Help! Can you save my son's birthday?!!

[AudTheDeepMinded]

Agh, need some hivemind input desperately. Son is nearly 12 and mad about planes. This weekend I had booked a hotel nr Newquay for the family to visit the plane museum at Newquay airport. Son very excited. Went online just now and the museum has now closed down. What on earth can we do near Newquay on a Sunday in November that is suitable. Cannot believe the place has sodding closed since I last looked.

They’ve been fighting to stay open, it’s so sad they’ve had to close.

Not Newquay but how about the shuttle worth museum when you're back? They have some Christmas trails coming up. Near bedford.

I'm not sure what's open near Newquay this time of year but we enjoyed the Cornish seal sanctuary. There's also surfing and a nice train place lappa valley that he might be a bit old for but always worth a look. He's probably the right age for coasteering which would be a bit chilly this time of year but ok with a wetsuit. I think there's a good activity pool too with slides and whatnot.

If you could stretch to it, might be fun to fly from Newquay to the isles of Scilly for the day. I'm not sure what it's like now but used to be a little plane and quite exciting.

Don't know where you are located but RAF Hendon is a great day out

Newquay has a good leisure centre if a fun swim session would soften the blow?

Drive down and plane spot at RAF Culdrose - then there is a very random but lovely Chinese restaurant signposted a mile away (looks can be deceiving).

It won't help this weekend, but at 12 he's old enough to join RAF cadets.
Twice a week meetings. At some point they will fly a little plane, fire a rifle, do drill and lots of other things. And they will burst your heart with pride at the way they march on Remembrance Sunday.

Perranporth airfield do flights I think

dunkerswell airfield in east Devon ? www.dsft.co.uk/air-experience

Flambards has an "aviation experience" which isn't on a par with your original plan but might be worth a look (about an hour from Newquay by car).

Flambards is also shut till April, sorry! (story of a tourist area out of season)

bum - i recently went to the Fleet Air Arm Navy museum in Ilchester BA22 8HT but that is about 2.5 hrs away.
It had a concord and all sorts of air planes. i bloomin loved it! and i hate stuff like that
day out?

oh poo thought i was so clever leaping in about Fleet air arm - that'll teach me to read the entire thread

I'm pretty sure Virgin's 747 rocket launching plane is at Newquay at the moment doing testing. I think it's called Cosmic Girl. Someone on another forum told me you can see it quite easily from the spotting places.

If you are on FB, there is a SW spotters group who may well be able to help you.

It's a crying shame about the museum. DH and I visited it in September and the staff were wonderful.

Could he do a flight simulator experience instead?

Thanks for all the suggestions. He would love to do a flight one day but that's not something we can arrange for Sunday at such short notice, and a lot of them are a bit beyond out budget at the moment.
Air cadets is on our radar generally, though the local corps will not take him until the summer term.
We've booked to go to Crealy theme park on Sunday,, and a nice tea out today and hopefully a walk on the beach.

If you're gong to Crealy then you'll be under the flight path for Exeter.
How about checking the live arrivals/departures online, then using FlightRadar24 to track a plane and see if you can spot it going overhead whilst following it on the app?

Sorry but Crealy isn't under the flightpath for Exeter. It is under the circuit, so you might get light aircraft doing circuits above you at 800ft but it is on the downwind leg. How do I know this? DH has a PPL and we have had to orbit over Crealy many times waiting for schedules services to arrive or depart. That was pre-the demise of Flybe. There are only a handful of aircraft in and out of Exeter now.