RAF Museum (Midlands) Cosford

One of our favourite places to go during the school holidays is the RAF Museum at Cosford.  We've been a few times - we even went during the pandemic -  and each time we go we find something new, or see something in a different light.  My children are now 14, 12 and 7 and they're now becoming more interested in what they're seeing.  There's a visitor centre (with a cafe and toilets) and four hangars full of military exhibits (most of them aircraft) and plenty of interactive exhibits too - and a 4-D simulator (although we've never been on it).

During our most recent visit, our youngest child thoroughly enjoyed classifying the historical planes into goodies (British and American) and baddies (German), and admiring their paint jobs and colour schemes.  Cosford isn't just about aircraft, and the older two were particularly interested in the history of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and with the Berlin Wall and the end of World War II.  I might say this was educational, but they were interested in all the exhibits just for the additional background it gave them for their history schoolwork.

In the school holidays, the Museum sometimes puts on 'Open Cockpit' events - these are well worth a visit, although you will need to be patient as the queues can be long.  You have the opportunity to sit inside the cockpit of a real aeroplane and see all the controls and dials.  Our youngest was more patient (or determined) than his two siblings, and was rewarded with a seat in an RAF Phantom cockpit, which he thoroughly enjoyed.  

Cosford may have more than just aircraft, but it's the aircraft that people go to see, and there are plenty here.  Many - if not most - of the aircraft in the museum have specific historic significance: there's the Fairey FD2 (the blue one) which held the world record for fastest airspeed; there are prototypes of the RAF's Harrier and Typhoon aircraft, and even a TSR-2 (the big white one with droopy wings).  The significance of these aircraft may be lost on younger visitors, but they will still enjoy looking at the diverse range of aircraft and even decide on their own personal favourites (often based on the way they look).  

The Cold War Hangar is my personal favourite - there's a wide range of aircraft and other military vehicles on display, and whoever though to dangle a BAC Lightning vertically from the hangar roof was inspired!  My children loved the interactive science demonstrations - how aerodynamics work, how planes turn, and so on - there's plenty to keep everybody entertained.

Cosford has exceptional facilities - there are multiple toilets including baby-changing facilities on the site; a cafe, which is reasonably priced and serves hot and cold food and drinks; plenty of picnic spaces outside if the weather is good (and plenty of indoor seating if it isn't).  

Above all, Cosford has a large amount of wide open space.  The exhibits are well spaced out - even the larger aircraft aren't cramped into the hangars - and with four hangars to visit, there's plenty to see and plenty of walking to tire out even the most energetic legs.  Younger children who have exhausted their attention span can also run around on the green fields, and make use of the aircraft-themed playground.  This is a relatively recent addition and adds even more to a great day out - it's been designed for children aged 3-9 and also has plenty of seating for parents!

And did I mention:  entrance to the museum is FREE?  You only  need to pay parking, which is around £5 per car, and then you spend as much time as you want in the museum.  There's a guidebook available from the visitor centre; this is frequently updated with more information and newer exhibits and is good value instead of paying an entrance fee.  If a guidebook isn't your thing, then there is plenty to see in the gift shop.  This has a core range of aircraft merchandise (books, models, toys, pictures and so on) and on occasions has an additional range of pre-owned books, some of which are very interesting and often hard to find elsewhere, and is always worth a look.  Prices are reasonable, and there's enough to cater to every budget.

I'm an aircraft enthusiast and have been since I was about five years old.  I understand the details of the aircraft, their historical relevance, I can identify them on sight, and I've been building Airfix models since I was about nine.  If it was my choice, we'd probably go to Cosford during each and every weekend (it's only an hour's drive for us), however, we do have other commitments and it's not everybody's cup of tea.  Having said that, whenever I do suggest going during a school holiday, the kids are always up for it (even through teenage apathy) and each of us always has a good time either seeing something new or getting a fresh understanding of something we've seen before.  Not only that, but it gets them off their screens (and they take loads of photos of everything, too).  

Cosford is also the site of an active RAF base (which hosts a full-scale airshow each June), and a base for the Midlands Air Ambulance so you might occasionally see some aircraft flying around (typically light aircraft), and occasionally see a visitor the RAF base's engineering department - there was one occasion we saw this Tornado on the car park (I don't think he'd paid and displayed, though).

Highly recommended.  It's free to enter, so you can take a picnic and dodge the gift shop (and spend only on parking), or take your wallet and be prepared to come back with armfuls of valuable aircraft merchandise!