I thought it might be a good idea to start an aviation bucket list thread, with peoples thoughts on the must see places and events, worldwide. I thought that by sharing those amongst ourselves it could help those of us who are keen on aviation find those must see things that otherwise might be missed when traveling.
So here are a few of mine. Where I have been I have highlighted in blue and where I have some detailed info I will include it.
Smithsonian Institute Washington DC USA The Wright Flyer, what more needs to be said.
Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Airfield, Nr Biggleswade Bedfordshire England. Oldest airworthy aircraft in the world. Also probably the best collection of Veteran and Vintage aircraft anywhere. They fly the first Sunday of the Month May to October, the October event is the last display in the annual UK airshow calendar. My favorite airshow location!
Kennedy Space Center, Florida USA. Would love to spend more than just one day.
Royal Air Force Museum, Two locations this time. there's London which is at RAF Hendon, Collingswood (North) London. the second is at RAF Cosford Staffordshire, this is in the north midlands, it is very good, but I visited back in about 1980 when I was an air cadet.
Airventure? Oshkosh, Supposed to be the largest airshow in the world. Somewhere in the USA.
Imperial War Museum, IWM has many sites. most importantly from the aviation point of view is IWM Duxford, Cambridgeshire. On the site of the former RAF Duxford airfield. This is the largest of the IWM locations too. there are usually three main airshow weekends at Duxford. Late May and early September, and the big show Flying Legends in July. Also worth a the rest of the sites are good too. There is the main museum IWM London, Lambeth Road, Lambeth London, as well as HMS Belfast, a WWII cruiser next to Tower Bridge. The Churchill War Rooms, London, and the Northern branch in Manchester.
Swiss Transport Museum, Lucerne Switzerland. I have only heard about this museum, supposedly one of the best aviation collections in europe.
Reno Air races, Reno Nevada USA. Probably the most famous Pylon Racing event in the world.
Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), RAF Fairford Gloucestershire England. Probably the largest annual airshow in the UK. I haven't been since the 80's when it was up the road a bit at RAF Greenham Common. The very first RIAT, held at the old WWII fighter station RAF North Weald, was the very first airshow that I can remember attending as a child.
Farnborough Airshow, Farnborough Airport, Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Possibly the most famous "trade" airshow, with two public display days. This show is held Biannually, in even numbered years, so the next show will be in July 2016. In the past the show was traditionally held in September. The show gained some notoriety due to the fatal crash of the de Havilland DH110 in the 1950's which killed test pilot John Derry, his navigator, and a number of spectators. After the incident was dealt with they continued with the rest of the show.
Paris Airshow Paris-Le Bourget Airport, Paris France. The world's oldest airshow, starting in 1909. This is the French version of Farnborough, with trade days first, then three days open to the public. The next show will be in 2017 will be the 52nd.
This seems like a good number of entries to stop at for now. Please feel free to add your own ideas, I think I could probably spens ages adding to this myself, but for a lot of those things I would have very little knowledge.
Alan