![\"RAF](\"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/article-images-18\/RAFMuseum-London.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex today attended the opening ceremony of the transformed RAF Museum London as part of the centenary celebrations of the Royal Air Force.<\/strong><\/p>\n After arriving in a 32 Sqn RAF helicopter, His Royal Highness met members of Museum staff, volunteers and partners who worked on and supported the transformation. Other VIPs at the ceremony included Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier (RAF Chief of Air Staff), HE Mr Khaled Al-Duwaisan (Ambassador of Kuwait) and Viscount Trenchard (grandson of the founding father of the RAF).<\/p>\n Maggie Appleton, RAF Museum CEO<\/strong> said \u2018It was a pleasure and an honour to have The Earl of Wessex open our transformed London site in the RAF\u2019s Centenary year. Our new exhibitions not only explore the Royal Air Force\u2019s extraordinary history and people, but also give visitors the opportunity to look ahead into the cutting-edge future of the service. The Museum\u2019s transformation is a celebration of the RAF\u2019s breadth and diversity \u2013 and we look forward to welcoming visitors from London and beyond to experience it with us.\u2019<\/p>\n Sir Peter Luff, Chair of Heritage Lottery Fund<\/strong>, one of the Programme\u2019s leading supporters, said \u2018As a pioneer and leader of international aviation, and in its Centenary year, the Royal Air Force deserves a world-class museum. Now, thanks to National Lottery players, visitors can explore the powerful, inspiring and often surprising stories of the world\u2019s oldest independent air force in a dynamic new setting.\u2019<\/p>\n Sir Roger Carr \u2013 Chairman, BAE Systems<\/strong>, Founding Partner of the RAF Museum\u2019s RAF Centenary Programme said: \u201cThe histories of the Royal Air Force and BAE Systems have been inextricably linked since the foundation of the Royal Flying Corps. Since 2014 we are proud to have been a Founding Partner for the regeneration of the RAF Museum. The Museum plays an important role inspiring the next generation of airmen, airwomen and engineers.\u201d<\/p>\n The Museum\u2019s ambitious redevelopment features new immersive galleries, supported by a transformed visitor experience which includes a new learning centre, new landscaping drawing on the heritage of the London Aerodrome and RAF Hendon, a new visitor centre including a caf\u00e9 and shop, and a new restaurant housed in a 1930s RAF building at the heart of the site. The transformation makes the RAF Museum the only place where visitors can test their flying skills, explore RAF stories, sit inside an iconic cockpit and enjoy a picnic in a single day.<\/p>\n Programmes have also been designed to deliver small object conservation skills and workshop spaces, additional apprenticeships, increased volunteering and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) formal and informal learning activities.<\/p>\n Historic Hendon projects are engaging the Museum\u2019s local community with the heritage of their neighbourhood.<\/p>\n A digital project, \u2018RAF Stories\u2019, has been developed through which the public will be encouraged to create and curate their own online scrapbooks using photographs, memories, film and audio recordings to share their experiences or those of their loved ones within the RAF and the broader RAF family. These stories will be shared internationally online as well as being embedded in the new exhibitions, enhancing the Museum\u2019s storytelling: http:\/\/www.rafstories.org<\/p>\n The transformed free-to-enter Museum in Colindale, North-West London includes:<\/p>\n \u2022 The Duke of Cambridge’s Sea King helicopter, from his days as a pilot in RAF Valley The new exhibitions are \u2018RAF Stories: The First 100 Years\u2019, \u2018RAF: First to the Future\u2019 and \u2018The RAF in an \u2018Age of Uncertainty\u2019.<\/p>\n The Museum will open with a celebration of Armed Forces Day on Saturday 30 June, which includes an outdoor concert, craft activities, talks, tours, storytelling and more activities for all the family.<\/p>\n The RAF Museum\u2019s RAF Centenary Programme is supported by National Lottery Players through the Heritage Lottery Fund.<\/p>\n For more information about the RAF Museum\u2019s RAF Centenary Programme visit www.rafmuseum.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex today attended the opening ceremony of the transformed RAF Museum London as part of the centenary celebrations of the Royal Air Force. After arriving in a 32 Sqn RAF helicopter, His Royal Highness met members of Museum staff, volunteers and partners who worked on and supported the transformation. … Continue reading HRH The Earl of Wessex opens transformed RAF Museum London<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[304,10,301],"class_list":["post-1652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation-museum-news","tag-june-2018","tag-news","tag-raf-museum-hendon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1653,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652\/revisions\/1653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Three new innovative galleries which explore the first 100 years of the RAF, its roles today and invite visitors to imagine its future contribution and technology
\n\u2022 Perfect for picnicking – a new open, grassed landscape reflects the heritage of the site as The London Aerodrome and RAF Hendon
\n\u2022 A new themed outdoor play area for under 11\u2019s
\n\u2022 A new restaurant, Claude\u2019s
\n\u2022 A packed programme of family activities and events for all ages.<\/p>\n