NASAM Update as of the 21st Jun 2022
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General Updates
Firstly in this edition of the Online Flier, we have a report from Cliff who guided an organised visit to the Museum. This visit this time was from the Harelston 41 Club and it seems that some of them may well return to take in more of the Museum’s aircraft and artefacts.
Would you like to have an Organised visit ?? If so click on the button below to see how to arrange a visit to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum:
We also have reports below from the Chippies with Michael catching up on a few weeks of work around the site. Lastly, but by no means least we have Barry’s contribution from the Paint Team who are taking advantage of the fine weather we are having to spruce up some of the outside aircraft.
Saturday 25th of June 2022
Please don’t forget this coming Saturday when we have a visit from the Reliant Sabre & Scimitar Owners Club who are holding an International Rally Event in the Suffolk area over the weekend of the 24th to 26th of June. As part of the long weekend of rallying, they have chosen to visit the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum on SATURDAY the 25th of June 2022. We are open from 1000 until 1600 on the day.
We expect around 20 of these classic cars and their drivers to start to arrive around 1100. They plan to depart during the afternoon having taken lunch in the Buck Inn.
On show will be both UK and European-based Sabres and Scimitars dating from the 1960s through to the 1990s – an interesting comparison to the Museum’s aircraft from those same decades.
Despite the cancellation of the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Hurricane (due to unserviceability), there will still be plenty to see and do for all the family. We are wheelchair-friendly in all areas apart from the aircraft cockpits. The NAAFI cafe will be open for snacks, light refreshments, tea, coffee and cold drinks. With the shop selling ice creams and cold drinks, there could be some serious use of the picnic tables scattered throughout the site.
Don’t forget we are also dog friendly in all areas apart from the shop (and the aircraft cockpits unless you are called Snoopy).
We are FREE to enter and there is FREE parking on site. When budgets are stretched and finances tight, this is an inexpensive day out for the family.
Pete S
Organised Visit – Harleston 41 Club
The visit on Tuesday evening (14th of June 2022) was by the “Harleston 41 Club”, photo below. Ian Johnson, their Treasurer, arranged the visit, he’s the guy in the blue T-shirt in the picture. The weather was near perfect so most of the group had cycled from Harleston.
Although living close by many of them had either never been to the museum or not for some time and were therefore surprised at the number of artefacts on display. I think they found the visit informative and would return when they were able to see the displays in more detail.
Cliff
Chippies Update
An update from Chippie-Land
7th June – the Red Arrows return to base. Dave H has finished titivating the push-along planes so Ash and Michael F loaded them up on a trolley, one plane at a time, and trundled them over to the hangar. One of us always looked as if we were just pretending to do something but we were really stopping the plane from falling off the back as the trolley raced across the site because they don’t have brakes. We left them smartly lined up waiting for the kids the next day (see Red Arrows Push Plane 08 – The Synchro pair – Ed).
On one of the return trips, we loaded the sit-on Red Arrow that resides outside the ASR Building and took it back to the workshop. Unfortunately time, weather and loads of kids have taken their toll and this plane is in need of some serious refurbishment. How serious, we shall see (see Sit-In Red Arrows 01).
Dave H, meanwhile, was cutting out and assembling the rear half of the notice board for the Buck Inn Garden entrance. The frames of both front and back cases are from the recovered wood from the old NAAFI cupboard. The back is some more of that black plastic material we used from the display stand in the Merlin Corner. The front perspex is an offcut from Cold War Corridor. And the stand (seen lurking behind the Sit In Red Arrow) is from an old information board. Nothing wasted if we can (see Gate Notice 02).
Still on a “waste not, want not” spur, Ash and Michael turned to this week’s mystery object. Two semicircular pieces cut from a chunk of wood from the woodstore were screwed tother. Next a hunt round the metal store and, when we had no luck there, the pile of scrap metal waiting for disposal. We think this is one of the wheel struts from the Zenair but it was exactly the right diameter for what we wanted… (see Mystery Object 01) but what we’re we making? All will be revealed shortly!
9th June – today Dave H decided he was going to multi-task. What that means is that he was going to start one job by cutting out the perspex for the front of the Buck Notice board. He then stopped and considered over the next few hours and several cups of tea what to do with the sit-in Red Arrow. Les, Ash and Michael F at various intervals joined in his deliberations, making wise and helpful suggestions – well, that’s what we said but Dave thought that starting from scratch, and remarks in a similar vein were not what he wanted to do.
So we set off with the mysterious object to fit it to … the Whirlwind in the front field (see Whirlwind Repaint 24). A couple of weeks ago the Painters asked for a replacement tail skid and this is it. We did make an attempt at fitting it on Tuesday but a combination of a blunt drill bit, an electric drill with a low battery and some tough steel conspired late in the afternoon in stopping us. With a fresh battery and a sharpened bit, the job today was a lot easier. Now, all we need is the magic of the Painters to make it look like the original… well at least from a distance.
