About
Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre occupies the site of Britain's first operational military airfield — a place of extraordinary significance in aviation history where the Royal Flying Corps established its first operational presence in 1913 and where the tragedy of Britain's first fatal military air crash occurred on 27 May that year. The centre documents the full history of this pioneering site through two world wars and its role in forging the traditions of British military aviation.
Montrose Aerodrome began as a landing ground for the Military Aeroplane Trials of 1912 and was subsequently developed by the Royal Flying Corps as a permanent operational station. The RFC was a new and experimental organisation in 1913, its aircraft fragile and underpowered, its pilots learning their craft with minimal formal training and at great personal risk. The death of Lieutenant Desmond Arthur in a BE.2 biplane on 27 May 1913 — the first fatal accident involving a British military aircraft — established a melancholy precedent and brought home the dangers of this new form of warfare even before the Great War began.
During the First World War, Montrose Air Station served as a training and operational base for the RFC, with squadrons forming and deploying to the Western Front from the Angus coast. The flat agricultural land around Montrose, combined with the relatively low topography and the proximity of the sea for navigation, made it an ideal flying training location, and the station processed thousands of pilots through its training programmes.
The Second World War saw the airfield serve again, with RAF squadrons based at Montrose contributing to the defence of Scotland and the training of aircrew for Bomber and Fighter Commands. The heritage centre documents this era with particular care, including the experiences of the personnel who served here and the aircraft types that flew from the field.
Today the heritage centre preserves the remarkable history of this site through displays, preserved aircraft cockpits, a working Link trainer flight simulator of the 1940s, and an extensive archive of photographs and documents relating to nearly a century of military aviation at Montrose. Volunteer staff with personal and family connections to the station's history bring extraordinary knowledge and passion to the interpretation.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Wednesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Weekday when volunteer guides are available for informal conversations about the site's history
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check opening times before visiting — the centre is volunteer-staffed and hours can vary, particularly outside the summer season.
- Ask the volunteers for stories about the early RFC period — their knowledge goes far beyond what is on the display panels and the personal connections to the site are remarkable.
- Try to sit in the Link trainer cockpit — it is an extraordinary hands-on experience of wartime aircrew training technology.
- The centre is separate from Montrose Museum in the town centre — both are worth visiting on a Montrose day out.
- Montrose railway station is on the main Aberdeen–Edinburgh line; the heritage centre is a pleasant 20-minute walk from the station.
- The site is on an active aerodrome boundary — occasional light aircraft activity adds authenticity to the atmosphere.
- Bring a camera — the historic buildings, aircraft displays, and the wide Angus sky make for evocative photographs.
- The heritage centre welcomes donations and volunteers — if you have a connection to Montrose's aviation history, the Trust would love to hear from you.
Highlights
Britain's First Military Airfield
Montrose holds the remarkable distinction of being Britain's first operational military airfield — a fact that gives the heritage centre its fundamental significance in aviation history. The Royal Flying Corps established its operational presence here in 1913, and the story of those pioneering years — when aircraft were fragile wood-and-canvas contraptions, pilots learned to fly with minimal training, and the military application of aviation was still being worked out — is told with vivid immediacy.
Photographs of the original BE.
2 and other RFC types at Montrose, the personalities of the early pilots, and the development of the station from a bare landing ground to a functioning military aerodrome are all documented in detail.
Lieutenant Desmond Arthur — Britain's First Military Aviation Fatality
The death of Lieutenant Desmond Arthur on 27 May 1913 in a BE. 2 biplane at Montrose holds a melancholy place in British aviation history as the first fatal military air crash. Arthur, a young officer from the Royal Irish Fusiliers who had transferred to the RFC, crashed during a training flight and died from his injuries.
The heritage centre commemorates his death and explores the context of early military aviation in which it occurred — the high accident rate, the primitive training systems, the courage required to fly these machines, and the gradual development of safety practices and training standards that his death and others helped drive.
A memorial to Arthur is maintained at the centre.
Link Trainer Simulator
One of the heritage centre's most tangible and engaging exhibits is a preserved Link trainer flight simulator — the remarkable training device invented by Edward Link in 1929 and used in enormous numbers to train Allied aircrew during the Second World War. The device, which simulates the instrument-flying experience of an aircraft cockpit, was revolutionary in enabling pilots to practise blind flying and instrument navigation safely on the ground.
The Montrose example is in restored condition and provides a uniquely hands-on connection with Second World War aircrew training.
Visitors can sit in the cockpit and experience the controls that trained thousands of wartime pilots.
Aircraft Cockpits
The heritage centre preserves examples of aircraft cockpits and components from different periods of Montrose's history, allowing visitors to experience the physical environment of the pilot at close range. The cramped, instrument-packed cockpit of a Second World War trainer or fighter aircraft conveys the complexity and intimacy of airborne life in a way that no photograph can match.
Volunteers who served as aircrew, or who have extensive knowledge of the aircraft types, are usually present to explain what each instrument and control does and to bring the experience to life with personal anecdote and technical expertise.
Collections
The heritage centre's collections document the full history of Montrose Air Station from 1912 to the post-war period, with particular depth in the RFC period (1913–1918) and the Second World War era. Photographic archives constitute one of the most important elements — extensive collections of period photographs of aircraft, personnel, and the airfield itself documenting the early years of British military aviation at this pioneering site.
Aircraft cockpits and components allow hands-on engagement with the machines that flew from Montrose.
A preserved Link trainer flight simulator from the 1940s is a rare and significant artefact of wartime aircrew training. Uniforms, medals, personal effects, logbooks, and documents relating to RFC and RAF personnel who served at Montrose bring the human dimension of the story to life. Maps and plans document the physical development of the airfield from its origins to the present day.
From RFC to RAF: Montrose at War
Core permanent exhibition covering the history of Montrose Air Station from its RFC origins in 1913 through two world wars
Pioneer Aviation
Displays on early military aviation, the development of the RFC, and the pioneering figures who served at Montrose in 1913–1918
Aircraft and Equipment
Cockpit exhibits, aircraft components, and technical displays relating to the aircraft types that served at Montrose
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.