NASAM Update as of the 23rd Sep 2021

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Chairman’s Update

Saturday 18th September

Saturday 18th September saw Beavers and Cubs from 1st Brooke and Poringland group visit the museum. The youngsters were able to take part in several activities arranged by the volunteers. These included learning about the parts of an aeroplane and building a stomp rocket and polystyrene plate glider (see the NASAM Scout Day Sep 2021 video below). They were also able to see inside some of the exhibits and try their hand at flight simulators. They were working towards Stage 1 or 2 air activities badges and at the end of the day, all had achieved the badge they were working on (Scout Day 01 thru 14).

We were also visited on the same day by a group of Civil Air Patrol cadets from RAF Mildenhall who again were able to try their hand at the flight simulators. The cadets would like to get involved in helping the museum and we are working with them to determine a programme of mutual benefit.

Sunday 19th September – ROC Day

Sunday 19th was our annual ROC day. We received visits from several ROC veterans from as far afield as Cumbria and Wales. Visitors were able to see the inside of the Valetta and Sea Prince aircraft plus try their hand at the newly reopened helicopter flight simulator (ROC Day 01 thru 14).

The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial flight kindly provided a flypast by a Spitfire and Hurricane and several classic cars were on site. Visitors were entertained by a group singing 40s songs as well (ROC Day Flypast 01 thru 09).

(Photos) Saturday – Scouts Day

(Photos) Sunday – ROC Day

(Photos) BBMF Flypast on ROC Day

(Video) NASAM Scout Day 2021

AgeUK Norfolk

The museum received both a phone call and an email from AgeUK Norfolk asking if we would like to be listed on their website and sent through the details (below). Pete agreed to pick this up and we will soon be listed for people to find us and if so interested, to use this as a point of contact to Volunteer at the Museum. They said:

“Here at AgeUK Norfolk, we are keen to promote the engagement of the over 50’s with activities in their area. To this end, we have a specially designed website called Norfolk EngAge www.norfolkengage.co.uk, that people can explore and find activities of interest that are local to them. We wondered if you would like to list your Air Museum in Flixton.

You can list regular opening hours, update them or add special events you may have planned such as Fly-Pasts or Activity Days. We could even add in about potential roles for any volunteers needed.”

Steve Bell

General Updates

Intro text

Aerial Photos

A couple of weeks ago, a drone pilot, Andy, was given permission to take photos of the Museum aircraft. After his flight, he kindly sent us some copies of his pictures with permission to use them on our sites. Eight of the photos are shown below (Aerial 01 thru 08).

(Photos) Aerial Shots of Flixton Aircraft

Painters Update

From Barry….

Update 7/9/21 – It ain’t ‘arf hot mum!

Regular readers of this blog will recall me whinging about the unseasonably dull/wet weather in August. Boy, did the first week of September make up for it! In temperatures nudging 30 degrees Ian, Mark and Barry set about top coating the Meteor, turning it from a lighter shade of grey into a ‘silver machine’ (I’m sure there is a song title in there somewhere, all you closet Hawkwind fans). By the end of the day, most of the upper surfaces had been covered in silver paint (and perspiration – Ed.)(Meteor Refurb 27 and 28).

The fine weather also allowed Gwen and Cliff to finish the nose of the Valetta, which now looks significantly better for the renewal of the detailing (aka the red bits) (Valetta Refresh 15 and 16).

Update 14/9/21 – Back to wets!

Well, the hot spell didn’t last long, did it? This week Mark and Barry rocked up with the forecast threatening rain for most of the day; hardly conducive to finishing the Meteor top coat. Notwithstanding the rubbish weather, the boys went underneath the Meteor and managed to paint most of the underside, plus the port and starboard undercarriage legs. Reasonable progress on an otherwise very wet day (Meteor refurb 29 and 30).

Update 21/9/21 – Tales of Mystere-y and Imagination!

Yes, for all you NASAM Blog/Edgar Allan Poe fans out there (are there any? – Ed.); having finished fettling the Valetta this week, Gwen gave the Mystere a ‘tickle’ this week, refreshing the wing markings on both the starboard (see pic) and port sides (Mystere Refurb 01).

Over on the ‘silver machine’ (aka Meteor), Mark and Barry finished the silver topcoat, making best use of the very fine late September weather. As is often the case at this time of year. The first hour of the day was spent drying off the aircraft, in order to allow painting to commence. Once Barry had finished with the Garden Vac on ‘blow’ (see pic Meteor Refurb 31), Mark stepped in and finished the silver. He then went on to paint the axle stands in blue (see pic Meteor Refurb 32). Meanwhile, Barry finished off the nosewheel (see pic) and then masked off and painted the anti-glare black on the nose (see pic Meteor refurb 33).

Next week should see completion of the Meteor painting (yellow and red detailing); then we await the fitting of the decals by EPS Transfers (Halesworth).

(Photos) Painters Update

Model Maintenance Unit

Update from Malcolm:

Nimrod:

As can be seen, work is progressing on the Airfix Nimrod R1. The fuselage is together and so far no great problems have been encountered (Nimrod Build 03). It s going to be a monster and I’m already worrying about room to store it during and after the build, especially once the wings are attached. It does not help that waiting in the wings so to speak are 2 B-29 s and a B-47!

Cold War East Anglia:

The first 6 RAF refurbs have now been completed and have been placed in temporary storage until the new year (Cold War Display 01). These consist of 2 Honington Tornado s, 2 NF Meteors (Coltishall and Waterbeach), West Raynham Hunter and a Wattisham Lightning. Also on the restoration production line are 2 more Tornados from Marham, 2 Coltishall Jaguars and another Raynham Hunter (and the B-29s) Then there is the USAFE………

(Photos) MMU

I am grateful as always for the contributions from the Chair and our Volunteers in keeping this blog populated with snippets of information.

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The Repeated Stuff

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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.