Hendon RAF Museum
A large array of jets can be found at Hendon, including these two in the Historic Hangar. Firstly, we see a De Havilland Vampire F3. The Vampire was a first-generation fighter which saw service immediately after WWII with the RAF. The figure stood next to the Vampire is a model of Sir Frank Whittle, the British inventor of the Jet engine. Next to it is a Jet Provost T.5A trainer.
Here’s a Canadair Sabre 4 Fighter plane which saw service from 1952 and 1956, and next to it, the snarling teeth of a Curtiss Kittyhawk fighter bomber which saw service during the war from 1942.
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This ugly looking brute is a Republic Thunderbolt fighter bomber. I have an aversion to planes with radial engines, which is why I don’t like this much, it looks too ugly to me, but I understand it has its fans. Next to it, another radial monster, a North American Harvard advanced trainer in fetching yellow paint scheme.
It’s not all planes! Here’s an interesting exhibit – it’s part of a secondary bulkhead taken from the wreck of the German Battleship Tirpitz and presented to RAF Bomber Command by the Royal Norwegian Air Force to commemorate friendship and cooperation established during the Second World War.
Here are a couple of more up to date jets – a McDonnell-Douglas Phantom FGR2 all-Weather Fighter and a Panavia Tornado GR.12B swing-wing Strike Fighter. Both get points for sheer good looks in my book.
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