Imperial War Museum Duxford

There are aviation museums in which aircraft stand. And there is Duxford. On the old RAF airfield south of Cambridge, on a summer day a Spitfire taxis out of a hangar while next door visitors walk under the wing of a B-52. The Imperial War Museum did not build an exhibition hall here but took over an entire airfield – with everything that goes with it: a grass strip, heritage-listed hangars, some of which date from World War I, and a scene of private collectors and restorers who maintain and fly their vintage aircraft here. Several times a year it becomes one of the best-known airshow stages in Europe.

From fighter airfield to museum

Duxford is one of Britain’s most traditional airfields. The site was selected toward the end of World War I as a training ground, and from 1925 it was a fighter station of the Royal Air Force. In August 1938, Duxford made history: the No. 19 Squadron stationed here was the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire.

During the Battle of Britain in 1940, Duxford was a sector station in the RAF’s defense network. Large fighter formations were also tried out from here – the so-called “Big Wing,” which a highlight of the Battle of Britain Air Show recalls today. From 1943, the US Army Air Forces’ 78th Fighter Group moved in, flying P-47s at first and the P-51 Mustang toward the end of the war. At the end of 1945 the RAF returned, and in 1961 military flying ended.

After that, the site faced the fate of many former airfields. The Ministry of Defence declared it surplus in the late 1960s, and the Imperial War Museum at first used parts of it as storage. In 1976 the entire site passed to the museum, and in 1977 the first visitors came. In the same year, the construction of the M11 motorway cut off the eastern end of the runway – which is why the runway is shorter today than in RAF days, and the motorway runs directly behind the runway end.

Museum and active airfield

What sets Duxford apart from almost all other aviation museums: the airfield is alive. It carries the ICAO code EGSU and has a paved runway and a parallel grass strip, both in direction 06/24. Besides the museum, several private organizations are based here that own, restore and operate flyable historic aircraft – including The Fighter Collection, The Aircraft Restoration Company, Classic Wings and B-17 Preservation with the Boeing B-17 “Sally B,” by common account the only flyable Flying Fortress in Europe.

For you, that means: even outside the big shows, a Spitfire may take off for a test flight or a biplane may fly circuits. It cannot be planned, but it is part of the appeal of a visit. Flight movements depend on weather, maintenance and the operators’ assignments.

The hangars at a glance

The table is a guide, not a firm promise. The IWM is rebuilding Duxford over the long term under the program “Transforming IWM Duxford”: the Land Warfare Hall with tanks and vehicles has been closed since 2025, and the museum is planning Hangar 1 as an exhibition on the Cold War and more recent conflicts. For that, aircraft are being moved, and new exhibitions are being added step by step. If you are traveling for a specific exhibit, check the museum’s site beforehand to see whether it is currently accessible.

The rarities in the halls

American Air Museum

The building is an exhibit in itself: the flat concrete arch, half sunk into the ground, is by Norman Foster and the engineer Chris Wise, opened in 1997 and won the prestigious Stirling Prize for architecture in 1998. The hall was built around the largest aircraft in the collection.

Under the arch stands the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird – the only example of the reconnaissance aircraft on display outside the US. Beside it the mighty Boeing B-52, which stood outdoors for years before coming under cover with the new building. Added to that are a B-29 Superfortress and a static B-17. For photographers the hall is a challenge: the aircraft stand close together, some smaller types hang from the ceiling, and you rarely have enough distance for an overall view.

AirSpace and Concorde

The large AirSpace hangar has so far been about British aviation history. The star is Concorde G-AXDN, a pre-production aircraft that flew itself to Duxford in 1977. The story of the supersonic airliner is told in the article on Concorde.

Around it were grouped the icons of the British Cold War: the delta-wing bomber Avro Vulcan, the low-level bomber TSR-2 that never entered series production, and from World War II an Avro Lancaster. With the redevelopment of Hangar 1, this lineup may change.

British Airliner Collection

For airliner fans, the apron of the Duxford Aviation Society is a must-stop. The society, founded in 1975, looks after a collection of British airliners that includes, among others, a de Havilland Comet 4 in BOAC colors, as well as a Trident, a Super VC10, a Bristol Britannia and a Vickers Viscount. Many of these types once shaped the traffic of British Airways and its predecessors. Concorde also belongs to the society’s collection.

If you are interested in the beginnings of the jet age, the article on the de Havilland Comet offers the right background.

