IWM Duxford has announced an exciting schedule of activities for October and December 2021’s school holidays. Families can learn how to build the perfect cockpit, engineer a top paper aircraft, and speak to eyewitnesses to conflict. Opening from the 27 December for a limited time, families will also be able to explore Spitfire: Evolution of an Icon, an exhibition featuring 12 Spitfires in Air Space.
A variety of activities will run at IWM Duxford daily. We recommend checking details at the Visit Planning Point upon arrival to find out what is on that day. Activities will not run 24 – 26 December when IWM Duxford is closed. We Were There and Super Spitfires will run on the specified dates.
Aeroplane Investigators
Monday 25 October – Sunday 31 October
Saturday 18 December – Thursday 30 December
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in, 10am– 3pm
Budding historians can step into the shoes of a conservator and help keep IWM Duxford’s iconic aircraft in tip top condition. Get hands-on and search for the mysterious forces and microscopic beasts burrowing into pilot seats, test expert packing techniques to protect fragile objects and learn to use specialised equipment with the museum’s team of expert conservators.
Flight Academy
Monday 25 October – Sunday 31 October
Saturday 18 December – Thursday 30 December
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in, 10am – 3pm
Sign up to the Flight Academy and discover the forces of flight. Families will be equipped with a training pack containing everything needed to engineer a top paper aircraft. Make a range of iconic aircraft, from an Avro Vulcan, a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, to a World Record breaking design that has flown for 69 metres. Budding engineers can then test their constructions on the Flight Academy research runways in Air Space.
We Were There
Saturday 23 October and Sunday 24 October
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in, 10am – 3pm
Visitors will have the unique opportunity to meet eyewitness to conflict, gaining first-hand insight into the impact of war on people’s lives. These special guests will be placed across the museum to converse with visitors, drawing upon their personal stories of conflict, from driving a tank to being evacuated. Interactive workshops with illustrators, authors and journalists will also allow visitors to explore how memories, including their own, can be recorded.
Super Spitfires
Wednesday 29 December and Thursday 30 December
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in, 10am – 3pm
Uncover the secrets of the Spitfire by finding out how technological advances and ingenious inventions helped make it one of the most iconic aircraft of all time. Discover how the Spitfire has been used in movies, how it inspired stories and what it is like to fly a Spitfire. Coinciding with the exhibition Spitfire: Evolution of an Icon, this new interactive activity gives families the opportunity to explore the evolution of the Spitfire.
Family Mission: D-Day Edition
Monday 25 October – Sunday 31 October, 10am – 3pm
Saturday 18 December – Thursday 30 December, 10am – 3pm
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in
Families are invited to grab a Jump Bag and travel back to D-Day in 1944. Explore IWM Duxford, spot a Spitfire from just its sound, perfect how to land safely and be assigned a rank, all while learning about the biggest invasion in history. Created in partnership with KIT Theatre and Kirsty Harris, this interactive storytelling experience is based on the personal stories from those who served on D-Day.
Spitfire Engineers
Monday 27 December -Tuesday 28 December 2021
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in, 10am – 3pm
Get approved for take-off by exploring four activity stations dedicated to the Spitfire inside IWM Duxford’s Conservation Hall. Families are invited to grab a pre-flight checklist and get hands on with practical challenges. Discover the science behind wing design, the forces of flight, fuel consumption and engine power, before making and testing a propeller. New for this December, this activity enhances the Spitfire: Evolution of an Icon exhibition experience for families.
Airforce Action Stations
Monday 25 October – Sunday 31 October
Saturday 18 December – Tuesday 28 December
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in, 11am – 3pm
Families are invited to report for duty at the American Air Museum, where the system has been hacked. Connect to the last remaining satellite and restore the files of the museum’s aircraft. Assess the aircrafts’ strengths and weaknesses before deploying them to bases around the world. Developed with Friday Sundae Studios with children’s TV personality, Ben Shires, this original activity allows visitors to learn about aircraft used in the Cold War.
Cockpit Control
Monday 25 October – Sunday 31 October
Saturday 18 December – Tuesday 28 December
Free (included in price of admission), drop-in, 11am – 3pm
It is 1945 and Air Force pilots are crashing. Visitors are invited to report to the Captain in the American Air Museum to investigate why. Assess the facts with an action report, measure up against fellow pilots of all shapes and sizes, and work together to engineer a cockpit. Developed with children’s TV personality Ben Shires, this interactive family game is based on the technological developments seen in the American Air Force in the late 1940s.