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Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre

HAS 3, Aerohub 2, Newquay, Cornwall, TR8 4GP, United Kingdom (UK)

Historic Jet Fighters & Bomber Museum in Cornwall.

Aviation history, up close & personal – visit us & let your imagination go wild!

Walk through our fully functional, ex-Royal Air Force Hardened Aircraft Shelter hangar, in amongst historic jet fighters & bombers.

Climb into REAL jets from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s & 1980s! Tour our immense VC10 in-flight refuelling tanker & V-bomber training aircraft. Our volunteer guides will explain all about the exhibits, tell you the stories & make sure you have the very best time.

Lots of space! No need to book in advance! Easy access & dogs are welcome! Come & see our exciting new additions as well as all of the established favourites.

Full C-19 safety & social distancing measures are in place throughout our site. Please note: – In line with Covid Enhanced Measures currently in effect in Cornwall, visitors are required to wear face-coverings inside all buildings & if they wish to enter any aircraft or enclosed exhibit.

Browse our stunning collection of more than 1,500 model aircraft & watch the a real thing arriving & departing from the airport runway right next door.

Get on board our simulator & fly our very-own Hawker Hunter, taking-off from Newquay Airport & hurtling around Cornwall.

Take a rest in our comfortable café, have a hot or cold snack & a drink. Browse our on-site shop for toys, models, gifts, souvenirs & books (loads of books!).

Dogs are very welcome (on a lead, of course), so there is no need to leave anyone at home.

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SOLD English Electric Lightning F53 Military Aircraft (SOLD) Outstanding example of the iconic British fighter. Ex-museum exhibit, complete non-flying aircraft with afterburner/jet-pipe assemblies installed, but Avon engines removed… VIEW DETAILS

English Electric Lightning F53 Military Aircraft (SOLD)
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Exhibits

BAE Harrier GR3 – XV753

Often more simply known as the Hawker Harrier or “Jump Jet”, it remains the only successful Vertical/Short Take-Off & Landing (V/STOL) jet fighter in the history of military aviation & it will only lose that title when the new V/STOL version of the Lockheed-Martin F-35 II finally enters service with the RAF, Royal Navy & United States Marine Corps.

The Harrier was conceived as a ground attack & reconnaissance aircraft which, because it doesn’t need a runway, could operate from simple bases near to the front lines. That meant it could take-off & arrive were it was needed very quickly & had the ability to return to re-fuel & re-arm with the minimum loss of time.

The concept of the Harrier proved so successful that the design was developed in the United States by McDonnel Douglas as the AV-8A for use by the US Marines Corps, where updated versions continue in service to the present day. Another development was the radar-equipped Sea Harrier, optimised for use from aircraft carriers with a new primary role of Fleet Defence.

English Electric Canberra

WJ874 was built in 1954 & held in reserve until January 1956 when it was issued to RAF Binbrook Station Flight where it remained for four years, it was then transferred to the RAF Coningsby Station Flight on in January 1960, it then moved to 231 Operational Conversion Unit (231OCU) at RAF Bassingbourn, where it remained in service until it was placed in store at RAF Shawbury 27 Maintenance Unit (27MU)

On 12th November 1969, WJ874 was transferred to the Royal Navy at Hurn airfield (now Bournemouth Airport) where it commenced service with the civilian Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU). As aeroplane ‘847’ WJ874 was operated on training duties for the two years with the FRU until it was moved to RNAS Lee-on-Solent in November 1971. Modifications were then carried out by the Naval Air Radio Installation Unit (NARIU), & the airframe returned to Hurn for a short time before it was sent to RAF St Athan for a major airframe inspection on 3rd February 1972.

In April 1974, WJ874 was re-introduced into the Fleet Air Arm & stationed at the Fleet Requirements & Air Direction Training Unit (FRADTU) at RNAS Yeovilton. In 1975 it was allocated the fleet number ‘858’ & operated by FRADU (the word Training had been dropped during the previous year). In April 1986, WJ874 was withdrawn from FRADU service & was officially returned to the RAF at RAF Wyton with 231OCU.

