NASAM Open on Sunday
The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum is ready to open its doors to the general public this coming Sunday the 6th September 2020. This is on plan with our reopening schedule. This schedule involved training the Volunteers and running a Museum Members Only Day last Sunday.
Museum Members Day (report)
On Sunday 30th August the museum ran a test of the new COVID procedures. We opened for Museum Members only for the day.
The bric-a-brac and NAAFI remained closed, the reason being our priority was to get the museum itself open again. We are working on the risk assessments and necessary changes to reopen these two items.
The shop reopened and was selling cold drinks, pre-packaged food and ice creams.
Just over 50 people visited during the day and the procedures appeared to work well.
Images from the day (click to expand) …
We now plan to reopen to the public on Sunday the 6th September and believe that our open area outside plus the spacious routes around the main buildings will allow over 200 people to be on-site at any one time with no risk to social distancing.
The museum will be open from 10-4, we look forward to welcoming people back, initially on Sundays only, but with plans to increase that by mid-October. There will be some restrictions in place for some time to come and these are detailed below.
Author:: Steve Bell
Restrictions Due to COVID Situation at the Museum …
Our regular readers will know that we have carried out a number of changes in the Museum, trained our Volunteers to cope and work with the COVID situation and that we are now open to the general public on certain dates and with some restrictions. The majority of these restrictions are detailed here.
There is no booking required at the moment. Visitors can arrive from 1000 onwards and there will be a Volunteer at the main gate to control entry which is still free of charge and with free parking.
On Arrival
On arrival, visitors will be given leaflets similar to the one below. This gives basic instructions on what to do to stay safe.
One Way System in the Buildings
One way systems have been introduced to help keep social distancing and to aid in the movement around the various parts of the Museum. Signs such as the ones below will indicate both the one-way system and where there is no entry.
Other Restrictions
In addition to the one-way system, and for the foreseeable future, there will be a different look and feel to the museum and restrictions as follows:
- There will be limits to the number of people on-site so that social distancing can be achieved. The numbers will be controlled at the Main Gate and at the entry to each building. There may well be a necessity to turn people away if we become full.
- The NAAFI will not be open for the first few days. We are however working on opening the Bric-a-Brac and the NAAFI as soon as we can.
- Snacks, ice creams, cold drinks will be available from the shop though.
- Modifications have been made in the shop and a screen introduced to protect the volunteers manning the shop and the public using the shop. Payment can be made by credit card.
- We have introduced a contactless donation point if you wish to give to the museum.
- The rooms behind the shop are too small to allow social distancing and as such will not be reopened until requirements around this issue have been resolved.
- Hands-on exhibits are not allowed, these will be removed or covered. This includes access to aircraft and trying on uniforms and other items.
- Each building will have a limit on the number of people allowed in at any time, and they will all be manned. This includes the main hangar complex, but that has a capacity of over 90.
- Other outer buildings, Air Sea Rescue, Bomber Command, Royal Observer Corps and 446 Bomb Group, will be open by rotation during the day, dependant on the number of available volunteers. Signs such as the ones below will indicate just how many people will be allowed into the building, and if that building is closed. Pleased respect the Volunteers if they tell you that you cannot enter the building because of the numerical limitations.
Opening Plans – Dates
The actual dates for these limited openings can be found on:
Our main website Events page Flixton Museum Events Page
On our Facebook page Flixton Facebook – Events
On the Events page in our blog NASAM Blog Events
Further Updates
Further updates to opening schedules will be published from time to time as we see how the situation progresses.
Keep your eye on the blog for updates or follow us on Twitter or Facebook. The museum official pages can be found by clicking on the buttons below.
If you would like to become a museum member or just to simply support us, please follow the link to the Membership page on our main website for more information.
As mentioned above, due to the COVID situation, we have introduced “contactless donations” in the museum and you will find a contactless point if you wish to leave a donation. If you would like to contribute today towards our reopening costs please click on the button below to follow the link.
