NASAM Update as of the 29th Apr 2022

[joli-toc]

Chairman’s Update (Almost)

As usual, when getting the blog ready for publication, I asked the Chair if he wanted to put anything in this edition … He was a little reluctant and evasive in his answer, saying simply, “not really this week“; when pushed he then said, “we could suggest to the readers that they should watch out for the next update from Engineering Workshops“.  

That sounds to me like something is in the offing about a new exhibit, especially after he said “I can’t say any more until we have this finalised“.  Well, that has me wondering what it could be.  More updates when I can get the information out of him.  

As they say, watch this space !!

Pete S

General Updates

Stop Press – BBMF Flypast on Saturday

The museum had previously been notified that the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight had scheduled a flypast on Saturday the 30th of April 2022, during the Scout Air Activity Day by both a Spitfire and a Hurricane.  Unfortunately on Thursday this week, we were informed that this flypast will now be by a Spitfire only, the Hurricane will not make an appearance.

Ringsfield, Bramfield and Brampton Primary Schools

We had more school visits to the Museum in the last two weeks, and the following note was sent to Pam, who organises these visits and along with other volunteers teaches the children on the topic of WWII.  Following is an extract from the note sent by the Head of School at Bramfield Primary School:

Dear Pam, 

I just wanted to write and thank you for organising such a lovely day for the children today. It made a really great conclusion to our World War Two topic and the children and being able to see and touch real artefacts from the period brought all our research and learning to life for the children.

The note also contained a link to the school’s website where more comments were to be found along with some photos (reproduced below.

Main Hangar Cleanup

Work continues to clean the aircraft and freshen up the displays in the main hangar.  One of our younger volunteers took the opportunity whilst cleaning a few of the aircraft to record a couple of videos and some photos of the work in progress on Tuesday the 19th of April 2022.  Many thanks to James T for sending me the images so that I could include them in this edition of the blog. 

As you can see from the first part of James’ video the Merlin display is taking shape as is Cockpit Corner.  Also can be seen from the top shot, as he pans around. the Ejector Seat display is looking good along one wall of the hangar.

I will also post this on our YouTube channel.  The channel can be found @:

Go To NASAMYOUTUBE CHANNEL

Pete S

(Video) Clean Up Main Hangar Spring 2022

Painters Update

19/4/22 – 3 in midfield and 2 up front!

Yes folks, with a full squad to select from this week ‘Pep’ Fowler decided to go with 3 in midfield and 2 up front.

So, the 3 in midfield were Ian on the right and Gwen on the left with Cliff in the holding role just in front of the non-existent back 5. In the morning, our 3 midfielders once again donned ‘full wets’ and set about pressure washing the Trojan, Pucara and MiG in the middle field (see Pucara – Trojan Washdown 01).

Up front, in the front paddock, Mark spent pretty much all day sanding one rotor blade on the Whirlybird (see Whirlwind Repaint 14). A decision will need to be made soon as to how best to paint and preserve the rotor blades going forward long term, as they are really awkward to get to.  There are also a couple of small areas of aluminium corrosion where the blades meet hub connectors. We may need our friends in the Metal Workshop to come on down and cut out the really scabby bits for us.

Playing slightly deeper than Mark, ‘in the pocket’ as they say, Barry spent pretty much all day painting the Whirlybird rotor hub up top. With so many fiddly bits to contend with the only practical way of painting the hub was to use a rattle can. 4 cans later the Whirlybird hub was the recipient of a fresh coat of grey primer (see Whirlwind Repaint 15).

After lunch and complimentary Dutch Biscuits, courtesy of John S, the 3 midfielders moved on to pressure wash the Bloodhound and Phantom (see Phantom Washdown 01). By the end of the day, all 3 midfielders were looking anxiously towards the touchline in the vain hope that they might be substituted before having to move on wash the Valetta next week!  

(Photos) Painters Update 19/04/22

26/4/22 – Bladerunner!

The team rocked up this week to a dry but chilly Flixton. Activities were again outside. In the middle paddock, Cliff, Gwen and Ian donned the ‘full wets’ yet again and continued with the pressure washing of the external exhibits. In the morning the main focus was the Bloodhound ancillaries (see Bloodhound Washdown 01), before moving on to the Jet Provost before lunch.

