NASAM Update as of the 11th Feb 2022
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Chairman’s Update
Sniffer Dogs
Some of the first visitors to the museum this year were four-legged. We were joined on Saturday the 5th Feb by a sniffer dog training group who like to operate in different venues to train their pet dogs to locate scents. The museum has been happy to welcome such groups before and were happy to do so again on the day.
The dogs spent three hours hunting around the grounds for various scented targets.
(Photos) Sniffer Dogs
Shop Ready
Whilst the sniffer dogs were outside, Volunteers took the opportunity in the shop to prepare for the reopening in February. Shelves were in turn emptied, washed down, then replenished. The stock itself was dusted and is now looking brighter ready for February 16th.
(Photo) Shop
Steve B
General Updates
Well as we approach that time when we reopen the hangar doors for the start of 2022, things are getting busy in the various departments around the museum. In addition to the Chairman’s Update, we have updates on the workload from the Painters, the MMU, Modellers Den and the Chippies. You can see how things are moving around in the main hangar, as in the Chippies piece about the stage renovations, the nose of the Percival Provost makes a guest appearance across the stage.
Half Term Opening
Speaking of opening in 2022, we are now only a few days away from the half-term holidays when the Museum will be open for three days that week on:
- Wednesday the 16th February
- Saturday the 19th February and
- Sunday the 20th February
The museum will then be open every Sunday until the end of March. Stay in touch with the blog or our Social Media for news of the open days and dates after the end of March.
In addition, you can find our Special Events Dates calendar @ Events at the Museum.
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Chippies Update
Thu 27th January
Dave H, Ash, Michael F and Les W continued work on the stage. Today was about making the area fully visitor-friendly and hide the unsightliness. “Stage Right” backs onto the area where the Cold War displays are going, so the first job was to cover the frames with plywood panels to hide the frames. Next up was boxing in the angled roof girders up to the top of the stage walls and then adding quadrant, the quarter cylindrical lengths, in the vertical and horizontal corners. This neatens them up and hides the inevitable gaps that come with working with uneven surfaces. The last job of the day was boxing in the “stage left” vertical roof support. Ash is smiling because it’s time to go home…
Tue 1st February
Michael F was on his own today as all the other Chippies fell by the wayside. Still, he managed to make a start at boxing in the “stage right” vertical roof support with some help from Dave D – thanks Dave! In the photo, you can see our technique for attaching things to the girders without drilling into them. The blocks are jammed into the girder and then the wood is screwed to the block. As the screw goes in it pulls the block towards the wood and locks them both in place (Stage Wall 12 thru 15).
Meanwhile back in the workshop, a very lonely Morris was hard at work with rollers and brushes giving the new NAAFI cupboard two coats of paint (NAAFI Cupboard 09). At least he was in the warmest place with our fan heaters going full blast…
Thu 3rd February
Chippies are still in short supply but Michael F and Les W finished off boxing in the Stage Right building support. We were short on quadrant to complete the inside corners and floors but with some off-cuts made a start on some of the shorter sections. Dave D kindly placed an order for some more, along with some more ply for other projects. So after lunch, we removed everything we had been using in the Stage area and swept away the dust of several days work. Out with the brushes and rollers and gave the three walls and boxed in support frames an initial white undercoat. (see Stage Wall 16 thru 22).
Tue 8th February
The whole gang of Chippies were back today and a whole range of small tasks getting ready for opening got underway. Tony and Michael F fitted the remaining quadrant to the stage walls while Dave H filled holes that became visible with the undercoat. While tidying up Tony came across two lengths of coving that had been the rails for the curtains previously around the backstage. One was just the right length for the back wall to give the top of the wall a finished look.
Morris gave a final coat to the NAAFI cupboard and fitted the door furnishings. Ash, Tony and Michael went off to the NAAFI to empty the two old cupboards. These they loaded onto a trolley and were ceremonial marched to the workshop where they are waiting to be broken up.
