Duxford Imperial War Museum

One of our favorite outings to date has been to the Duxford Imperial War Museum.  Duxford is a small village just south of Cambridge, and this museum is "Europe's Premier Aviation Museum," with seven acres of indoor exhibition space, and almost 200 aircraft.  It is truly remarkable!  Here are a few snapshots from our most memorable day...

Our day began at the bus stop.  This was the children's first time to ride a city bus, and the anticipation was high!  We actually got to change buses a time or two, and we all felt very European. :)

Some of the kids' favorite parts were the ride simulators.  There were "hands on" simulators for so many different aspects of flying--I think they were geared towards children, but, well, we ALL enjoyed them!  We went to this one hangar that was a type of hospital for broken airplanes, and in it was a wealth of treasures.  In many ways this one was a favorite because many of the planes had not been cleaned up yet--they may have been crashed in WWII, and still were as they were found.  So, we each chose our favorite plane in the plane hospital, and below are the winners.  Points to anyone who recognizes any of them...

Can you read the name on the plane that Victoria chose?  It says, "Memphis Belle".  Interesting...a taste of home...  The next plane was the boys absolute favorite of the entire museum.  It was the Blackbird, the fastest plane ever flown (2193 mph), and the boys were completely mesmerized by it.  In fact, we have about 15 pictures of it, at various angles, compliments of son number one.  He and Daniel will happily give anyone who asks a full explanation. :)  And then, you may recognize the F15 in front of which are two people demonstrating right angles with the positioning of their feet.  :)

This next one has a great story with it.  Do you see what Victoria is standing in front of?   There USED to be a hangar, built in 1919, which housed all sorts of planes.  An interesting fact about this place is that part of the movie, "The Battle of Britain" was filmed right here at the War Museum.  For those who have seen it, do you remember when the hangar blew up?  Yes, you guessed it.  There was a hangar here that they blew up in the movie, and the reason the explosion looked so real was that it actually blew up in real life, too.  The guide told us that the folks here were not happy about it.  So, he told us that even though the airfield here was active during WWII, it received more damage from the making of the movie than during wartime.  Funny.  Anyway, Victoria is standing in front of where the hangar used to be.  It is now a parking lot.

WHEW!  What a day!! :)