About
The Jet Age Museum celebrates Gloucestershire's extraordinary contribution to the history of jet aviation — a story of global significance that began in the fields and factories of this seemingly quiet English county. Located near the site of the former Gloster Aircraft Company works where the first British jet aircraft were designed, built, and flown, the museum preserves and interprets the county's aviation heritage with a collection of historic aircraft, engines, equipment, and personal memorabilia that connects visitors directly to one of the most transformative technological developments of the twentieth century.
Gloucestershire's place in aviation history is assured by a single remarkable fact: it was here that Frank Whittle's revolutionary jet engine technology was first translated into a flyable aircraft by the Gloster Aircraft Company. The Gloster E.28/39 — Britain's first jet-powered aircraft — made its maiden flight in 1941, and the Gloster Meteor that followed became the RAF's first operational jet fighter, entering service in 1944 and playing a role in defending Britain against the V-1 flying bomb threat in the final year of the Second World War. The museum tells this story with aircraft, engines, engineering drawings, photographs, and the personal recollections of the men and women who designed, built, and flew these pioneering machines.
The museum's aircraft collection spans the jet age from its earliest days to the Cold War period and beyond. Complete aircraft and substantial airframe sections are displayed in the museum's hangars alongside aero engines — including examples of the jet engines that powered the Meteor and its successors — cockpit sections that visitors can sit in, and the instruments, equipment, and personal kit of the aircrew who flew these machines. The hands-on approach is a deliberate feature of the museum's philosophy: wherever possible, visitors are encouraged to touch, sit in, and interact with the exhibits rather than viewing them from behind barriers.
The museum was established in 2013 by a dedicated group of volunteers with a passion for preserving Gloucestershire's aviation heritage, and it retains the enthusiasm and personal commitment of its volunteer-led origins. The collection has been built through donations from veterans, aviation enthusiasts, and the families of those who worked in the county's aircraft industry, giving the museum a personal character that larger, more institutional aviation collections sometimes lack. Volunteers — many of whom have personal connections to the aviation industry or military flying — provide guided tours and share their knowledge with an infectious enthusiasm.
Beyond the jet story, the museum documents the broader history of aviation in Gloucestershire — a county that has been associated with aircraft manufacture and military flying since the earliest days of powered flight. The presence of RAF bases, aircraft factories, and supporting industries made Gloucestershire one of the most aviation-intensive counties in Britain throughout the twentieth century, and the museum captures this wider heritage with photographs, documents, and artefacts from across the county's aviation history.
Categories:
Highlights
The Gloster Meteor Story
The Gloster Meteor was the RAF's first operational jet fighter and the only Allied jet aircraft to see combat during the Second World War. Developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company at its works in Gloucestershire using Frank Whittle's revolutionary turbojet engine technology, the Meteor entered service in July 1944 and was deployed against the V-1 flying bombs threatening London and south-east England.
The museum tells the Meteor's story from design and development through its operational career and post-war service with comprehensive displays of aircraft components, engine sections, engineering documentation, and photographs from the factory floor and the frontline.
Historic Aircraft Collection
The museum's aircraft collection includes complete airframes and substantial sections spanning the jet age from the 1940s to the Cold War era and beyond.
Each aircraft tells a story — of technological development, of operational service, of the pilots who flew it, and of the ground crews who maintained it. The collection has been assembled through donations from military sources, aviation companies, and private collectors, and the museum's volunteer engineers continue to work on restoration projects that bring damaged or deteriorating airframes back to display condition.
The aircraft are displayed in hangar-style buildings that evoke the working environment of a military airfield.
Jet Engines — From Whittle to Modern Turbofans
The museum holds a collection of jet engines that traces the development of gas turbine technology from the earliest experimental units based on Frank Whittle's pioneering designs to the powerful turbojets and turbofans of the Cold War period.
Visitors can examine the internal workings of these engines at close quarters — compressor stages, combustion chambers, turbine blades, and afterburner sections are displayed with explanatory material that makes the engineering principles accessible to non-specialists.
The progression from the relatively simple centrifugal-flow engines of the 1940s to the complex axial-flow designs of later decades illustrates the rapid pace of jet engine development.
The Gloster Aircraft Company
The Gloster Aircraft Company was one of the most important aircraft manufacturers in British aviation history, producing aircraft from the biplane era of the First World War through to the jet age. Based in Gloucestershire, the company produced the famous Gladiator biplane fighter (the last biplane fighter in RAF service) before making the revolutionary leap to jet propulsion with the E.
28/39 and Meteor.
The museum documents the company's history from its origins as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company through its wartime peak to its post-war absorption into larger industrial groups, with photographs, documents, and artefacts from the factory floor.
Collections
The Jet Age: Gloucestershire's Aviation Revolution
The principal exhibition telling the story of jet aviation's development in Gloucestershire — from the Gloster E.28/39 and Meteor through the Cold War period, with aircraft, engines, and personal memorabilia.
The Gloster Aircraft Company
Displays documenting the history of the Gloucestershire/Gloster Aircraft Company from its First World War origins through the Gladiator and Meteor to its post-war legacy.
Cockpit Collection
Hands-on cockpit sections from various military aircraft types, allowing visitors to experience the pilot's working environment with guidance from knowledgeable volunteers.
Current Exhibitions
A display of oral history recordings and personal memorabilia from men and women who worked in Gloucestershire's aircraft factories during the Second World War and post-war period, giving voice to the workers who built the aircraft that defended Britain.