NASAM Update as of the 11th Mar 2023

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From The Chair

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Spot the Aircraft

Luckily today’s spot the aircraft competition is easier than the last edition.

Steve

(Photos) Spot the Aircraft

General Updates

We start this edition with a couple of photos from Steve taken last week on the Tuesday workday at the Museum. People will instantly recognise the aircraft and we at Flixton are used to seeing the visitor(s) from Wattisham Air Station on a regular basis.

Next up from the teams is a short entry from Malcolm and the Model Maintenance Unit on model Spitfire displays for Room 3 which is undergoing a refurbishment. We then have another update from Graham and the Archives with an extract from the Eastern Evening News in May 1941 reporting amongst other things the arrival of Rudolf Hess in Scotland. Lastly, but by no means least is an update from Barry and Mark in the Paint Team on February’s exertions both inside the hangars and outside with the aircraft exhibits.

Also, we have a reminder below of the first of our “Special Event Days” at the museum that will be open to visitors, but with a special emphasis on the children and things for them to do and see.

Special Event Days

The first of the Special Event Days for the public will be held on the 9th of April 2023, and is the East Anglia Air Ambulance Day.

This is an excellent family day out at the Museum with lots to see and do. We will have an Easter Egg Hunt throughout the day. This will take the form of a quiz for the children with a prize for all children competing, and the prize for taking part is an Easter Egg, would you believe

At the end of the day, the Museum will make a donation to the East Anglia Air Ambulance charity and help keep the two air ambulance helicopters flying life-saving missions in our region.

Pete S

From The Teams

From The MMU

More Spits than Duxford

Having completed the last batch of models for the Trainers display, a request came from Steve for Spitfires for a new display in Room 3. So despite being asked not to bring any further boxes of models home, because you have not finished the ones already cluttering the garage/spare bedroom, four boxes of Spitfires were put together from the model store and duly bought home.

The models range from 1/72 to 1/24 scale, I chose the best ones I could find in the store and so far most have only needed a clean-up and new radio masts and the odd propeller, these I find are the most common parts knocked off during handling.

A box of 12 1/72 Spits of various marks have already been boxed up, and about half a dozen more are under restoration, there are 5 x 1/48 models, again just needing cleaning, 1 x 1/32 scale which had no markings, see photo, a set was obtained from Hannants and duly applied plus 3 x 1/24 scale. These were not in such good condition and two of them will be amalgamated into one complete model, the other hopefully will be complete enough to be used. Anyway, all will be returned to the museum on the 21st on which day I am definitely not allowed to bring any more home as the spare bedroom is needed over Easter. ( Unless I can find a way of sneaking in the odd box into the garage!)

All good fun

Malcolm

(Photos) More Spits than Duxford

From the Archives

Local newspaper headlines – 13th May 1941

The headlines in the Eastern Evening News on the evening of the 13th of May 1941 trumpeted the arrival of Hitler’s Deputy – the ‘Nazi No 3’ onto British soil after his desperate flight to Scotland. He was declared to be ‘perfectly sane’, although no-one could then shed any light at all on his unexpected appearance near Glasgow.

Some hilarity was had at his expense though in the House of Commons…

RUDOLF HESS (PERFECTLY SANE) BROUGHT NO GERMAN MESSAGE:

THE FULL FANTASTIC STORY OF HESS’S FLIGHT TO SCOTLAND AND LANDING BY PARACHUTE HAS AMAZED THE WORLD, HE IS ALIVE IN BRITISH HANDS, BUT DEAD IN NAZI EYES.

Hitler, by decree. has appointed a successor to Hess, but has abolished the title held by the fugitive. Martin Bormann, Hess’s chief of staff since 1933, has stepped into his master’s shoes not as Hitler’s Deputy, but as head of the “Party Chancellery.”

It was stated in authoritative circles in London today that Hess has been seen by doctors, who have found him sane and healthy. His flight, it was stated, was an escape. He did not bring with him any peace overtures or any message.

Hess was seen by Mr. Ione Kirkpatrick, of the Foreign Office, who was at the British Embassy in Berlin from 1933 to 1938. He knew Hess well, and had no difficulty in identifying him when he saw him last night.

The German people were informed over the Nazi radio today of Hess’s flight. The announcer said Hess was injured after baling out from his plane “at Glasgow.”.