While we were at that end of the site, Michael decided to fit the WiFi radio in the VRP. All went swimmingly until we tested it. After an hour of checking and rechecking in an increasingly warm VRP (don’t spend a long time in there when the sun is shining and the windows are closed) we decided to break for lunch. As a thought, Michael went into the Shop on the way back and reseated an Ethernet connection. Guess what, everything sprang to life. So remember, if your Internet doesn’t seem to work – check everything!
The final job of the day was to make stands for the signs that go above the display cabinets in Cold War Corridor. We decided on stands rather than fixing them to the cabinets because one set has perspex roofs which is not easy to fix things to. Fixing the signs directly to the fronts of the cabinets means going through the perspex fronts which isn’t easy especially as the fronts need to come off for finishing. And stands give the arrangers more flexibility. So stands it was, and simple: two lengths of 2×2 (50mm square) screwed through the sign and a good solid stand (see Cold War Corridor 03)- job done, time for a cuppa and home.
14th June – today Dave H was multi-tasking again. This time he glued and screwed the Buck Inn notice board frames then used the excuse he was waiting for the glue to dry of starting the destruction of the sit-in Red Arrow. He and Tony got to it with saws, chisels and hammers to remove the damaged and rotten sections (see Sit-In Red Arrow 02). As more and more was cut away, so increased the voices saying “burn it” and “start again”. At last, they decided they had cut away sufficient and had a solid enough remainder. Now came the question of how to rebuild it. After a cup of tea, the answer came from a bed. A bedhead actually. Once again raiding the woodstore, they found a part-used bed headboard that would make strong solid sides to withstand the rigours of weather and children. So started the process of cutting and splicing it in, of which more to come.
Ash and Michael F decided as the day was nice, an outside job was needed. A few weeks ago Dave D and Tug reroofed the mower and tug sheds. While doing so they found the front beam had rotted. So Ash and Michael set about replacing the rotten end. Extraction proved fairly straightforward – unscrew the supports and cut the beam at the centre, remove beam. Reinsertion was just as straightforward: cut the new beam to length, add supports at either end and screw it all back up. Job done (see Tractor Shed 02 and 03), time for lunch.
After lunch, Dave 6 (that’s what the Chippies call him) arrived bearing frames from the glider platform he had been dismantling in the hangar. As most of the wood was good, Michael and Tug spent the afternoon dismantling these frames to their constituent parts and restocked the woodstore with more wood to recycle. An afternoon well spent.
16th June – while the temperature didn’t reach the peak forecast for Friday, it was still very hot in the chippies workshop. Dave H decided that he was going to abandon working there and head for somewhere slightly cooler. As the hangar was too hot for him too he tried the shop.
If any of the volunteers have wanted to open up one of the buildings and tried to work out which key or keys they need to use then hopefully Dave’s work today will be useful. Dave replaced the manky (a good North English word for those who haven’t met it before meaning grotty or dirty or similar) existing key tags with some new, metal numbered ones. It should be clearer now which key you need to open which door – follow the number!
Michael F and Ash, with Les W’s assistance in the morning, decided an outside job, preferably in building shade, would be a good idea. When Steve B bought the radios for the WiFi network it was cheaper to buy four so we had a spare. The Internet using mobile is iffy at best at the end of the Museum site and particularly so in the workshop. Taking advantage of the spare, we put up the fourth radio on the Chippies Workshop (see Wifi 11). By lunchtime we had it all installed and working. We’re trying to persuade Dave H to come into the 21st Century but it’s going to take a lot of persuading to do that.
In the afternoon we thought we’d better do something about Steve B’s comments about untidy wiring. Hopefully, he is happier with the trunking in the Shop now, otherwise, we’ll refer him to the Leckies.
Michael F
(Photos) Chippies Update
Paint Team Update
14/6/22 – New (s)kid on the block!
Or, should that be ‘new block on the skid’? Yes, folks, the Chippies had evidently reappeared during the week with the right drill bit (see blog update 7/6/22) and had installed the new tail skid on the Whirlybird (see Whirlwind Repaint 23). The old hollow steel skid had rotted out, so Michael and Ash fabricated a new skid out of timber for us. Top job!
Elsewhere on the Whirlybird, the warm weather allowed Mark (see Whirlwind Repaint 25) and Barry to continue with the top coating of the rotor blades. By the close of play, all three rotor blades were wearing two coats of gloss black and two and a half blades had also been covered in clear coat lacquer. Next week should see the finishing off of the blades, with boys then moving onto the ‘white’ cockpit areas on the upper fuselage.
With Cliff on ‘late duty’ supervising a visit by the local Round Table, it was down to Gwen and Ian to crack on with the prep of the ‘Flat Iron’. The awesome twosome spent most of the day sanding back the starboard side cockpit area (see Javelin Repaint 09). For some light relief, Gwen also gave the fibreglass nose section a new coat of gloss black (following John S’s repairs last week).
Barry
(Photos) Paint Team Update
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:
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Looks like the chippies have been extra busy!!!!!