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Visitor Information: The Concorde Experience at the National Museum of Flight |
Regular travellers along the A1 through East Lothian will have seen signs pointing to the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune. This is a slight detour well worth taking for anyone with an interest in aviation who is looking for a great day out.
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The Museum of Flight is the Scottish National Aviation Museum, and part of National Museums Scotland. It occupies the four hangars and a number of other buildings at East Fortune airfield. The museum originally opened its doors to the public on 7 July 1975 and has since gone from strength to strength. It is now home to a large and impressive collection of over 50 complete aircraft, plus many aero-engines, aircraft parts, models and a large reference library of publications and images. The Museum of Flight also hosts a range of special events during the year and each July hosts the East Fortune Airshow.
After passing through the museum's visitor reception and shop, most visitors begin their visit at the Concorde Experience, housed in Hangar 4. Much of the hangar is given over to the dramatically lit Concorde which made an epic journey from Heathrow to East Fortune by land and sea in 2004. A range of displays give an insight into all aspects of Concorde's development and operation, but for most people it is the aircraft itself which commands attention.
And it's not just the outside of the world's most remarkable aeroplane you can admire. The admission price to the museum includes a Concorde Boarding Pass which gives access to the remarkably long and even more remarkably narrow interior. Boarding Passes are booked for a particular time and numbers are limited, to ensure that visitors are able to enjoy the experience to the full. It is advisable to book Boarding Passes in advance.
 Concorde Passenger Cabin |
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 Concorde Cockpit |
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 Jet Age Boeing 707 in Hangar 4 |
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 Inside the Boeing 707 |
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 Fantastic Flight |
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 Flight Simulator |
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 Interactive Centre of Gravity Exhibit |
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 The Museum's BAC 1-11 |
Hangar 4 is also home to "The Jet Age". This included the restored cockpit and cabin of Boeing 707 airliner, G-APFJ and the nearby cockpit of a Hawker Siddley Trident.
The Museum of Flight has three other large hangars at East Fortune. Furthest from the man entrance and Concorde Experience is Hangar 1. You can't miss it: this is the hangar with the Avro Vulcan and the De Havilland Comet parked outside. Here you find much of the museum's excellent military collection.
Most obvious as you enter is a Lightning F2A used by 92 Squadron at RAF Gutersloh in Germany in the 1970s. But you will also find other aircraft including the Meteor, Harrier, Jaguar and Buccaneer, and a naval Sea Hawk: plus a US Marines Phantom from the Vietnam War. Earlier aircraft on display include a Messerschmidt Me163 Komet rocket plane which could briefly achieve speeds of 600mph and was the fastest aircraft of World War Two. Perhaps the best way to get a feel for the the hanger and the aircraft in it is from a raised viewing platform which runs along part of the side nearest the door.
Hangar 2 is home to the museum's collection of commercial passenger aircraft. These include classics like a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer, a De Havilland Dove, and a Beech E-18. There is also a Scottish Aviation Jetstream 31 corporate jet or small airliner. An earlier generation of aircraft is represented by a De Havilland Dragon, a type which first flew in 1932. Another once very common type that is now extremely rare is the Avro Anson. Here, too, you can find a front fuselage of a Nimrod marine patrol aircraft.
The remaining hangar at East Fortune, Hangar 3, houses the museum's reserve collection of aircraft and a number of aircraft undergoing restoration. Access is by means of regular guided tours, and you should enquire at the main ticket desk on arrival about tour times.
Aircraft on view include the de Havilland Tiger Moth, and the de Havilland Puss Moth. Of particular interest in Hangar 3 are the remains of a Bristol Beaufighter TF.X, RD220. This aircraft flew with the Portuguese Navy from 1945, and if fully restored would make a remarkable addition to the collection, representing as it does a type of aircraft that flew from East Fortune during World War II.
A number of the other buildings at East Fortune are home to fascinating displays or exhibits. The Parachute Store is housed in a building originally used for the purpose and shows how parachutes were hung, folded and stored. The Radar Room houses a collection that gives an insight into an aspect of aviation which is little understood by the casual enthusiast. Amongst the many objects on display are the innards of the hugely complex and (at the time) advanced Airpass radar used by the Lightning jet fighter.
Or you can see a demonstration of an early radar in operation, with the display on the cathode ray tube changing as you walk past. Another building is home to Fortunes of War, a superb exhibition which tells the story of East Fortune Airfield with objects and information panels, plus a large interactive map of the airfield showing its development and uses.
Best of all, in our view at least, is the "Fantastic Flight" building, which houses a series of rooms containing exhibits which allow visitors to have fun getting to grips with the principles underlying flight itself. The wide range of highly interactive exhibits include a hot air balloon that rises and falls; a wind tunnel with an aircraft that can be "flown" within it; a hands-on display of different materials used in aircraft construction; an aircraft which can be loaded to demonstrate centre of gravity; a test area for paper aeroplanes; and a computer driven flight simulator. Plus much, much more.
East Fortune itself has a history dating back to 1916, when it was used as a base by aircraft defending Edinburgh from attack by Zeppelins. In 1919 the airfield was the point of departure for the R34 airship as it set off on its record breaking return trip over the Atlantic. East Fortune served throughout WWII and in 1950 had a runway extended to allow it to become a base for the US Air Force. This came to nothing, but it did allow East Fortune to be used as Edinburgh's airport while the runway at Turnhouse was rebuilt in the summer of 1961. East Fortune was also home to a hospital between the wars and from 1949 to 1997. And last but not least it has spent the last few decades as the home of the Museum of Flight.
 Lightning F2A of 92 Sqn, RAF Gutersloh, in Hangar 1 |