Now we were running out of room in the workshop so Tony and Michael took the children’s Stearman and Spitfire (see previous blogs) across the Ken Wallis Hall. The ‘baby’ Stearman is now beneath the ‘mummy’ Stearman (Push Plane Stearman 01 and 02) and the Spitfire is alongside the recently moved Auster (Push Plane Spitfire 01). Both are for sale – the children’s planes not the real ones!
Then in came a new urgent piece of work. The new Zenair Flight Simulator body needs a stand and John S asked Michael and Ash to come up with something for him. So after measuring up and getting John’s requirements, their cunning plan was – re-purpose the Henley Wing Stand they are constructing as it is just the right size to add an aircraft cradle to. What about the Henley Wing? Recently the “Naked Ladies” (aircraft nose art) were removed from a bigger stand and put up on the back
Michael F
(Photos) Chippies Update
Modeller’s Den
6/2/2022 Den Refurbishment
Den refurbishment is well underway. By the end of January a total of 930 objects had been catalogued and boxed, 350 of them model aircraft. The Den has been sealed against future ingress of spiders and dirt, and painted out in flat white. After battling with old cables and new technology, Leccies David and Peter triumphed, and we now have superb concealed LED batten lighting in place of the old fluorescent tubes.
The Den now looks pristine – which is more than can be said for my own modelling space at home – it looks like the old Den 
Around a third of the models that have come home to have the universal black grime removed also need missing bits replaced. Flaking decals need repairing, tailsitters need lead in the nose. In the case of a nice 1/72 diecast Lightning, some very careful surgery is needed to put the nose leg back where it should have been before the previous owner glued it in wrongly.
New shelving and refurbished tables are nearly complete. With the first models back in place, the Den is beginning to take on its new look with the four modelling time periods (see NASAM online Flier 17/12/2021). Three more working days on-site before we open for 2022 and dozens more boxes to unpack and remove, signage to write, four tabletop dioramas to construct……. Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring!
Peter W
(Photos) Modeller’s Den
Painters Update
25/1/22 – No new news week
Nothing new to report this week folks and nothing sufficiently newsworthy to warrant getting the camera out either. In the morning over in Bomber Command, Gwen finished painting one of the display cabinets before moving on the complete the last section of floor painting. Cliff was MIA this week, last seen erecting a shed somewhere near Southampton!
In the Main Hangar, Mark and Ian continued with their cleaning trawl of all the display cabinets down the right-hand side, reaching the mirrored landing lights in the back corner by early afternoon where they took time to ‘reflect’ (groan – Ed.) on their endeavours.
Also in the Main Hangar, Barry completed the cleaning and re-paint of the white plinth that holds the Harrier models. Anti-mould agent removed the last of the mould, before a couple of coats of white gloss were applied.
1/2/22 – Mucky Merlin Matters
Yes, yours truly (Barry) got down and dirty this week with the crash recovered Merlin block from a Boulton Paul Defiant. As it happens, there are four Merlins scattered about the museum in various conditions. The plan is to bring them all together as part of the new ‘Merlins at War’ display. The Boulton Paul Defiant block is reasonably complete and is therefore receiving a ‘clean up’ only.
After a morning of hoovering and blowing compressed air into the block, a good bucket’s worth of grot had been removed (see Merlin Display 02 and 02a). In the afternoon, Barry commenced a light clean using engine degreaser to remove dust and dirt that was sticking to the block via 80 years of baked-on oil and grease.
Having said that the block is reasonably complete, there is a big hole in the sump, which opens up an interesting view of the crankshaft and at least one piston, both still in situ. It is hoped that we might be able to rig up a low-level mirror and some lights so that visitors can see the internal workings of a Merlin without having to lie on the floor!
Elsewhere, Mark and Ian spent most of the day in the Metal Workshop cleaning up a couple of Ejection Seats, including one from a Phantom (see Ejection Seats Display 01).
