*HERITAGE OPEN DAYS 2025*
Our Grade 2* listed historic aircraft hangars were built in 1910 by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company and were used by both military and civilian aeronautical engineers. They were the site of one of the very early flying schools in Britain and are the oldest surviving aircraft hangars in Europe.
We will be joined by a colleague from the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection (BDAC), who will talk to us about the wider aviation activity in and around Salisbury Plain, including the establishment of the Royal Flying Corps in 1912.
Almost a million men of the Royal Artillery served during WW1, and a similar number in WW2. Some of these personnel were heavily involved in the development of military aviation in Britain in the years leading upto 1914, and the foundation of the concept of aerial reconnaissance.
The total session which will take about two hours with a 15 minute break, with an opportunity to ask questions at the end of each session.
The Royal Artillery Museum’s collection was established in 1778 for training purposes, and is one of the oldest and most significant of all military collections. It opened to the public in 1820 at the Rotunda on Woolwich Common, moving to the nearby Firepower museum in 2001. Firepower closed in 2016, pending the creation of a new museum near Larkhill, the modern home of the Royal Artillery. That project is ongoing, and for the time being most of the collection remains in various storage locations.
This event is wheelchair accessible - please see the FAQs below for more detail.
