Royal Air Force Museum Hendon Greater London hotels:

RAF Museum Hendon is Britain's only national air museum dedicated to aviation and has a total collection of well over two hundred aircraft; over a hundred full-size aircraft from all over the world are displayed under cover on the historic site of the original London Aerodrome. The Hendon collection includes some very early airplane designs, war planes including the legendary Battle of Britain Spitfire airplanes and Lancaster Bombers of World War II, through to the latest modern day jets and military aircraft. This site contains a comprehensive library of pictures, photos and detailed information about all of the airplanes in the Museum's different collections. The Wellington Bomber: Built in greater numbers than any other British bomber, the Wellington formed the backbone of Bomber Command operations until the widespread introduction of four-engined bombers into service in 1941. Introduced into service in 1938 Wellingtons and Blenheims shared the honour of being the first Royal Air Force aircraft to attack Germany when they bombed ships at Brunsbüttel on 4 September 1939. Even with its power-operated turrets the Wellington was unable to defend itself adequately in daylight and had to switch to night operations to survive the German defences. Using the geodetic type of construction developed by Barnes Wallis, the Wellington was immensely strong and could take large amounts of damage and still return safely to base. The Wellington served in many roles during its long service life. Designed as a bomber, it became an effective torpedo carrier and submarine killer in Coastal Command before going on to Transport and Training Commands.