, and bottles of water to sip between hangers – especially if you have children with you. The onsite catering is OK, but limited, and generally staffed by the employee model chosen for their studied indifference. I confess I was flagging as closing time loomed, though Mrs Britain, bless her, seemed as fresh as a daisy and even confessed – albeit much later – that she’d really enjoyed her visit. So, not just boys’ toys, then.
Hi Mike, lovely to read about your Duxford adventure. I like Duxford and enjoyed the airplanes but my favourite things to see where the piece of the Berlin Wall, a piece of the twin towers, all twistered and burned, the replica bomb shelter and the concorde.
It’s hard to drag me away from any of it, to be honest! 🙂
Snoopy, the beagle in the “Peanuts” comic strip flew a Sopwith Camel to battle the Red Baron. (Sorry – I loved him when I was little) Do you know if the company went out of business after the war?
Apparently, the Sopwith Aircraft Co was taken over by Hawker Aircraft in 1920 and successive companies ended up with BAE Systems. The Camel was also flown by Biggles – https://bitaboutbritain.com/raf-100-calling-biggles/ – and there aren’t too many of them left. The RAF Museum in Hendon (near London) has one. BAE Systems has a bit about the Camel on its website too https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/sopwith-camel
Thank you!
Sopwith wasn’t exactly taken over by Hawker, rather Hawker was a reformed version of Sopwith. After WWI, Sopwith’s business floundered and they entered voluntary liquidation to evade the excess war profits tax. Thomas Sopwith, Harry Hawker and Fred Sigrist (they key people from Sopwith) formed a new company under Hawker’s name and purchased the Sopwith assets as such.
Thanks for the additional info! Where did Snoopy figure in all of this?! 🙂
I’m surprised my husband never took me to visit Duxford. We went to a lot of different air museums over the years and I’m sorry he missed this one. He was a commercial pilot who loved to talk planes.
You can’t do everything; maybe he knew about it but thought you’d prefer something else.
You’re sounding like an aviation buff!
Thank you, FG!
We have never quite made it to Duxford when we have been in the area, We have visited Cosford on many occasions.
Recently we visited Bovington Tank museum, another place full of toys for boys (and perhaps girls ;-))
Haven’t made it to Cosford yet. The Tank Museum is fascinating – here’s our take on it – https://bitaboutbritain.com/tank/ You’d probably enjoy the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton too.
Mike, I don’t know how you do it but you even make planes seem fun! And it was nice to see Memphis Belle!
Planes ARE fun, Jeanie… 🙂
What a fantastic collection- it does seem like more than a one day visit, especially with the land forces section. Fascinating history as always- thanks for the tour via pictures It’s nothing to all that you were able to see, but we were able to climb around in a restored Flying Fortress and a Liberator check out a few other restored WWII planes a couple of weeks ago- sadly, the Spitfire that sometimes tours with them was absent.
With your knowledge of WW2, you’d thoroughly enjoy Duxford, Anne. Getting inside those iconic aircraft must have been fascinating – maybe the Spitfire was out on patrol?
Ha- maybe!
I only have a couple words for this post – “awwww yeah.” 🙂 Also, my avatar photo here is of me taking a flight in a P-51 mustang, it was pretty darn amazing! Wonderful photos, wonderful write up – I enjoyed it all immensely.
Ah – I’ve often wondered about that photo of yours; that must have been an amazing experience!
It sure was! As was the engagement ring I got just as soon as I stepped out of the plane! 🙂 Yep… I would do that day again if I could 🙂
Oh – wow!!
He sure knew how to get a yes out of me didn’t he hahaha 🙂
Thanks for this, Mike. Lots of personal interest/memories. My Dad flew Lancs – until he bought it in November ’43 over Mannheim. I went to boarding school not far from Wisley and regularly saw Victor bombers on test flights above the school, as well as occasional Vampire and Venom fighters. I served my apprenticeship with a company making parts for aircraft and continued in their drawing office for a while, working on the ill fated TSR2 and Concord among others. At the end of my career I worked for almost a decade with Bae on the latest iteration of the Hawk fast jet trainer (known as the Goshawk across the pond, where it was built under license by MacDonnell-Douglas.)
FYI the Vampire and Venom were land based and ship based versions of more or less the same aircraft. I remember a job in the mid-1960s when I had to design a stronger spring for a non-return valve in the wing of the Venom. To save space the wings were hinged so the aircraft could be parked on deck side by side with the wings pointing up. Gravity caused the valve to open a fraction causing ice to built up, preventing it from closing fully when the wings were in operational position. The stronger spring ensured the valve remained closed with the wings vertical.
That’s amazing, so sad – and interesting, Frank. Thanks for sharing all of that. It also illustrates a part of what is behind each finished item – the effort and stories.
Definitely a great experience and a very historic site. Cosford, Hendon and East Fortune are also very worthy competitors for a day’s aircraft entertainment.
Definitely. Hendon is a particular favourite of mine.
And mine!
Hi Mike – I’m afraid I too skipped it – but the thing is … I know Mr Britain’s site about Duxford is here and I can return to read properly at some stage ?! – it looks like you’ve given us an amazing tour of the place – I feel tired just watching from the eye-ball screen view! Cheers Hilary
History rocks, even if it isn’t olde history
Absolutely!