English Electric Lightning F.53 – ZF580 / XR768

The English Electric Lightning holds a place in the heart of many aviation fans as the fastest all-British aircraft ever built. Developed from the English Electric P1 experimental fighter project, the Lightning was the RAF’s first truly supersonic aircraft, able to not just exceed the speed of sound in level flight, but to double it!

The Lightning you can see on display at CAHC is actually an F53 version, an F6 built for export with additional ground attack capability & operated by the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force.

Hawker Hunter GA11 – WV256

The Hawker Hunter was Britain’s first transonic jet fighter, able to exceed the speed of sound in a shallow dive. Entering service in 1954 the Hunter replaced the first generation of British jet fighters such as the deHavilland Vampire/Venom & the Gloster Meteor & was immediately successful, ultimately being adopted by the air forces of at least 22 other nations.

The Hawker Hunter established many World records during its career, one of the first being a new absolute airspeed record of 728mph set in 1953 by WB188, modified & liveried in an all-over red colour scheme specially for the attempt

Many service & civilian pilots have expressed how the Hunter is a delight to fly, with beautiful h&ling & plenty of power. Fully aerobatic, Hunters have been impressing crowds in solo & team aerobatic displays for over 60 years!

Hawker Sea Hawk FGA6 – WV798

The Hawker Sea Hawk is a first generation, single-seat jet fighter & ground-attack aircraft that was designed for & operated by the British Fleet Air Arm (FAA) as well as the navies of several other nations. The first prototype flew in 1947 with the first production Sea Hawk F.1 (WF143) taking to the air on 14th November 1951. The aircraft entered service with the Royal Navy in 1953 & served with the Fleet Air Arm & Fleet Requirements Units until 1969.

The Sea Hawk was particularly useful in the era of naval early jet operations because of its relatively long range compared to other jet-types & also the variety of ground attack weapons it could utilise. The Royal Navy operated its Sea Hawks extensively during the 1956 Suez crisis when its weapon-load, range & versatility came to the fore. The Indian Navy also put their Sea Hawks into action during their conflict with Pakistan.

Panavia Tornado F3 – ZH553

The Panavia Tornado was developed as a Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) by a multi-national project between Great Britain, Germany & Italy. It was designed to undertake multiple missions including ground attack, naval strike, reconnaissance & air-interception & defence. The original prototype first flew on 14th August 1974 & the interdictor/strike version (the IDS or GR model) entered service from 1980 with the Royal Air Force, the Luftwaffe, the Italian Air Force & the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force.

The Air Defence Variant (ADV) was developed by the United Kingdom alone as a dedicated long-range interceptor fighter to provide an effective defence against Soviet long-range, high & low-altitude, subsonic & supersonic bombers . The prototype F2 version first flew on 27th October 1979 with the initial production examples entering service with the RAF’s No. 229 Operational Conversion Unit RAF in 1986.

The main differences between the IDS/GR version & the ADV/F versions are:

A fuselage stretch of 1.36 m to allow the carriage of four long-range missiles under the belly.

Fox Hunter Radar with a longer nose radome.

An additional internal fuel tank.

Installation of 1, as opposed to 2 Mauser cannon

Modification of the swing-wing & its systems

The F3 is the definitive version of the Tornado ADV with improved RB.199 Mk 104 engines & upgraded armament, radar & avionics systems.

Panavia Tornado GR4 – ZA398

The Panavia MRCA Tornado is a perfect example of a product of the Cold War period, when tensions were high between the East & the West. The Soviet block & Chinese air forces equipped themselves with vast numbers of relatively unsophisticated aircraft, types with limited versatility & overall capabilities, whilst NATO & its allies concentrated on advanced, adaptable aircraft which could take on demanding missions & overcome superior numbers of adversaries.

M-R-C-A. Multi-Role-Combat-Aircraft. In order to be able to undertake many different tasks & to do all of them very well, the Tornado had to be designed with the absolute leading edge of technology available at the time, to incorporate every modern advanced system & to be capable of being upgraded repeatedly so that it could always keep up with advances in systems & equipment.

The first Tornado prototype made its inaugural flight on the 14th August 1974, taking off from Manching in Germany.