Mr. Lees Smith (Lab., Keighley) asked the Prime Minister in the House of Commons today whether he could make any further statement in regard to the escape to this country of Rudolf Hess.

Mr. Churchill–I have nothing to add at present to the statement issued last night by the Government, but obviously a further statement will be made in the near future with regard to the flight to this country of this very high and important Nazi leader. (Cheers.)

Sir Henry Morris-Jones (L. Nat., Denbigh) – Will the Prime Minister consider taking steps with the Ministry of Information to see that this piece of news is dealt with discriminately and with imagination? (Laughter).

Mr. Churchill – I had the opportunity of being in the company of the Minister of Information at a very late hour last night but I think that this is one of the cases where imagination is somewhat baffled by the facts as they present themselves. (Laughter).

Not exactly headline material but an advert in prime position on the front page heralded the availability of ‘Rayon Satin Nightdresses – Trimmed lace – in either Sky or Peach colours – for only 11s and 9d at Garlands!’

In other news on the same front page…

First Photo-Letters Arrive

THE first batch of photo letters under the newly

instituted airgraph service from the Middle East to Britain arrived by air in London to-day.

The mail contained 50,000 micro-film letters. They weighed only 13lbs whereas 50,000 ordinary letters would have weighed nearly three-quarters of a ton.

As soon as they were received the films were dispatched to the Kodak works, where the staff immediately began to enlarge the letters from the size of a man’s finger nail to 4 inches by 5 inches.

R.A.F. Fighter pilots are to have rubber dinghies

FIGHTER pilots are now being fitted out with collapsible rubber dinghies – one-man boats that can be carried deflated in their parachute packs.

Bomber crew have long carried rubber boats and many lives have been saved through their use, but hitherto fighter pilots have had to rely on their “Mae Wests” – their life jackets.

Now that Fighter Command pilots are constantly flying across the channel on offensive patrols in Northern France, they are to be similarly equipped.

The new type of dinghy is packed with the parachute in the cushion on which the pilots sits in the cockpit. When he “bales out” over the sea the pilot first pulls his parachute rip cord in the usual way. Then as he reaches the water he pulls another cord and a bottle of carbon dioxide, for inflating the dinghy, immediately comes to his hands.

In a few moments he is in a little rubber boat fitted with small bellows which he can easily operate capable of keeping him afloat for days if necessary.

Graham

Painters Update

07/02/23 – A Series of Unfortunate Events…!

And (to quote Lemony Snicket) so it was. A day of mishaps, or more particularly, an afternoon of mishaps! Arriving to sub-zero temperatures again, the team decided it might be a good idea to paint the Chippies’ new shelving for them in the warmth of the (propane heated) Metal Workshop. After some quick negotiations with the Lord of the Manor (Mr John), Gwen and Cliff then set about giving the shelving another coat of primer (see pic 01), prior to top coating.

Waiting for shelves to dry the team then decamped to colder climes. Gwen and Cliff shuffled off to Room 3 to give the recently repainted cabinets another coat on the back panels in order to give a greater depth of colour. Meanwhile, Barry deployed his portable heaters in the Link Trainer Room in the hope that the condensation would evaporate, thus allowing a final topcoat of white gloss to be applied to the right-hand wall panel after lunch.

Mark and Ian spent most of the morning re-painting the blue floor in the in the ex-models cabinet down Luftwaffe Weg in the Main Hangar; the Chippies having ripped it up to put new footings down last week.

So far so good…

In the afternoon, things started to go a bit Pete Tong. Firstly though, Mark and Barry gave the right-hand wall panel in the Link Trainer Room a second coat of white gloss, without incident. Back in the Metal Workshop, Gwen and Ian put a topcoat on the Chippies’ new shelving. Job done. Consequently, Gwen then made early tracks for home only to find that her (car’s) battery was flat. Having mobilised the RAC, a set of working jump leads were eventually found (not the first pair to be tried I might add) and Cliff gave Gwen the required jump start via his Yeti.

Back in the Metal Workshop, Barry and Mark finished off a couple of shelves that weren’t quite dry when Gwen and Ian were wrapping up for the day. Unfortunately, just as they were packing up ‘someone’ nudged one of the wet shelves with their backside, which then tipped onto the workshop floor and got covered in dust and bits. The culprit was quickly identified by the white mark on their posterior and their rather sheepish look (see pic 02)! With a bit of a kerfuffle on the go, our landlord for the day (Mr John) was soon on the scene. Sadly for Mark, Mr John seemed more concerned about the white paint spatter on his otherwise red workshop floor.