I’m not greatly interested in pictures of aeroplanes, but I read it because you wrote it – much like buying a book on horse racing because it was written by Simon Barnes. My paternal grandfather taught flying during WWI – purely on the basis of being a schoolteacher in civilian life.
That’s highly flattering, Derrick! Amused to hear about your grandfather.
Great post Mike, it’s 30 years since I went so it’s on the redo list!
So many places, not enough time Fraggle! Your photos would be stunning.
We’re going there in November!
Excellent!
We lived in Cambridge late ’70’s and The IWM was a good place for our visitors and I remember well a VERY good pub nearby that made for us a Saturday lunchtime hot spot.
There are still some great pubs in East Anglia; good beer too!
I enjoyed the pictures; I like to see old planes which are painted gaily. When we were little, my brother had a book about the Flying Tigers, whose snarling faces intrigued me. But, say – are you making fun of the way we say “lieutenant”? 😀
There was a tiger logo on one of the ‘planes in the American Museum, Lisa – I should look into that. You know I would NEVER make fun of my friends across the pond; especially as, in this case, your pronunciation makes more sense than ours!
Oh, I certainly wouldn’t mind if you did, Mike – I know it would always be a nice sort of making fun. 🙂
Thanks, Lisa – of course it would! x
First of all, I loved this post and I am NOT a boy! REACH FOR THE SKY…I got that book for free years ago at a library stall, and I LOVED IT. Also, saw the movie too. Doug Bader, what an incredible story!
And why do you say Lieutenant like LUFF tenant and we say LEU tenant? Always wondered why.
Also, I really also want to see the Cambridge American Cemetery. I have seen photos of it on blogs, have you done a post about it?
Thanks, Kay! There seem to be a variety of theories as to why we say ‘Leftenant’, one of the most attractive being that we enjoy being awkward. Another is that the u in old French ‘lieu’ (place) could look like a v and hence became harder. I guess if it were closer to its French origins we should all say something like ‘leurrtenant’ 🙂 Yes, the Cambridge American Cemetery has been featured on ABAB – there’s a link to it above and here – https://bitaboutbritain.com/cambridge-american-cemetery/
Wow, a top notch review. I could certainly spend a full day here.
I probably needed three.
I would love to visit there.
Yes, I think you would William.
Great stuff! Thanks for the memories, Mike. If you’d like to see a Mustang warming-up as a commercial airliner comes in to land, have a clip here I think a Tiger Moth is also in there! https://www.flickr.com/photos/18554857@N03/albums/72157624151619266
Thanks, Dianne; nice clip! We visited some sort of show/fair where one of the star attractions was a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Every now and again, they’d fire this thing up and people flocked to listen to it; amazing!
Well The Man and I were at the
air local aero club with the Mustang (car) Owners and late in the day, they needed some muscle to shove that big brute. By the time I’d done some shoving it was all I could do to hold the camera. But so worthwhile!
Duxford has long been on my bucket list of museums to visit. Loos like such a fantastic place steeped in so much history.
Well, you’d obviously be in your element there, Kevan. You’d probably need to bring a tent and stay over. You’d also enjoy the RAF Museums, the Fleet Air Arm (also featured on ABAB) etc etc… 🙂 Thank you for dropping in and following!
For me, I’d say Duxford, Cosford and the FAA museum are definite buscket list museums in the UK. I’d put Solent Sky, The Helicopter Museum and the Hovercraft Museum high up on my list of “to do’s” if I’m ever in the UK as well.
Excellent, Mike! Being a WWII history buff, I enjoyed this post very much. 🙂
Thanks, Louis – I know you like this kind of thing! You’d enjoy seeing it.
Just down the road from me, Mike, and I used to take groups of youngsters from the school regularly (and much more cheaply!). Your post has done the place justice.
Thanks, John. Yes – we should have met up for a couple of jars!
I never realised that Duxford had so much to offer. Thanks for enlightening me on another part of our heritage that I haven’t got to yet
Thanks, Malc; glad you enjoyed it.
An amazing set of photos, wow! Our countries are deeply rooted with each other. So many beautiful aircraft and then the SR-71 too! Thanks for sharing these.
Certainly some deep and common roots!
That was a fascinating tour! Many thanks. If i had the time, the energy and the knees I’d be going to visit…..
I can remember seeing Vulcans in flight and thinking how sinister they looked…
They looked sinister because of what they carried, I suppose. Now, they look very graceful, I think.
Yes, that must have been it.
I would not visit planes, Biggles, war weapons, tanks or any boys’ stuff, but my brothers, sons and grandsons would love it.
It’s always the stories behind the objects that get to me, Hels.
This is great, Mike! We were considering seeing the last Concorde at Bristol, but this looks like it might be a touch more interesting. Love those old aircraft!
If you ever get to Florida and get a chance to visit, check out Fantasy of Flight. Be sure to take the Backlot Tour, as it is full of excellent information.
Thanks, both! Duxford is a fabulous aircraft museum, but it’s on the other side of the country from Bristol. If you’re after seeing Concorde, there’s another one at the Fleet Air Arm Museum – https://bitaboutbritain.com/fleet-air-arm-museum/ – might be closer than Duxford, depending on your travel plans.
Had a look at the Fantasy of Flight website – looks great!