First Day Back at the Museum

First Day Back at the Museum …….

CLICK on heading to GO

Well, yesterday was the first day back at the museum for most of the volunteers and for the general public. Despite the cold wind and low temperatures, a few visitors ventured into the Museum and most volunteers arrived as normal to continue their work.

Projects in 2018

Having taken a wander around the various departments and speaking to the volunteers, below is a short description of some the various projects that they will be undertaking in the first few months of this new year.

General Museum Projects and Events:

Education Centre: We are hoping that we will get positive results from the Heritage Lottery Fund bid to build an Education Centre. This funding will enable us to improve the facilities that we have and improve the education courses that we can undertake and provide to schools, groups and other local organisations. Many of the Museum departments will be involved in this build. Although the plan is now a little out of date and will need to slip as we have not yet been advised of the HLF decision, details of the bid can be found in an earlier article at:: HLF bid
Adair Boardwalk Repairs: The results of the Aviva Group grant have been notified and we, unfortunately, did not succeed in getting any funding to repair the Adair boardwalk; we did not gain enough online votes. This result means that we now need to look elsewhere for funds and also if funds cannot be found we will have to struggle along slowly using scarce resources.
School Visits: Numerous school visits are already planned and in the diary for the year, more details will be available later.
Major Event Days: Details on the major event days can be found at the Museum website:: Events
RAF Commemoration Display: We are working on a display to commemorate the centenary of the RAF concentrating on the East of England.
VICKERS VALETTA C.2 VX580: Work continues involving some departments on the renovation of our Valetta VX580.

Departmental Projects:

As well as working on the General projects and being involved in the organised visits, the various departments within the Museum will be carrying out their own specific projects and tasks, some of which are as follows:

Archives:

Receipt and documentation of the donations received at the end of last year and others that will come into the museum this year, such as the 30+ paintings, many prints, numerous commemorative plates and other artefacts brought in on Tuesday by one family, the collection of their late father.

Link Training room:

Continue to show school visitors and others in how to fly the simulators and explain the exhibits on view in the Link Rooms and other spaces.
The link team are currently working on obtaining components for the helicopter flight simulator. This simulator is the Sycamore helicopter previously mentioned in the blog. The team are working on linking the controls to a computer display inside the cockpit. This simulator is also being worked on by the Workshops Team (see below). Sycamore Simulator
The team are also updating the body of an AN-T18 simulator in the link trainer to include a computer flight simulator display.

Ground Force:

Repairs to the signage at the 446 Bomb Group Memorial Site on the airfield.
Grass cutting, lots of grass cutting, that is after molehill removal.
Repairs to the compound fences to keep the public safe and away from the aircraft.
Hedge trimming and general tidy up of the site including the Adair Walk.

Metal Workshops:

Auster AOP.6/T.10 VX123: Continuing the renovation of the Auster aircraft (this is the ex Beagle Terrier previously registered as G-ARLP).
Renovation of the drive mechanism to the rotors of the BRISTOL SYCAMORE HR.14 helicopter, XG523, which is being upgraded as a flight simulator showing helicopter controls.

Painters:

Wash down of most of the aircraft parked outside to ensure that the grime and algae are removed.
HAWKER HUNTER FGA.9 XG254: Start the paint renovation work on the Hunter aircraft which is at the centre of the museum.

Wood workshops:

Repairs and updates to the walkplanes we have in the main hangar and the build of more toy planes, bird boxes/tables, garden seats and other items for sale to bring revenue into the museum.
Repairs to Museum building especially the roofs of some.
Production and renovation of display cases.

That is a very short summary of some of the projects. The blog will provide more information and keep people updated throughout the year on these and the many other projects and events as they happen.

However, If you are at a loose end or have time to spare ………

Volunteers Wanted

As with all Charity Organizations, if anyone would like to come along and use their time in helping the museum carry out these and other projects over the next year you will be most welcome. Please use the contact form at Contact Us to get in touch. I will both pass your details to the appropriate department head and also answer any questions you may have.

Alternatively come along on any day we are open and have a chat. If you come on a Tuesday, when the majority of the volunteers and department heads are present, they will be more than happy to have a chat, explain what we do and show you around.