A few minutes were found in the morning to move the recently refurbished white plinth (see a previous blog entry NASAM Online Flier – 21/01/22) that holds the Harrier model collection back into position, next to the real thing.
Over in Bomber Command, Cliff married up the re-painted Lancaster pilot’s seat with a new frame, so that the seat can be seen in all its glory at waist height (see Lancaster Seat 01).
8/2/22 – More mucky Merlin mayhem!
With temperatures set to hit the heady heights of 13 degrees, the decision was taken to (attempt to) wheel the mangled Mosquito Merlin engine outside in order to clean off all the accumulated dirt and grime, before adding said engine block to the new ‘Merlins at War’ exhibition area.
After some feeble pushing and shoving, the team got Paul (PAT Pending) and Gwen to ‘fire up the Tug!’ A few minutes later the engine block was seen chugging across the gravel in front of the Main Hangar, ploughing its own furrow along the way, before coming to a stop next to the Hunter.
A three-phase approach was proposed. Blow off as much dirt as possible with a compressed air line (see pic), then vapourise as much dirt as possible with John S’s steam cleaner and if all else fails put the pressure washer on it. I am pleased to advise that Phase 1 is complete and that quite a bit of loose dirt, sand and the odd snail has been removed (see Merlin Display 03 and 04)! The more stubborn areas will require something more industrial. Phase 2 is now a non-runner as John’s alleged steam cleaner turned out just to be a standard pressure washer. Phase 3 will be attempted as soon as the mains water has been turned back on.
Elsewhere, Ian set about re-painting the (black) Sea Hawk tail fin which had inadvertently picked up a partial coat of blue during the fitting out of the new Ejection Seat area. Ian sanded back the offending areas and then applied a coat of grey primer before helping the Leccies with some conduit routing (see Painters and Leccies). In the afternoon, Ian applied a black topcoat to the Sea Hawk fin, which didn’t go on very well for some reason, so he will have another go next week.
Meanwhile, up in the Metal Workshop, Mark painted some ancillary parts for the Auster.
In between compressed air sessions outside, Barry continued cleaning up the Boulton Paul Defiant Merlin engine block in the Main Hangar. The starboard side of the ‘V’ block has now been cleaned, the port side and the sump area will be done next week.
Barry J
(Photos) Painters Update
Model Maintenance Unit
01/02/2022 Model subjects for the Cold War East Anglia
The final restorations for the display are now on the “production line”, all in need of a full repaint and new markings. The decalling of a model can be the best part of the overall process, it is when the subject obtains an identity and somehow comes alive.
Sometimes this process brings back memories when you recall actually seeing the very subject when it was active. This RF-4c in the markings of the 32nd TRS from Alconbury is one such aircraft, my logbook (yes I was a spotter in those days) from the mid-seventies confirm that -433 regularly made practice approaches through my “local” RAF Coltishall.
This model is almost complete, wing tanks to be added, presently being repainted, then a final coat of varnish.
Malcolm
(Photos) MMU
My thanks again go to the Volunteers that sent in contributions to this edition of the NASAM BLOG.
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The Repeat Info
The repeat information is still here I’m afraid, and I make no apologies for keeping his section in our blog. We are a charitable organisation relying on monies from the public to keep us going. Any help we receive is gratefully accepted and enables the museum to continue in our mission “To conserve, preserve and promote the history of aviation in East Anglia, whilst providing a fun, family-friendly and interactive museum, promoting education and remembrance of the events of the past“.
Are you thinking of helping ??
We obtain most of our finances by donations and by membership fees. We save money by having a dedicated group of volunteers that keep the museum and the exhibits both manned and maintained. We hope therefore a few people may consider helping in the ways below.
There are three easy ways to help: Help by becoming a Museum Member, also by Volunteering to help at the museum, or by Donating to assist in our running costs. Please click on the appropriate button below to access the appropriate information:
Click to see how to becomeMUSEUM MEMBER Click to see how to becomeMUSEUM VOLUNTEER 
Click to make aDONATION
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