Hangar Project 2025/26
We're excited to share all of the details of our 2025/26 Hangar Project with you. This page will be updated as the project progresses so you can see the developments taking place in real time.
Alleviating your concerns
We understand that projects like these can seem daunting for our loyal and caring enthusiasts. We want to reassure you that this project does not involve the removal or external relocation of any exhibits. Everything you currently see and enjoy in our Collection hangars will remain in the hangars, just reordered in a newly themed customer journey intended to improve your experience of the Collection.
Why are we carrying out this project?
The theming of our Collection hangars has gone unchanged for a significant period of time. Although our aircraft and vehicles are constantly being taken out for air shows and other activity - the fantastic benefit of ours being a working Collection - their core positions within set hangars have not been reviewed for some time.
We feel there is a better way to order and theme the Collection exhibits to improve your customer journey through our hangars, and to better tell the story of a Collection as unique as ours.
What you'll see...
From early October, you'll start to see our engineers and volunteers emptying a hangar at a time to make space to move exhibits into their new themed locations. Cabinets and larger exhibits (excluding aircraft and vehicles) will be temporarily moved to part of our engineering hangar whilst we 'shuffle' the bigger exhibits, before being returned to their new locations.
Aircraft and vehicles will be manoeuvred onto the airfield or the hard standing area in front of the hangars before being taken back into their new positions. No aircraft will be left outside overnight.
You'll start to see refreshed interpretation plinths and barriers thanks to our fantastic volunteers ready and waiting with their paint brushes. Then, new self guided tour sheets will be produced to help explain the theming once the exhibits are mostly in their new positions, with new directional signage following once everything is in place. You'll also see updated interpretation panels for the exhibits.
During this time, we appreciate your patience whilst the Collection hangars look a little different each week - sometimes each day! Interpretation plinths and complimentary information boards may not be with their exhibits for a time - but rest assured they will be reunited. Directional signage will also be at odds with the new themes until everything is in situ later in the winter.
What are the new themes?
HANGAR 1: 'Beginnings'
HANGAR 2: 'Above the Trenches'
HANGAR 3: 'Wheels in Motion'
HANGAR 4: 'Dangerous Skies'
HANGAR 5: 'The Golden Age'
HANGAR 6: 'Transport & Training'
How we'll keep you up to date...
This project page will be updated as we progress and we will be posting regular social media updates on how things are looking. We love to speak to you and share how things are going so you can also come to site and see for yourself how things are changing each week.
Project updates
WEEK ONE
It's been a busy first week for our engineers. Aircraft have been taken out and shuffled back into new positions. Engines have been moved to a temporary home in our Blister Hangar to make space for all this manoeuvrering. Large exhibits have been moved to new homes in relevant hangars and models have been carefully set up in new places. Hangar 1 ("Beginnings") now features all of our stunning Edwardian aircraft along with the beginnings of Richard's Collection, plus items and vehicles related to the Shuttleworth family.
WEEK TWO
This week the team have brought together our four 'warbirds' to form a key part of Hangar 4's 'Dangerous Skies' theme. In here you'll see our Gladiator, Hurricane, Lysander and Spitfire as well as various supportive exhibits. You'll also notice more engines have now joined our popular Centaurus engine, helping you to explore Bristol Engine Company's lineage from the 1920s up to the 1940s. Head to our social channels for a surprise from inside the Spitfire in this weeks project update reel...
WEEK THREE
The work continues as the team develops the hangars to tell the unique story of the Collection. This week, we've added the Pilcher Bat Glider to the ceiling of Hangar One as an example of early flight. In Hangar Six, we've moved the Kleiner Doppeldecker to the space above the recently returned Kirby Kite, showing the development of training aircraft. The R101 Airship exhibit has also been relocated to Hangar Six, including an original propeller and crew bunk bed, in keeping with our Training & Transport theme.
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