NASAM Update as of the 2nd Jul 2021 …

In This Edition Of The Online Flier

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Family Fun Day Update

For those of you that like to keep track of what is happening at the Museum via Social Media, you will note on our Facebook page that there is scheduled a Family Fun Day on Sunday 25th of July from 1000 till 1600. The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) has now notified us that there will be a flyby by the BBMF Hurricane on that day. The timings will be notified nearer the time and will be of course, subject to operational and weather conditions at that time. More information will be published here as we receive it.

July Opening Dates

As previously mentioned, we are now open three days each week, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 1000 till 1600.

No booking is required, we have a maximum of 200 onsite at any one time and this has not been an issue in the past. Other COVID restrictions do apply and these can be found on or COVID Situation Page below.

COVID Situation Page

The Latest COVID restrictions in place at and around the museum can be found by clicking on the button. NASAM COVID Guidance

Keep Up To Date

To keep up to date with further information, please keep an eye on our Social Media or click on the button below to be notified of any upcoming changes in the latest blog. Go to the form forEMAIL NOTIFICATIONS

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General Museum Updates

As in previous editions of the Online Flier, there are some updates from the Volunteers who maintain the aircraft, buildings and surrounds at the Museum.

Update from the Chippies

The first update and photos came in from Michael, who reported on what the chippies had been up to over the last week or two.

“”VRP Painting

First up, Jim took advantage of the good weather to complete the painting of the Visitor Reception Point (VRP) and the picket fence (VRP Update 01 thru 05).

New Bench

Next up, we acquired a new bench, but unfortunately, it needed quite a bit of work to make it look good. When we came to put it together we understood why it was being sold as a second: one armrest was misaligned and some of the holes for the bolts didn’t match. So we drilled and filled. And while we were at it, unscrewed (with a lot of impolite words) the shoddy screws used for the slats and rebuilt the whole thing as a good solid bench. A couple of coats of stain to protect it and make it look good and next week we’ll put it out for public use – not this weekend or we’ll have visitors with interesting stripes on their clothes (Bench 01 thru 04) …. Should point out that the picture of the assembled bench (Bench 04) is prior to the last coat of paint – we do send things out in a better standard than this!

Hangar Entrance Cupboard

Dave H and Michael F continued work on the new cupboards by the entrance to the hangar (Hangar Entrance Cupboard 01 thru 05). We have prefabricated the floor section of the cleaning cupboard and, having acquired a cheap fire door to use for the electrical cupboard, have taken some chunk out of it to lighten it, then filled it with some light plywood. We are currently making plywood doors for the broom cupboard. To put it all in context I have included a picture of what is currently there and why this project is needed (Hangar Entrance 01). The big steel cabinet currently used for some of the cleaning materials will find a new home elsewhere in the Museum.

Cabinets

Finally, a couple of rush jobs. First up a new cabinet for the ASR Museum. Last week, Tony took a break from bird boxes to quickly build it from some old filing cabinets, some spare ply and a handy piece of perspex (ASR Cabinet).

The shop has a new cool drinks cabinet that is half the height of the old one and needed a plinth to make more convenient access. This Tuesday Dave H and Michael F used some of the offcuts from the hangar cupboards to construct it and, now given a coat of paint, is ready to go to the shop for the weekend opening (Drinks Cabinet 01 thru 04). Drinks Cabinet 04 shows the finished item in the shop.“”

Chippies Photos

Painters Update

As well as refurbishing the aircraft, Barry was again keeping track of the progress of the paint team for the blog and reported that.

“”Tuesday 22^nd June – Meteor Blues

At the risk of repeating myself, the Meteor strip back continues. The first image shows the extent to which the team are having to go to get a stable surface on which to paint. The right-hand side of the image has been ‘prepped’ by going almost back to bare metal in places. The left-hand side in contrast shows where we are starting out from. One of the sub-layers; the duck egg blue primer, has a rubberised feel to it and is consequently almost impossible to ‘feather edge’ with a sander; which is why folks the ‘Meatbox’ strip back is taking sooo long (Meteor Stripback 01)!

