This week we headed to a nearby air base at Scampton, to visit the brilliant heritage centre. We are huge fans of the Red Arrows, we see them practise over head all the time and nothing can beat the roar of the Red Arrows passing by! The Heritage centre is completely free, it's currently the home for the team and we hope it will stay that way. We also really hoped that they would be practising on the day of our visit but were told they probably wouldn't be. Sob!
Needless to say though they were out on practise after all, so we got a close up private show, a visit around the museum, some brilliant stories from the Curator there who was so friendly, amazing with the kids and knew so much about the history of the base, the arrows and the RAF. This is such a local treasure and if you call up you can visit too.
We were excited straight away when we arrived to see a plane at the entrance, followed by lots of army green vehicles and some huge display bombs outside. We could see the Red Arrows parked and lined up across the field and headed into the hanger for our safety talk and introduction.
There's lots to see inside and it was made even more exciting when we heard the roaring of engines as the planes began their practise outside. Inside the hanger, there's a real life Red Arrow that you can sit inside - SO AMAZING!
I've always been a bit obsessed with wartime memorabilia, I find it all so interesting, upsetting and amazing at the same time. We really enjoyed looking at all the old photos, showing Alf the models of the Lancaster his Grandpa flew and the place he would have set as a gunner. He even got to see a model of the guns he would have had to use and see the uniforms he would have worn. We loved seeing all the old planes and reading all about them, it was fun and a lovely thing to do together with Alf and his school chums.
When we headed out for lunch we saw that the Red Arrows themselves were starting their practise runs, spiralling in the air, making shapes with smoke and landing very close to us!
We were excited straight away when we arrived to see a plane at the entrance, followed by lots of army green vehicles and some huge display bombs outside. We could see the Red Arrows parked and lined up across the field and headed into the hanger for our safety talk and introduction.
There's lots to see inside and it was made even more exciting when we heard the roaring of engines as the planes began their practise outside. Inside the hanger, there's a real life Red Arrow that you can sit inside - SO AMAZING!
I've always been a bit obsessed with wartime memorabilia, I find it all so interesting, upsetting and amazing at the same time. We really enjoyed looking at all the old photos, showing Alf the models of the Lancaster his Grandpa flew and the place he would have set as a gunner. He even got to see a model of the guns he would have had to use and see the uniforms he would have worn. We loved seeing all the old planes and reading all about them, it was fun and a lovely thing to do together with Alf and his school chums.
When we headed out for lunch we saw that the Red Arrows themselves were starting their practise runs, spiralling in the air, making shapes with smoke and landing very close to us!
The absolute highlight of the day was this pilot, who not only slowed down and waved at all the kids, but he also revved the engines and gave us a super close up look at an arrow in action - amazing!
We had an absolutely brilliant day at the heritage centre and if you're able to visit, I'd well recommend calling up, booking in and making it happen! Even if the Red Arrows aren't having a practise day, it's a great place to visit, packed full of memorabilia and things to learn, it's child friendly AND you can sit in a Red Arrow yourself!
You can read all about the Heritage Centre on their website, and to sign the petition to keep the arrows at home here in Lincolnshire, please click here.
Are you a fan of the Red Arrows too?
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