Brooklands was one of the most productive aircraft manufacturing sites in Europe, with nearly 19,000 aircraft having made their first flights from here over an 80 year period.
The story of the collection in this area covers a period of just 23 years, from the first flight of the Viking in 1946 to that of Concorde in 1969.
The aircraft gathered in the Aircraft Park represent the development of British and Global post-war civil aviation from the Viking, derived from the Second World War Wellington Bomber, to Concorde, the only supersonic aircraft to enter full airline passenger service. These aircraft have influenced the way we travel and live our lives today. Uniquely all seven aircraft on display in this area are the product of the same design office and factory, all achieved within the working lives of many Brooklands employees.
Plan your visit
Aircraft Park
Museum Map >
Stepped access to all aircraft
Accessibility at the Museum >
DISCOVER THE STORIES
Tales from Brooklands:
Sir George Edwards
George Robert Freeman Edwards was born above his father’s toy shop in Highams Park, London. After local schooling, he went to Walthamstow Engineering and Trade School. From there he worked for a time in heavy industry and later on the design and construction of projects as diverse as lock-gate machinery, cranes, bridges, and hydraulic pumps.
At the age of 27, he moved on to design work with Vickers Aviation, at Brooklands. This started a career that spanned the era of manned flight from biplanes to supersonic travel.
DISCOVER THE STORIES
Volunteer Stories:
Michael Barber
I first came to Brooklands when I was 16 years old, to start an Engineering Apprenticeship at the Vickers – Armstrong’s aircraft factory, which was situated at the old motor racing circuit. The track was still complete then and one could cycle around it.
I spent the first 2 ½ years in all departments of the factory, making and fitting parts for aircraft manufacture. The remaining years were spent in the offices and I finished up as a draughtsman in the Design Office. I continued in this position with the company for the next 5 years.
DISCOVER THE STORIES
Volunteer Stories:
Martyne Twigger
When I joined Brooklands as a volunteer, a lifelong interest in aeroplanes meant that I gravitated towards the aviation side of the museum. That passion for ‘things with wings’ had been nurtured by my father, a WW2 Bomber Command veteran who, unlike many pilots, actually loved aircraft and everything associated with them. After being demobilised in 1946, and subsequently called back into the RAF on the outbreak of the Korean War, Dad became a flying instructor on a diverse range of types, including the Gloster Meteor, De Havilland Vampire and, most notably, two Vickers products, the Varsity and the Valetta. His favourite, and the machine that figured most prominently in his logbooks, was the portly and seemingly mundane Varsity, something of an unsung hero compared with the RAF’s more glamorous types.
