National Museum of Flight in East Fortune

Updated: October 2026 – If you think of Scotland and aviation, you quickly land at Barra with its beach or at the approaches into Edinburgh. Yet east of the capital stands one of the most exciting museum spots in the north of Britain: the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune. On an airfield that already housed airships in World War I, National Museums Scotland shows the country’s national aviation collection – with Concorde G-BOAA as the undisputed star.

For you as a spotter, that means: East Fortune is a type spot, not a movement spot. Nothing flies here anymore, but you get close to types you otherwise only see in books – from the Me 163 Komet to the Vulcan. This page shows you what stands where, how to get there and how to work through the halls and outdoor grounds photographically.

An airfield with Atlantic history

East Fortune is older than the Royal Air Force. In 1915 the site was designated as an airfield for aircraft and airships, to protect Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth from Zeppelin attacks. From 1916 it was a station of the Royal Naval Air Service, and toward the end of the war a torpedo-bomber school and training units were added.

The big moment followed on July 2, 1919: the British airship R34 lifted off at East Fortune and, after about 108 hours, reached Mineola on Long Island near New York. It was the first crossing of the Atlantic by air from east to west and, with the return trip to Pulham in Norfolk, the first round trip across the Atlantic by air. You can read more about the era of large airships in the article History of the Zeppelins.

In 1920 the site was abandoned and the airship sheds disappeared. Only in 1940 did the RAF reactivate East Fortune, at first as a satellite for RAF Drem. From 1941 No. 60 Operational Training Unit trained night fighter crews here, on the Defiant, Blenheim and Beaufighter among others. Later No. 132 OTU took over training for coastal strikes, toward the end of the war mainly on the Mosquito. According to a museum statement from its 2025 anniversary year, three bombs fell on the site in November 1940, and in October 1941 aircraft attacked it from the air – there were no casualties.

After the war it went quiet. There was a brief comeback as a commercial airport in the summer of 1961, when the runway at Turnhouse – today’s Edinburgh Airport – was being renewed and scheduled traffic temporarily diverted to East Fortune. According to common reference works, just under 100,000 passengers used the site at that time. On July 7, 1975 the museum opened to visitors for the first time. Today the entire site is protected as a Scheduled Monument and, according to National Museums Scotland, is considered one of the best-preserved World War II airfields in the United Kingdom.

The location: museum on the old technical site

The museum lies on the B1347 between the A1 and North Berwick in East Lothian. It occupies the airfield’s former technical area with its hangars from around 1940. The old runways are not part of the museum: most of the former airfield surface is now used for farming, while other sections serve motorsport, a Sunday market and microlight flying, according to reference works.

The exhibition is spread across several halls and the outdoor grounds:

Area	Focus	Highlights for spotters
Concorde hangar / The Jet Age	Supersonic and jet age	Concorde G-BOAA, nose of BOAC 707 G-APFJ, Trident cockpit, Hawk XX308
Hangar 2 – Military Aviation	Military aviation	Spitfire XVI, Me 163 Komet, Lightning, Tornado F.3, Jaguar, Harrier
Hangar 3 – Civil Aviation	Civil aviation with a Scottish connection	Twin Pioneer, Loganair Beech 18, Islander, Tiger Moth, Dragon, Dove
Hangar 1	Restoration and storage	Guided tours or event days only
Outdoor grounds	Large aircraft	Avro Vulcan XM597, Comet 4C G-BDIX

The overview is a guide. Museums swap exhibits, and not every aircraft from older reports still stands in its old place. The BAC One-Eleven G-AVMO, which stood on the outdoor grounds for a long time, was removed in 2026 because of its poor condition, according to reference works. If you are traveling for a particular type, check beforehand whether it is on show. Background on the institution itself can be found in the profile of the National Museum of Flight East Fortune.

Concorde G-BOAA: the star of East Fortune

The story of “Alpha Alpha”

The Concorde with the registration G-BOAA first flew, according to Heritage Concorde, on November 5, 1975 at Filton near Bristol and was handed over to British Airways on January 14, 1976. That makes it one of the airline’s first production aircraft. It flew in scheduled service until summer 2000. According to Heritage Concorde’s data, it logged almost 22,800 flight hours and more than 8,000 landings.

