D-DAY WINGS MUSEUM — Attraction in Caen

A very unique and amazing experience. Where else in the world can you sit freely (and respectfully) hands-on in a 1940's Spitfire cockpit and see for yourself the restricted view for take-off or how small and thin the tail and fuselage looks from the cockpit? I will never get to fly in one, but this satisfied a little lifetime ambition for a post-war kid who has a little bit of flying under his belt. Climbing into the cockpit of the Hawker Typhoon, the gymnastics if entering the B17 ball turret, sitting at the controls of the Beechcraft C47 or operating the powered Bofors gun just added to this incredible experience. And don't worry, the value for Money can't, in my opinion, be matched! This Museum is truly a gem that I would whole-heartedly recommend. The Ladies at reception, two of whom also delivered the detailed introduction and guided tour, are themselves remarkable. This is not only in their warm welcome but also their extensive and enthusiastic knowledge of and respect for the equipment on display, it's original users and their history. My wife, who is disabled, was carefully included in all that was possible, including access to take photographs and our two well behaved dogs were not only made welcome, but made quite a friendly fuss over. In addition, as my French is 'schoolboy grade' at best. The ladies kindly and immediately switched to exceptionally fluent english, without hesitation. Support this fairly new venture if you can and get in soon as I am sure that there will be long queues when word gets around which might make the current level of access more difficult to...

When we arrived, we were greeted by the friendly staff at reception who explained the various options open to us. We took the full experience tour and @ 29€ it’s worth every cent. We were offered a tour in English with the incredible Sacha. He informed us that he would take us to the interactive items and then we would be given a book to discover the remainder of the museum. Well, from the start, we were taken to the AA 40 mm gun, which certainly brought back memories for me. You get to rotate, elevate all but firing. Sacha was a wealth of information and answered many questions, provided fabulous explanations. Next interactive is the cockpit of a Hawker Typhoon, sitting in the tight space provides an understanding of how good the pilots actually were. The ball turret of the B29 shows not only how dangerous it was, but also the absolute discomfort these guys had to endure. The next is the chance, which was a highlight for me personally, to sit in the cockpit of a Spitfire, flown by a WW2 Ace. Takes you breath away when you realise the sacrifices they made. As it wasn’t too busy on the day we attended we were lucky enough to be escorted through our whole trip by Sacha, we had such an amazing afternoon sharing knowledge and conversation. My wife, who is not a military buff was absolutely grateful for the experience, knowledge and...

AVOID. Absolutely worst experience I've ever had. Wayyyyyy overpriced. 2 disinterested French chicks as "guides to experiences", lots of junky exhibits that are underrestored and without intimate information; they just talk about aviation in general and not how the air side helped on June 6, 1944. I got a bad vibe when I arrived with the prices but thinking it would be worth it went forward with my two sons (7 and 10). They let you sit in cockpits of some of the aircraft for an unlisted amount of time WHILE the "guide" watches you creepily. The ball turret has no glass and is just a metal shell but they charge you a ton just for the "guide" to literally move the turret with her feet (for the kid). Some arbitrary age is restricted from sitting in the cockpits (under 7) and they wouldn't allow my sobbing kid (who is 2 months away from his 7th birthday) to sit in the exhibits. The "guides" will mumble some general info ("these are the bombers") as you move across the floor. At one point both guides were rolling their eyes at each other, and one just completely ignored us when we were ready to start sitting in cockpits. Then, to cap it all off, they kept my near-7 year old from the virtual reality exhibit because he was "not 7". Do NOT go to this place, save your money and you'll...