New Exhibition: The RAF to Today
Our new exhibition will transform the way we share the RAF story.
Your support will help us transform our existing Hangar 1 into an innovative, nationally-relevant exhibition. It will focus on the critical role of the Royal Air Force over the past 40 years, inviting visitors to discover its mission today and to imagine how the service will need to adapt in the future.
The exhibition will embrace digital technology and include artefacts ranging from aircraft to films that will support our storytelling and reflect our local communities. Our ‘RAF Stories’ and ‘Collections Online’ digital platforms will enable us to share content across the globe as well as in the new displays.
The Story
Our storytelling currently focusses on the early chapters of RAF history. Many of our visitors are now from generations with no living knowledge of the time periods we currently present in out exhibitions. Carrying out this project will enable us to bring the story up to date and look to the future, helping deliver our Vision - sharing the stories of current RAF personnel and the impact the RAF has on all our lives today.
We will work with our audiences to share RAF stories that are relevant to their lives, inspiring them to fulfil their own potential.
We will connect with diverse communities to co-create engaging displays. Hero objects from our collection will include a Red Arrows Hawk, a Tornado fast jet, and the iconic Bravo November, the only Chinook helicopter to survive the sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor in the Falklands, whose stories span forty years of service. Inspiring personal objects will include medals representing individual acts of service, courage and sacrifice and 'Bluey' letters sent to and from RAF personnel on deployments to loved ones at home. Visitors will be invited to reflect on and debate the issues that face the RAF, helping us to make sense of the increasingly complex world around us.
The immersive, multi-sensory displays will share personal stories through which visitors can find a reflection of their own experiences and are encouraged to debate the content and understand the impact on their own lives.
The RAF Museum Midlands Development Programme is being made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to progress our plans for this project.