Description
Lashenden Air Warfare Museum families looking for an engaging historical outing can explore aviation history at this long-established heritage site. It stands out as one of the best things to do with kids in Ashford, offering an educational look into aviation warfare inside a spacious exhibition hall on an active airfield. Children can get up close to rare military aircraft, view real wartime relics, and experience the excitement of a working grass-strip aerodrome.
Standard admission is free of charge for all visitors, making it an exceptionally accessible option for an afternoon out. The museum is run entirely by volunteers and relies on guest generosity, with a suggested donation of £2.00 per person to help maintain the collection. Annual memberships are also available for families who wish to support ongoing restoration projects and unlock special shop discounts.
If you are looking for the best place for a day out with family and kids, this aviation attraction delivers a great combination of history and live airfield action. Children can marvel at genuine wartime aircraft, examine uniform displays, and watch live planes or parachutists take off right outside. It is a highly scannable and fascinating day out that gives children a real sense of 20th-century history.
Features
- Free
- Host birthday parties: Yes
Features
What makes Lashenden Air Warfare Museum unique?
- Active airfield location: The museum is positioned right alongside a busy grass-strip aerodrome, allowing families to pair their museum visit with watching live flights.
- Rare international relics: It is the only non-national museum in the United Kingdom permitted to display two genuine, highly rare World War II German aircraft.
- Hands-on aviation archaeology: Displays include comprehensive "wreckology" collections salvaged by regional recovery groups, showing kids how historic items are found.
- Run entirely by volunteers: Passionate historical enthusiasts manage the entire site, offering a warm welcome and expert information directly to young learners.
What to see at Lashenden Air Warfare Museum
- The Diana Patten Display Hall: This modern exhibition space houses the core aircraft collection, providing a bright and spacious environment for families to explore. Children can walk completely around massive wingspans and look into open cockpits to imagine what flying these machines felt like. It keeps the historical aircraft safe from the elements while providing excellent scannability for parents following busy kids.
- Fieseler Fi 103R-4 Reichenberg: This incredibly rare object is a piloted version of the notorious German V-1 flying bomb and is one of only six remaining in the entire world. Kids are consistently fascinated by its small size and the fact that a pilot had to climb inside to steer it. It serves as a striking centerpiece that sparks deep educational conversations about the realities of wartime engineering.
- Focke Achgelis Fa 330A-1 Gyro Kite: This unique German aircraft was designed to be towed behind military U-boats to spot distant ships from high in the air. Its skeletal, helicopter-like frame looks entirely different from standard airplanes, capturing the attention of young mechanical minds. It has been meticulously restored by volunteers at the base, making it a stellar highlight of the hall.
- The RAF POW Association Collection: This dedicated exhibit features personal items, letters, and artifacts belonging to British prisoners of war during the mid-20th century. It offers a moving look into everyday survival, showing children the homemade items and tools used by service members inside camps. It turns abstract history lessons into a relatable, human experience for older kids.
- The Wreckology Crash Displays: Compiled from the Andrew Cresswell collection and regional recovery teams, this zone displays excavated engine blocks, propellers, and dials recovered from local crash sites. Children can see exactly how metal bends and ages after decades underground, turning a standard museum trip into a detective trail. It highlights the local impact of the air war over the fields of Kent.
- Toilets and Changing Areas: Standard public toilets are located inside the main airfield communal buildings rather than within the museum hall itself.
- Buggy and Pushchair Access: The modern exhibition hall features flat, wide surfaces that are fully accessible for single and double pushchairs.
- Food and Drink Options: While the museum hall houses a souvenir shop with light treats, full meals and hot drinks are available at the neighboring airfield café and restaurant.
Pro-Tips for Families
- Check the Weather: The museum itself is fully covered, but enjoying the wider airfield, aircraft watching, and parachuting is highly dependent on dry skies.
- Bring Pocket Money: Entrance is entirely free, but kids will love spending small change on the affordable pocket-money toys and aviation books in the gift shop.
- Plan Around School Holidays: The museum expands its weekend opening pattern to include Wednesdays and Thursdays during select summer holiday weeks.
The Visitor Verdict: What Parents Really Think
What Visitors Love
- Enthusiastic volunteer staff: Parents consistently mention how welcoming the guides are, often sharing amazing historical stories directly with the children.
- Fascinating rare exhibits: Visitors appreciate seeing unique German aircraft that cannot be found anywhere else outside of massive national city museums.
- Live airfield entertainment: Families love that they can step out of the quiet museum environment and instantly watch real airplanes taking off.
- Incredible financial value: The free admission and free parking model makes this an affordable option for parents monitoring their weekend budget.
What Visitors Don't Like
- Limited indoor space: Because the museum is compact compared to national sites, it can feel crowded on wet days when airfield visitors crowd indoors.
- Weather-dependent site elements: If rain stops the airfield planes from flying, the overall duration of a family visit becomes significantly shorter.
- Separated toilet facilities: Walking across to the main airfield hub for toilets can be a minor inconvenience when managing young children.
Events: For more upcoming events please visit here
Detailed Collection Inventory
- The museum displays an extensive array of aviation frames, components, and personal wartime equipment salvaged from global conflict zones.
- Fieseler Fi 103R-4 Reichenberg IV: A rare piloted V-1 flying bomb captured at a German factory in 1945 and fully restored on site.
- Focke-Achgelis Fa 330A-1 Gyro Kite: An original World War II German U-boat reconnaissance rotary kite used for long-range surface spotting.
- North American Harvard Components: Key airframe parts and cockpit instruments representing the famous advanced trainer aircraft of the era.
- The Pickett-Hamilton Fort: A heavy, pop-up concrete pillbox designed to defend airfield runways, excavated and saved from a regional station.
- The Malling Aircraft Archaeologists Collection: A large gathering of recovered instruments, engine components, and panels from historic Kent crash sites.
- Wartime Uniform and Medal Displays: Rows of original flying suits, leather helmets, goggles, and service medals worn by British and international pilots.
- Aviation Radio and Radar Gear: Original electronic communication equipment showing the bulky dials and technology used by ground controllers.
- Vintage Propeller Array: A wall display comparing wood and metal propeller blades from various early fighters and bombers.
Beyond the Main Attraction
- Because the museum sits inside Headcorn Aerodrome, families can explore secondary aviation and leisure experiences across the active grass airfield.
- The Holding Point Café: A lively airfield diner where families can grab lunch right next to working pilots and watch light aircraft taxi past the window.
- The Wings Bar and Restaurant: A family-friendly venue packed with local aviation memorabilia, offering outdoor seating overlooking the main runways.
- Skydive Headcorn Watching Area: A safe public viewing zone where kids can watch parachutists drop from the sky and land on the grass fields on clear summer weekends.
- The Wing Walk Company Displays: On busy summer days, families can spot classic Stearman Biplanes taking off for daring wing-walking flights directly from the airfield lines.
New for 2026: 2026 Collector Key Rings & Badges: The museum shop has introduced its updated 2026 range of pocket-money souvenirs, pins, and second-hand aviation magazines for young enthusiasts.
16.18 miles