Meanwhile, in the front paddock, Mark and Barry set up the two scaff’ towers in order to be able to prep two blades on the Whirlybird. As mentioned in previous blogs, two of the blades were suffering from heavy aluminium corrosion, with the shims surrounding the blade/hub connectors peeling away like filo pastry in places. Therefore the boys brought in the ‘heavy mob’ to cut away the ‘pastry’ in order to find some solid metal. A few minutes later, John S, Flixton’s own Sapper Morton (a Bladerunner reference folks, look it up – Ed.) was on the scene with his angle grinder and proceeded to cut away the offending material, while seemingly performing a game of ‘Twister’ on the top of the Whirlybird at the same time (see Whirlwind Repaint 16)! With the ‘pastry’ removed, Mark and Barry were then able to continue with the sanding back of the port and rear facing rotor blades. Next week the rear plus starboard facing rotor blades will be finished off, after which the Whirlybird should be ready to (clean then) paint!

After lunch, in the middle paddock, Cliff, Gwen and Ian had a ‘blast’ with the Canberra (see Canberra Clean 02). Washing progress was rather slower than normal this week as the team had to work around two visiting Primary Schools

(Photos) Painters Update 26/04/22

Barry

 

Chippies Update

14th April – Last Tuesday (12th) Bryan and Dave, the Leckies, were able to reroute the wiring in the Cold War area and wire the new cabinets to the new switches. So today Ash and Michael F with Ivor’s help, moved the cabinets back into position and refit the panels which had been removed (see Cabinet Reshuffle 03). Then we fetched over NBC Man’s cabinet and fixed it to the end wall. Finally, it was the turn of NBC Man himself as he became the first exhibit in the area. Unfortunately during his move, he suffered a hernia while trying to get through a door on a trolley. Rather than mess around, we decided to leave it to “Doctor” Ian S to do the restorative surgery next week (see NBC Cabinet 02 thru 04).

Dave H, meanwhile,  was applying his engineering skills. The children’s play Jeep that sits outside the Air-Sea Rescue building suffered some damage while being taken out of its winter storage. Dave machined a new collar to refit the steering wheel that had ‘come adrift’. While he was at it, he gave the bodywork some TLC as it needed some attention.  In the afternoon when the paint was dry Michael and Les returned it to its spot outside the ASR building (see Outside ASR 01).

Les decided to make a start on painting the missile stands, applying an undercoat to two. Lots more to do!

19th April – Painting, painting,  painting! Morris resumed where Les had stopped, finishing off the undercoat on the rest of the stands. Tug made a start on giving the already undercoated stands a coat of blue. We really ought to find them another job to do (see Missile Stands 06 and 07).

Tony, back in the fold, took a look at the bench that had been left outside the workshop before winter close down that was “in need of some repair”. By the time he had got down to the parts that weren’t rotten, he had almost nothing to work with. Not one to miss an opportunity,  out came a saw and soon he was piling old wood onto the traditional Chippies incinerator. Changing his name to “ash”, Tony then started burning all the junk wood he could find and by the time his burning ambition waned, the area around the back of the workshop was almost tidy.

Michael F and the real Ash were back in the Cold War area. “Doctor” Ian S came to look at his patient, NBC Man but decided he was OK for the moment. As he didn’t have the information boards, we couldn’t fit the front and top yet. So we fitted a panel between the two new cabinets to hide the building frame and for Ray to put his explanation signs on. “PAT Test” Paul had been able to finish wiring up the airfield maps in the aircraft cabinets last week, so Michael and Ash fitted the button panel between the cabinets (see Button Panel 01 and 02). The push buttons light the lights but at the moment you have to guess which ones they light up. Paul assures us he has a list…  Finally,  Morris popped round with his paint tin to give the newly installed panels a lick of paint. All we need now is a few exhibits.

Ash and Michael turned their attention to the Spitfire outside the ASR. It’s size lends itself to young people climbing on it and their weight could bend the wings off. So we investigated ways of supporting the wings. Suggests were made about blocks of wood or sleepers, then Ash remembered there were some axle stands or jacks somewhere.  Sure enough, underneath a rack, we found four. With a block of wood on each, two of these made perfect wingtip supports. Ensuring the stand couldn’t tip proved a little tricky.  A u-shaped steel peg worked for one but the hard-core under the thin layer of topsoil prevented the second going fully in.  On Thursday, Dave D reported that these stands worked fine as the plane took the weight of a young child and two 9-year old girls! In the photo, you can see all the children’s climb-in vehicles outside the ASR including the Jeep repaired by Dave H last week (see Outside ASR 01a).

