About
The Ulster Aviation Society maintains one of the most significant collections of military and civil aircraft in Ireland, housed within former hangar buildings at the historic Long Kesh site near Lisburn, County Antrim — a site whose own layered history, first as a Second World War and Cold War-era RAF station and later as HM Prison Maze (the Maze Prison), adds a further dimension of historical weight to the aviation collection it now shelters.
Formed by a group of volunteer aviation enthusiasts in the early 1980s, the society has built its collection almost entirely through donation, careful restoration and dedicated volunteer effort rather than significant institutional funding, assembling a range of historic military and civil aircraft with strong connections to Northern Ireland's own aviation manufacturing and service history, including aircraft types built by Short Brothers of Belfast, one of the world's pioneering aircraft manufacturers, alongside RAF and other military aircraft that served in or were associated with Northern Ireland.
Because the collection is housed in former hangars on a site still subject to ongoing redevelopment plans as the wider former Maze/Long Kesh estate is repurposed, and because the volunteer team required to open, staff and interpret the hangars safely is necessarily limited, the Ulster Aviation Society does not offer standard daily walk-in museum access.
Instead, visits are organised around a programme of scheduled open days, typically held on selected weekends throughout the year, together with pre-arranged group visits booked in advance — a model that differs significantly from a conventional aviation museum and makes checking the current open day calendar essential before planning a visit.
For aviation enthusiasts and anyone interested in Northern Ireland's distinctive aircraft manufacturing heritage, a visit on one of these open days offers an unusually close, hands-on encounter with a substantial and carefully restored aircraft collection, guided by the same volunteers who have devoted decades to rescuing and maintaining it.
Categories:
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check the society's current open day calendar before travelling — this is not a daily walk-in museum, and access outside scheduled dates is not generally possible.
- Book a pre-arranged group visit well in advance if a scheduled open day does not fit your travel plans, as availability depends on volunteer capacity.
- Allow a generous amount of time — the hangars contain a genuinely substantial collection, and many visitors find they need longer than expected to see everything.
- Talk to the volunteer guides, many of whom have direct aviation engineering or service backgrounds and can offer far more technical depth than the interpretive panels alone.
- Wear comfortable, practical footwear suitable for exploring large working hangar spaces.
- Combine a visit with Lisburn's Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum for a fuller day out in the area.
- Be aware the site sits within the still-redeveloping former Maze/Long Kesh estate — follow signed access routes carefully and do not deviate into other parts of the site.
- Bring a camera, as the close-quarters access to historic aircraft is unusual compared with larger, more formally managed aviation museums.
Highlights
Short Brothers Belfast Aviation Heritage
The collection includes aircraft with direct connections to Short Brothers of Belfast, one of the world's pioneering aircraft manufacturers and a company whose history is deeply intertwined with Northern Ireland's twentieth-century industrial identity. Displays and preserved aircraft illustrate Short Brothers' contribution to British aviation history, from early flying boats through to later military and civil aircraft production, grounding the wider collection in a distinctly Northern Irish manufacturing story rather than presenting aviation history as a purely external narrative.
Preserved Military Aircraft
A range of preserved military aircraft, several with direct service connections to Northern Ireland or the wider RAF, gives visitors the chance to see historic airframes at close quarters in a way rarely possible at larger national aviation museums, where crowd management often keeps visitors at greater distance.
The volunteer restoration teams' painstaking work maintaining these aircraft is evident throughout the hangars, reflecting decades of dedicated, largely self-funded conservation effort.
Cockpit and Systems Displays
Several aircraft and cockpit sections are displayed in ways that allow visitors, including on some open days the chance to sit in preserved cockpits under supervision, to appreciate the instrumentation and systems of historic military and civil aircraft directly, offering a genuinely hands-on dimension to the visit that larger, more formally curated aviation museums often cannot provide.
The History of Long Kesh and the Maze
Interpretive material addresses the layered history of the site itself, from its origins as a Second World War and later Cold War-era RAF station through its subsequent, more troubled history as HM Prison Maze, presented with appropriate care given the site's significance and sensitivity within Northern Ireland's recent history, and its ongoing redevelopment as part of wider regeneration plans for the former Maze/Long Kesh estate.
Collections
The Ulster Aviation Society's collection comprises a substantial range of preserved military and civil aircraft, cockpit sections, engines and related artefacts, with particular strength in material connected to Short Brothers of Belfast and Northern Ireland's wider twentieth-century aviation manufacturing history.
Built up entirely through volunteer effort, donation and restoration since the society's founding in the early 1980s, the collection is housed within former hangar buildings at the historic Long Kesh/Maze site near Lisburn, itself a location of considerable and layered historical significance. Supporting archive material, photographs and an extensive model collection add further depth for researchers and enthusiasts, while ongoing volunteer restoration work continues to expand and maintain the collection's condition, reflecting one of the most significant grassroots aviation preservation efforts in Ireland.
Short Brothers and Northern Ireland's Aviation Industry
The core exhibition covering Short Brothers of Belfast and the wider history of aircraft manufacturing in Northern Ireland.
Military and Civil Aircraft of the Collection
An exhibition presenting the society's preserved military and civil aircraft, cockpit sections and related technical displays across the hangar spaces.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.