About Us

Who we are..

Wight Aviation Museum is a volunteer based organisation with the aim of celebrating the Isle of Wight long aviation history through our museum and outreach work. In 2018 we became a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee.

We are leasing Hangar 2 at Sandown Airport and have converted this into our first aviation museum.

Some of Wight Aviation Museum’s volunteers..

This allows us to both build our collection and establish the museum as a viable tourist attraction.

  • Positioned close to the airport Control Tower and Bistro, the museum is a short distance from the parking facilities.
  • The airport is located on the main route between Newport & Sandown and is in the ideal position for attracting visitors.
  • The airport is also home to Airframe Assemblies one of the World’s leading Spitfire and classic Warbird restoration companies and these aircraft are regular visitors to the airfield.Visitors will be able to view and research artifacts from the past in the surroundings of an active airfield.
  • Exhibitions will focus on showcasing the design and engineering expertise of the early pioneers who skillfully transferred marine knowledge into a new era of seaplanes, flying boats and aircraft.

Our displays and exhibits will also illustrate the history of both Aircraft and Spacecraft developed and built on the Isle of Wight over the last 120 years, as well as highlighting Island based companies still involved in the aviation sector today.

The Princess Flying Boat built by Saunders Roe in East Cowes in the 1950’s..

Working Together..

We are also working with a range of organisations and business both on the Island and beyond to achieve this, with some of our partner organisations listed below.

  • Airframe Assemblies Ltd
  • The Britten Norman Aircraft Preservation society.
  • CECAMM Engineering College.
  • The Geoffrey Lilley Family Trust.
  • The Hornets Model Flying Club.
  • IFPL.
  • The Isle of Wight Flying Club.
  • Rolls Royce Aircraft Division.
  • The Royal Aeronautical Society.
  • The Royal Air Forces Association.
  • Sandown Airport Ltd.
  • Solent Aviatrix.

Future Plans..

We hope to obtain planning permission for a purpose built museum at Sandown Airport. This larger facility will be both a major tourist attraction and heritage center, enabling us to house many more classic aircraft and expand the space technology exhibition.

This will be a world leading attraction with a high level of public interaction and will also feature an education and hospitality centre.

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