GRUBBY FINGERS' MUSEUM GUIDE
Aviation, Military, Transport and Technical Museums Outside Australia
ULSTER AVIATION SOCIETY
Maze Long Kesh, RAF Long Kesh, Northern Ireland, UK
Official Website: mazelongkesh.com/community/ulster-aviation-society
Some little way out of Belfast in Northern Ireland you can find Ulster Aviation Society. It is housed in a pair of huge but ancient hangars on the old RAF Long Kesh air base. On the way in, you pass the infamous Maze Long Kesh Prison, which was much in the news during The Troubles.
Inside the hangars you will find an astonishing collection of aircraft and vehicles, almost all ex-RAF or British Army machines, and all with a connection to Northern Ireland. I saw my first Buccaneer and Spey Phantom on my visit, not something I am likely to forget!
The aircraft are all in pretty-much ex-service condition so you get a very good idea of how they looked while flying. This dds tremendously to the atmosphere of the museum. It's well worth a visit if you are in the area.
Some of the aircraft on display are: Buccaneer, Spey Phantom, Canberra, Puma, Hunter, Colibri, Shorts 330, Wessex, Venom, Tucano, Jet ProvostScout, Allouette, and Gannet. It appears they have a Tornado there now, too.
From memory, entry is by appointment, as there is no guarantee the volunteers will be there on a given day, and it is in a secure area, so they need to give the gate advance warning of your arrival.
IMAGE GALLERY
Click here to see a photo gallery of my own visit.
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This page was last updated 14 May 2024