Barry then stepped in to save Mark from further embarrassment and as a sort of quid pro quo, offered to give John’s tool store back panel a fresh lick of paint in the Metal Worksop Extension. Unfortunately, just as the boys were setting up for a bit of prep, Paul then appeared on the scene with the old blue steps that he was about to weld. Discretion being the better part of valour, Barry and Mark retreated with retinas still intact to the comparative safety of the NAAFI for an end of day cuppa.

14/02/23 – Paint Team Behind Bars!

This week’s update is courtesy of Mark K.

With Barry literally bogging off to oversee the refurb of his downstairs cloakroom, the rest of the Paint Team decided to start the day by tackling the very prickly issue of rebar embedded in brambles behind the portacabins.

After recreating an iconic image that could have been taken from any of a dozen Prisoner of War movies (see pic 03), the team then attempted to set a new world record for “how many people can fit between two ISO containers”. As can be seen from the smiling faces (see pic 04) they could hardly container (groan – Ed.) their glee when the record was confirmed as a magnificent three!

After tucking the rebar away for another 10 years the team split, with Gwen and Cliff giving the paint store a much needed tidy, while Mark and Ian gave Bomber Command a good dusting. Ian, having been with us for some time now, has honed his technique to the point he can clean without even looking at what he is actually working on (see pic 05).

In what was a very varied day, the afternoon was different again. A Duke of Edinburgh student, placed with the Paint Team, was first given a whistle-stop tour of the museum, before being given the “honour” of putting the last lick of paint onto the last new piece of wood on the green display stand in the corner of the Main Hangar.

There may be a bit more tidying up to do but in the coming weeks, but with the weather improving, it’s likely the team will move back outdoors to start pressure washing the aircraft, before a summer of painting. Those recently released from behind rebars can’t wait to get started…

21/02/23 – A wishy washy bishy boshy kind of day!

With Mark literally bogging off to deal with personal (Calor) gas issues and the weather warming up ever so slightly, the team decided that it was time to start the annual pressure washing season!

Gwen, Ian and Barry put on their ‘full wets’ and then toddled off to the Paint Store to find the pressure washers and hoses, while Cliff went off and did ‘management things’ (aka dry things).

The team decided that the batting order for this season would be to start with ‘craft that might be repainted first, so that sanders could be broken out as soon as the weather becomes warm enough to feel one’s fingers on the end of the sander.

Accordingly, Ian and Barry set up shop by the Hunter. After some faffing about with broken washers and dodgy hose connections, the boys got going about half ten and by half one, the Hunter was looking somewhat cleaner (see pic 06), but with considerably less paint than it had at the start of the day!

Ian and Barry then relocated themselves and all the washing paraphernalia to the front paddock and started to clean the Sea Vixen. By tiffin time mid-afternoon the boys had done most of the starboard side and not too much paint had come off in the process (see pic 07); hurrah!

Elsewhere, Gwen spent the day washing the statue and memorial area over by 446 and then moved on to complete the T28 Trojan by the end of the day (see pic 08).

Expect more of the same for the next few weeks.

28/02/23 – Another white out!

Quite a frustrating day really. The plan had been to crack on with the pressure washing of external exhibits, but the team arrived to a bout of mizzle, plus a very chilly northerly wind. Therefore, the team (of ageing geriatrics) started looking for inside jobs.

Gwen went off to Room 3 to paint the back wall on the left-hand side white. Ian headed in a similar direction to paint the Room 3 connecting door white.

Elsewhere, Barry headed off for warmer climes in the Metal Workshop in order to repaint (as promised) John’s tool station back board white. The Skipper (Cliff) was dispatched to the Chippies’ shop to recover some remodelled cabinets for the Link Training Room which Peter wanted painting in (yes, you’ve guessed it) white.

And that was pretty much it for the day, although the BBC (Bucklesham Blast Company) swung by late ‘arvo in order to discuss and prepare quote for John/Cliff for blasting and repainting the Valetta.

Mark was nowhere to be seen, probably knee deep in calculations, trying to work out the payback period on his soon to be installed solar panels.

Next week, the forecast is even more cra…worse, so I guess we’ll find more inside things to paint (white!).

(No pics this week; who wants to see a white cabinet!)

Barry & Mark

(Photos) Painters 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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