Dave H decided that he was going to make a new push-along plane. Talking to some of the parents recently,  he’d learnt that they were finding steering them hard with fixed front wheels and pivoting rear wheels.  So Dave began making at a new one with steerable front wheels. We wonder what it will look like as it’s all in his head.

21st April – A nice sunny day and almost nobody at the Museum. Dave H stopped working on his new design and started reworking a half-built Red Arrows push-along plane. This one has been sitting in the workshop for at least 18 months gathering dust. So Dave dusted it down and began to extend the wings to support a fixed undercarriage further aft behind the child’s seat and to give it a steerable nose wheel (see Red Arrows Push Plane 01). 

Michael F decided to do some sunbathing and took the missile stands outside, giving them their nice coats of blue paint (see Missile Stands 08). Dave D also took advantage of the weather to give the storage container a lick of dull green to match the rest of the buildings (see Container Painting 01).

(Photos) Chippies Update 14/04/22

Michael F

MMU Update

As well as volunteering for the Museum, I am also a member of a model club known as “IPMS West Suffolk” . The club is based in my home town of Bury St.Edmunds and has around 25 active members.

Once a year, apart from the last two for obvious reasons, we hold a small show in town to showcase the club and it’s a way of finding new members. My colleagues build across the range, planes tanks cars boats in various scales.

I took the opportunity at the show to promote my work with the museum. The photos show my display of 7 models, 4 of which I have not touched and 3 (Canberra, Thunderbolt and Pirate) which I have renovated. Throughout the day a lot of interest was shown and many leaflets issued with promises of visits to the museum (see MMU Display 01 and 02).

Several members of the club are very interested in coming to the Aviation Art and Plastic Model show on 22 May to show off their modelled skills so looking forward to that event.

Malcolm

(Photos) MMU Update

Upcoming Events

Scout Activities Day – 30/04/22

Although fully booked as a group event, the Museum will be open to the public on this day.  The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight has scheduled a flypast on this day.  As you will see from the Stop Press above, the flypast has been reduced from a Spitfire and a Hurricane to just the Spitfire.  

Please note that flypasts are subject to weather conditions and operation commitments on the day. Timings will only be notified on the day

The museum will be open from 1000 until 1600 on the day.  There is free entry and free parking on site.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Aviation Art and Plastic Model Show – 22/05/22

Malcolm mentioned in his update above, that some of the modellers were coming along to the Aviation Art and Plastic Model show at the museum on Sunday the 22nd of May 2022. 

The museum will be open from 1000 until 1600 on the day.  There is free entry and free parking on site.

Further, updated, details of that show are below:

• Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight have scheduled a Lancaster flypast.
• Flypasts are subject to weather conditions and operation commitments on the day. Timings will only be notified on the day
• An opportunity for younger visitors to build a kit under guidance by the experts.
• The local section of the Guild of Aviation Artists will be holding a sketching day at the museum. They will also be exhibiting their work. They are expecting roughly ten artists on the day who will be sketching and selling paintings.
• The Museum will also be displaying art from the archives on the day.
• The West Suffolk International Plastic Modellers’ Society (IPMS) will be displaying models and helping youngsters to make a kit which they can purchase on the day.
• The Waveney Model flying club will be in attendance.  The club will show some of their models and also put on a couple of displays for all to see.
• The Copdock Motorcycle Club will bring between 60 and 200 motorcycles on a rally to the Museum starting around 1200.
• This will be a fun family day packed full of exciting activities and, with 60+ aircraft and 1000s of artefacts on display, there is plenty to see and do.

Pete S

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

Keep Up To Date

To keep up to date with further information, please keep an eye on our Social Media (see the Social Media buttons at the foot of this blog) or click on the button below to be notified by email of any upcoming changes by seeing the latest blog. 

Go to the form forEMAIL NOTIFICATIONS 

bloginfo

Social Media @ NASAM

Follow us on Social Media, email us or visit our Main Website.

• 
• 
• 
• 
•