Its last flight took place on August 12, 2000, as BA002 from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow. Shortly before, in July 2000, an Air France Concorde had crashed near Paris. G-BOAA did not receive the subsequent modifications and stayed on the ground. The whole story of the supersonic airliner is told in the article The Concorde, and the technology in the type profile of the Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde.

The journey to Scotland

How the Concorde got to East Fortune is a story of its own. Because delivery by air was no longer possible, the aircraft was partly dismantled in a hangar at Heathrow in early 2004 over several weeks. It went by road to Isleworth on the Thames, where it was loaded onto the barge “Terra Marique.” The barge went down the Thames and north along the east coast. At Torness the Concorde came ashore and was towed over a specially laid temporary road to East Fortune. According to reports, it reached the museum in April 2004.

After reassembly, the “Concorde Experience” opened on March 16, 2005. Since then G-BOAA has been the centerpiece of the museum – according to the museum, the only Concorde in Scotland.

Photographing the Concorde

The hall is generous, but the Concorde is long and flat. For an overall view you need a strong wide-angle lens and a vantage point at an angle in front of the nose. Make sure the lines of the fuselage are not distorted too much: hold the camera as level as possible and correct converging lines later. The basics are explained in the article Wide-angle and standard lenses for spotting.

Worthwhile details are the drooped nose, the tall main landing gear, the engine intakes and the narrow cabin windows. In the cabin it gets tight – detail shots of seats and instruments work better here than big room views. Photograph the registration on the tail as well, and you can match every shot unambiguously later.

The Jet Age: airliner history in detail

In the same hangar, “The Jet Age” shows how jet engines changed civil aviation. At its center is the nose section of the Boeing 707 G-APFJ in the colors of BOAC. It has been on display at East Fortune since 2010. How the 707 transformed long-haul travel is covered in the article Boeing 707.

Added to that are the cockpit of a British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C and a series of engines – from the de Havilland Ghost and Rolls-Royce Avon through the Conway and Spey to the RB211 and the General Electric CF6. For tech fans it is a rare chance to photograph the development of jet engines piece by piece side by side.

One special exhibit has stood permanently in this hangar since 2018: the BAE Systems Hawk XX308 in Red Arrows colors. It was one of the nine aircraft that flew over the new Scottish Parliament together with a Concorde on July 1, 1999.

Hangar 2: military aviation from Spitfire to Tornado

For type collectors the military hangar is the densest part of the museum. The Supermarine Spitfire XVI TE462 dates from the final phase of World War II and is among the best-known pieces in the collection. A true rarity is the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, the rocket-powered interceptor of the Luftwaffe. The example at East Fortune was, according to reference works, flown after the war by the British test pilot Eric Brown.

Alongside stand a Bristol Bolingbroke, the Canadian license-built version of the Blenheim, a Meteor NF.14, the English Electric Lightning F.2A, a Panavia Tornado F.3 and a SEPECAT Jaguar. According to reference works, the museum also shows the oldest surviving Harrier, XV277. From the Eastern Bloc comes a license-built MiG-15 made in Czechoslovakia.

The raised platform in the hall, reachable by elevator according to Undiscovered Scotland, is worth its weight in gold for photographers. From above you see fuselage spines, canopies and wing shapes – perspectives you do not get in many museums. If you are unsure about older types, the article Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky helps.

Hangar 3: Scotland’s civil aviation

Hangar 3 tells a story you will not find at any other large British museum in this way: that of Scottish civil aviation. The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer stands for the aircraft industry at Prestwick, the Beechcraft Model 18 G-ASUG wears the colors of Loganair, and the Britten-Norman Islander G-BELF flew for the Scottish Ambulance Service. You can still experience the island flights for which such types were built today on Barra beach – fittingly, the hangar shows a former fire truck from Barra Airport.

The hall is rounded out by classics such as the de Havilland Tiger Moth, a DH.84 Dragon, the de Havilland Dove G-ANOV of the former CAA flight calibration unit and an Avro Anson. Special is the General Aircraft Cygnet, which according to reference works was flown twice by Guy Gibson, the commander of the Dambusters raid. Gliders hang from the ceiling. The collection also includes a Jetstream 31 as a representative of modern regional aircraft.

