SECOND World War aircraft hangars on one of the UK's best-preserved airfields are to be made into permanent environmentally friendly exhibition spaces.
The National Museums Scotland said a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1.3 million takes it one step closer towards its target to fund the ground-breaking project involving the two wartime structures at the former RAF Station that is now the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune in East Lothian.
The £3.6m conservation and restoration project will be completed in 2016.
Confirmation of the latest award means that more than £3.1m of funding is now in place, including £1.8m from the Scottish Government.
Built in 1940/41, the hangars are part of the East Fortune Airfield Scheduled Monument, and had an original projected lifespan of only around ten years.
Once complete, one hangar will display military aircraft while the other will display smaller commercial and leisure aircraft. An English Electric Lightning, the RAF's first supersonic jet fighter, which could match the speed of Concorde; an RAF Panavia Tornado, a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer and a Britten Norman Islander will be on display.
Dr Gordon Rintoul, director of National Museums Scotland, said the revamp will help boost the airfield's international reputation.
He said: "It allows us to restore these important structures, which long ago surpassed their original intended lifespan."
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