The second image shows the ‘patina’ of the Meteor, which I estimate has had at least 6 coats of paint during its 70-year life, plus several (rusting) repair patches applied (Meteor Stripback 02).

Tuesday 29^th June – Don’t talk to me about Windows!

And I don’t mean the latest release of Bill Gates’ gift to the world. Best not to talk to Cliff about windows on the Valetta right now. The first image shows Cliff in action preparing the surface around the windows for paint. The second image shows the finished taped over window surrounds prior to paint. A painstaking job. As many of the members will know, the Valetta has suffered from water ingress in the past around the window seals, so the team are re-taping over them (with a bit of help from Dave Dawson) prior to the red fuselage stripe being re-applied (Valetta Refurbishment 01 and 02).””

Painters Update Photos

Model Maintenance Unit

Malcolm has now finished the Beaufighter that he has been bringing back to life. His final Beaufighter update and photos are below.

“”Continuing the restoration of the old Airfix Beaufighter:

With the main painting complete a coat of “varnish” ( “The original brilliant floorshine ….” – so the bottle says) is applied to give a flat surface over the matt paint for the decals and a bit more clarity to the canopies. Whilst drying I consider weapons. The aircraft will carry rocket mission markings on the nose so a pair of rocket rails and a large quantity of rockets are found in the spares box. These are painted pending adding to the under-wings. Decals are applied next to represent Beaufighter X NV115 of 16 Sqn South African AF based in Italy during 1945. I allow 48 hours for the decals to settle then give the model a thin coat of Matt Cote varnish. Once dry Rockets and Rails are attached, the restored props are glued in place and a Perspex cover is fixed in place just behind the main cockpit canopy. This should be covering a circular radio aerial but I could not find a small enough part to fit inside (Beaufighter Model Restoration 11 thru 15).

So the transformation is complete (Beaufighter Model Restoration Start and Finish), not going to say it’s perfect and at present not sure where a SAAF Beau will fit into a display at the museum but it lives to tell the tale – so to speak.

Must get on with the Berlin Airlift Dakota… “”

MMU Photos

Catalina Flyby

Brian, one of our Volunteers also sent in a few snaps of the Catalina flyby which took place in the slightly overcast sky last Saturday the 26th of June (Catalina Flyby 01 thru 05).

Catalina Overhead Flixton Photos

A big thanks to the Catalina Team for including us on their route. Also, the pilot sent us a short note and some photos of their flight on the Saturday (Catalina Flight 01 thru 04).

“” Everyone on board G-PBYA had a great day on Saturday although the unexpected sea fog at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft slightly altered the plans there. On the way back we went over the Halesworth Airfield Memorial Museum; home base for the original “Miss Pick Up”. It was great to see the crowds outside both museums and personally, I was pleased with all the timings! “”

Details of the Catalina Society can be found @ https://www.catalina.org.uk/

Catalina Crew Photos

Twitter – Tweeps and Tweets

It would seem that the blog is appreciated on Twitter by a number of Airfix and model making communities. The last issue had a number of comments, likes and retweets from as far afield as Japan. One of the tweets said, “”Flixton is a bit like a 1:1 #Airfix catalogue past and present !“”

Once again many thanks to the contributors for their input to this edition and to the dedication that they put into their Volunteer work. Thanks also to our followers and friends on Social Media for reading and passing on the Flixton information. Your support is very much appreciated.

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Would You Like To Help

We are now seeing visitor numbers increase slightly on the limited opening days (aided by being open three days per week), however, because of the restricted numbers due to Government guidelines, the donations are still well below the levels of previous years. The museum continues to incur expenses for insurance, maintenance and essential running costs, I make no apologies therefore for keeping this section in the blog, therefore, hoping a few people will consider helping in the ways below.

If you think you can help the museum, there are several ways you can do this. Help by becoming a Museum Member, also by Volunteering to help at the museum, or by donating to assist in our running costs. To become a Museum Member or to Volunteer Member, please click on the appropriate button below to see the details on our main website.