Outdoor grounds: Vulcan and Comet under a Scottish sky

Outside stand the two large aircraft for which the trip to East Fortune is worth it on its own. The Avro Vulcan B.2A XM597 came to the museum in 1984. It flew two Black Buck missions in the 1982 Falklands War – long-range strikes from Ascension that are among the best-known operations of the late V-bomber era.

Close by stands the de Havilland Comet 4C G-BDIX in Dan-Air colors. It flew into East Fortune itself in 1981 and recalls the pioneering days of jet airliners. You can read more about the Comet in the article De Havilland Comet.

Outdoors, weather and sun position determine your pictures. With a low sun you get structure in fuselage and wings; on gray days the light is even and the colors stay calm. For the Vulcan’s delta wings, a low vantage point at an angle from the front is worthwhile. What you can still get out of a rainy day is shown in the article Plane spotting in bad weather.

Airshow tradition: Scotland’s National Airshow

For many years East Fortune was also a destination for airshow fans in summer. Scotland’s National Airshow took place annually on the museum grounds and brought flying displays over the old World War II airfield. In 2020 and 2021 it was canceled because of the pandemic. In early 2022 the museum announced that the airshow would be suspended indefinitely. As of October 2026, no resumption is known.

For you that means: plan East Fortune as a pure museum visit. The museum hosts other formats instead – according to reference works, for example a wartime-living weekend in May and a vehicle meet in September, plus family programs during school holidays. If you want to experience airshows in Britain, you will find the major dates in the article Airshows in Europe for plane spotters and, in the spot guide to IWM Duxford, a place where historic aircraft still fly regularly.

Getting there: car, bus and train

The museum lies east of Edinburgh in East Lothian. By car you take the A1 and follow the signs; the museum is right on the B1347. The museum has its own visitor parking lot with accessible parking spaces. The address for your GPS is East Fortune Airfield, EH39 5LF.

By public transport the trip is doable but takes planning:

• Bus route 121 runs between Haddington and North Berwick and stops on the museum grounds.
• From Edinburgh you reach North Berwick by train and Haddington by bus, where you change to the 121.
• The nearest train station is Drem. From there the 121 also runs, or you take a taxi.

The buses do not run at a dense frequency. Look up the connections for your travel day beforehand and plan the return trip with a buffer. General tips can be found in the article Getting to the spot.

Rules and practical information on site

East Fortune is a museum with historic buildings and delicate exhibits. Keep your distance from barriers, do not touch aircraft that are not explicitly open for entry, and watch for other visitors in the tight cabins. You reach the airliners, including the Concorde, only by stairs.

On the grounds there is a shop, a café and an outdoor picnic area; according to Doors Open Days you may also bring your own food, and there is an indoor room for packed lunches. You can refill water bottles at a drinking station in the shop. Families find more than 25 hands-on stations in the exhibition “Fantastic Flight,” including a flight simulator and a wind tunnel.

Combining East Fortune with other spots

Because nothing flies at East Fortune, the visit pairs ideally with an airport. Edinburgh Airport lies on the other side of the capital and offers scheduled traffic from feeders to long-haul. In the west, Glasgow Airport adds more airlines to your logbook. If you want to see Scottish island flying live, which begins as a museum piece in Hangar 3, travel on to Barra beach – background is in the article Barra (Scotland).

For a museum trip through Britain, the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, the RAF Museum Cosford and IWM Duxford are good options. If you want to collect more Concordes after G-BOAA, you will find them, among other places, at Aerospace Bristol in Filton, where G-BOAA once made its first flight, and at Duxford.

Conclusion

The National Museum of Flight is not a place for flight movements but one for encounters with history. On the airfield from which the R34 departed for America in 1919, the Concorde G-BOAA now stands open to enter, the Vulcan and Comet wait outside, and the halls span the arc from the Me 163 to the Loganair Beech. Add the atmosphere of a preserved World War II airfield, which you will not find in newly built museum halls.

The limits are clear: nothing flies, the airshow is suspended, and without a car the trip needs planning. If you know that, come with a wide-angle lens and shape your day around the Scottish weather, you will take home pictures from East Fortune that no airport fence can deliver.