Vickers Varsity T1 – WJ945

The Varsity’s origins lie in the famous Vickers Wellington. Designed by Barnes Wallis, it was Britain’s most important bomber in the early years of WW2.

The original Vickers Varstiy prototype first flew on 17th July, 1949 resplendent in an overall silver finish with yellow banding on fuselage & wings.

The Varsity was flown by the RAF’s Air Navigator Schools, Advanced Flying School & Bomber Comm& Bombing School where it trained the crews for the Cold War V-bomber force, serving until 1976. It was also used by the Swedish & Royal Jordanian Air Forces in training, transport & reconnaissance roles.

Vickers VC10 K3 – ZA148

First flying on 29th June 1962, the Vickers VC10 was originally designed as a 4-engined, long-range airliner intended to transport more than 100 passengers in comfort over long distance routes & still be able to operate in hot conditions from shorter runways & high-altitude airports such as those found at African & Far Eastern destinations at the time.

As well as comfort, the VC10 offered speed & was until 2019 the fastest sub-sonic civilian aircraft ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, achieving this feat in the only recently broken record time of 5 hours & 1 minute from New York Kennedy airport to Prestwick Scotland Airport – only Concorde was faster! The Vickers VC10 was the last great all-British airliner, a record-breaker & flag-bearer for Great Britain & fully deserves her famous title as the “Queen of the Skies”.

The VC10 that became “ZA148” was originally manufactured as a “Super VC10 Type 1154”, the distinguishing feature being a large cargo door in the port forward fuselage which allowed it to operate as a freight carrier as well as a passenger airliner. She was delivered to her first owners, East African Airlines in 1967 & operated with them with the registration 5Y-ADA until 1977.

After her civilian career, ZA148 was converted to ‘K3’ in-flight re-fuelling tank configuration & commenced her service career in 1984 with the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) based at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire where she participated in testing, trials & development programs for 2 years alongside VC10 K2 “ZA141”.

Hawker Hunter T8 – WT722

From the very beginning of its operational career it was clear that the Hawker Hunter was destined to be a very capable & flexible design & the air forces of many nations were already showing interest.

From 1955 a 2-seat training version was introduced into service, to train pilots for the new capabilities that the latest Hawker fighter would provide.

BAE Hawk T1

BAE Hawk T1 – XX240 arrived with the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre in 2020. Prior to retirement XX240 was a common site hurtling around Cornwall on training & simulation exercises & makes a fantastic addition to our fleet of exhibit aircraft.

The BAE Hawk is the aircraft chose for the RAF’s World-famous aerobatic team, the Red Arrows & is used to represent Great Britain at air displays in many nations every year.

BAC 1-11 – ZH763

The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner widely used from the 1960s to the 1990s. It was the second short-haul jet airliner to enter service, following the French Caravelle, the first 1-11 flying on 23 August 1963. The aircraft was also produced under licence in Romania during the 1980s as the Rombac One-Eleven.

The One-Eleven was conceived by Hunting Aircraft & developed by the British Aircraft Corporation when Hunting merged into BAC along with other British aircraft manufacturers in 1960. The One-Eleven was intended to replace the turboprop Vickers Viscount on short-range routes. The One-Eleven entered the market ahead of rivals such as the Douglas DC-9, which gave it a temporary edge on the market.

The aircraft proved popular with domestic airlines & various international operators. Over half of the One-Eleven’s sales at launch were to the US. The One-Eleven was one of the most successful British airliner designs, & served until a widespread retirement in the 1990s, which was partly due to the introduction of aircraft noise restrictions in many European nations.

CAHC’s example was built in 1980 as G-BGKE for British Airways & flew out of Manchester for 11 years taking people on holiday all over Europe. Was then given the Military serial ZH763 & from 1991 used by the Ministry of Defence’s Research Agency ( later QinetiQ) being based at Bedford, Farnborough & then Boscombe Down, mainly on Radar trials work. Retired in 2012, it was the last 1-11 to fly in British skies, making its final flight on 26 April 2013 when it was delivered to Newquay.

Boulton Paul Balliol T2