The airshows: Duxford’s flying season

Flying days have been held at Duxford regularly since 1973. The airfield became internationally known mainly through the Flying Legends, a warbird show that for many years drew collectors and photographers from all over Europe. It was last held at Duxford in 2019 and was not continued there afterward. Today the IWM organizes a season of its own with several formats.

The 2026 dates

With the Flying Finale in early October, the 2026 season is over. The IWM publishes the dates for 2027 on its website; experience suggests the program follows a similar rhythm, but that is not guaranteed. You will find an overview of further events in the article Airshows in Europe for plane spotters, and background specifically on Duxford in the article IWM Duxford airshows.

Battle of Britain Air Show: the classic

The September show is the weekend most closely tied to Duxford. The theme is the year 1940, and the airfield itself is the perfect backdrop: Spitfire squadrons were actually stationed here back then. One highlight is the “Big Wing,” a large formation flight of historic fighters in which Spitfires and Hurricanes typically shape the picture. On the ground, re-enactors in historic uniforms and vehicles round out the program.

The show is regularly well attended, and according to the IWM, parking is available only with a pre-booked parking pass. Don’t count on still getting tickets at the gate – book in good time online.

Summer Air Show and Flying Evening

The Summer Air Show in early July is broader in scope and mixes historic aircraft with faster aerobatic displays. For 2026 the trade press reported, among other things, an appearance by the Flying Bulls from Salzburg, whose vintage fleet can also be seen at Hangar-7 in Salzburg.

The Flying Evening in August is the format for photographers who are after atmosphere: the flights move into the evening hours, the light turns warm, and toward the end formation aerobatics and pyrotechnics at dusk provide shots you can’t get during the day. What matters technically in this light is covered in the article on the golden hour.

Photography at the airshow

A warbird show makes different demands than a day at the airport fence. The aircraft are smaller, tighter in the turn and almost all propeller-driven – and that is exactly where many pictures fail.

Propellers need motion

With a very short shutter speed you freeze the propeller, and the aircraft looks as if it were gliding through the air with a stopped engine. For a visible propeller disc, you have to lengthen the shutter speed considerably and pan cleanly with the aircraft. How long “long enough” is depends on rpm and focal length; the details are in the article Photographing propellers. The technique behind it is explained in the article on the panning technique. Practice on taxiing movements and calm flypasts before the fast low pass comes.

Light and viewing direction

The spectator areas are on the hangar side north of the runway. So you look roughly south at the runway and display area – around midday the sun is therefore more in front of you than behind you. In the morning and late afternoon the light becomes more lateral and usually friendlier. How to estimate this in advance is shown in the article on the sun position at the photo spot; for backlight, the article on backlight photography helps.

What else belongs in your bag – from sun protection to something to sit on to a rain cover – is in the checklist for the airshow day. You will find general tips on camera settings and composition at flying displays in the article Photographing airshows, and if you want to tell the old types apart reliably, read Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky.

Planning your visit: getting there and the daily routine

Duxford lies south of Cambridge right at junction 10 of the M11. By car the museum is therefore easy to reach, though on show days you should expect congestion at the access road. Without a car it gets more complicated: the nearest train station is Whittlesford Parkway, and from there it is, according to the IWM, about 30 minutes on foot, including crossing a busy road. On the big air show weekends, the museum offers a shuttle bus included in the ticket from Cambridge station. On ordinary days only a few buses run – check current connections in advance.

Opening hours change with the season and on event days. Don’t rely on older information; check the museum’s website shortly before your visit.

Duxford in Britain’s museum network

If you travel to England for Duxford, you should plan further destinations. Not far away, in Bedfordshire, the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden flies even older aircraft, often from the time before World War II. The de Havilland Aircraft Museum north of London is devoted to the maker of the Comet and Mosquito. The RAF Museum in London-Hendon and the RAF Museum Cosford show the history of the Royal Air Force in large collections, and the Brooklands Museum and Aerospace Bristol also have a Concorde. The big military airshow of the summer is the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford.

And because Duxford has no scheduled traffic, it is worth combining with an airport. London Stansted Airport lies farther south on the same motorway, and London Heathrow is the classic major airport for long-haul spotting.

Conclusion

IWM Duxford is not a museum where aircraft end up but an airfield where history keeps flying. The halls offer world rarities from the SR-71 to Concorde, the apron one of the best collections of British airliners, and the private operators make sure that the Spitfire, Mustang and Flying Fortress don’t remain just photos in books.

Duxford leaves its biggest impression on an airshow day – above all at the Battle of Britain Air Show in September, when Spitfires fly again over the airfield where the first Spitfire squadron stood in 1938. Book in good time, plan light and travel, and bring enough batteries.