NASAM Update as of the 7th Jul 2023
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Summary of Contents
What’s In This Edition
From The Chairman
We start this blog with an update from Steve and his visit, along with Gary, to unveil a B24 propeller at the Warren Hill prison near Hollesley in Suffolk. This prop was given to the prison to form part of a memorial there; details are below.
From Around The Museum
First up in this edition in “Around the Museum”, we have an insight from Gary, who was on hand to receive a donation from the London-based Walter Hines Page chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution; we thank them kindly for this donation.
The Painters continue to send updates on the preservation painting of the aircraft and other items across the museum site. In this edition, Barry shows the continuation of the Hunter repaint, but also the start of work on the Valetta, which is about to undergo massive restoration work from both the Engineering Workshops and the Paint team.
In part two of his update, Barry continues with the Hunter repaint and also the sprucing up of Memorial Corner alongside the 446 Museum.
Details of the Museum AGM
For the Museum Members and Volunteers, notice is given that the Museum’s Annual General Meeting will take place in the Main Hangar on Tuesday, the 11th of July, 2023, at 1900.
Upcoming Special Events
The next two special events in the Museum Calendar (in brief) these are:
- Family Fun Day on Sunday the 23rd of July 2023 from 1000 thru to 1600
- Including a flypast by the RAF BBMF Spitfire, (subject to weather and operational commitments).
- RAFA and Veterans Day on Sunday the 6th of August 2023 again from 1000 thru to 1600
Posters details are at the foot of this blog
Pete S
Chairman’s Update
HMP Warren Hill Memorial
On Independence Day this year Gary and I headed down to Hollesley and Warren Hill Prison. Not that, as suggested by some, we should be there but we’d been invited to the unveiling of a memorial.
Regular readers might remember about 18 months ago we supplied a propeller blade to Wayland Prison on the old RAF Watton site for a memorial there. Word obviously travels in the prison community and we were approached a few months ago for something similar for Warren Hill. We happened to have a “spare” blade believed to be from a B24 which Gary arranged to be passed on.
It turned out that around 30 people had been invited, from The Royal British Legion, Salvation Army, The County High Sheriff and a couple of firms that had also assisted in the creation of the memorial.
After having our IDs checked, asked to confirm that we had no cameras, phones, smart watches or “contraband”, passing through the outer gate, being sniffed by a cute Labrador and frisked by a prison warden (no comments please) we were allowed through the second gate…. Into the second isolation compound. Once the gate had closed behind us we were allowed into the prison proper and moved to the area of the new memorial.
A brief service of dedication followed during which Gary and I were asked to unveil the propeller, one of the company representatives to unveil the memorial stone and another ceramic poppies. After the service photographs were taken (we hope to receive copies of some for a future edition of the blog) and we moved into the reception area where we were offered coffee (all decaf, I’m sure there’s a reason for that) and delicious ginger cake.
We took the opportunity to chat with some of the wardens and prisoners who had been involved, all veterans. One of them was ex-French Foreign Legion, another a clone of our very own Ian Shepherd, ex-RN. (Something in your past that we should know about Ian?).
After the reception, we made our way through the security system in reverse, including having IDs checked on the way out.
All in all a very rewarding and fascinating morning.
Steve B
Around The Museum
Cheque Donation
We had an email from a follower of the Museum who sent in a photo and an explanation of the donation made to the museum from the Walter Hines Page chapter/National Society Daughters of the American Revolution based in London. In her email of the 22nd of June 2023, Laurie said “Here’s the piece in our newsletter, which arrived this morning”:
Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum Donation
Past-Chapter Regent Laurie Atkins recently visited the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum to hand over the Chapter’s £500 donation. She is pictured handing the cheque to Curator Gary Stebbing. Click here to learn more about this wonderful museum.
Gary
Painters Update
27/06/23 – Divide and Conquer!
Yes, mis amigos, it was definitely a case of ‘ensalada mixta’ at El Museo this week. The team were pulled every which way, performing a wide variety of tasks. Over near 446, the Skipper (Cliff) put up the ‘scaff’ and set about giving the two flagpoles a topcoat of White Gloss (see pic 2307 01). Later on, the Skip managed to extract the third flagpole (with the Ukranian flag), and that was taken away for a quick rub down before priming.
On the other side of the drive, Mark got himself into a bit of ‘scrape’ with John S. With the BBC (Buckenham Blast Company) due on site later in the week to prep the Valetta for paint, John needed some help removing the taped seals from around the Valetta’s windows and cockpit, before taping the edge of the perspex windows themselves to protect them from the upcoming media blast. Mark and Gwen (literally) stuck to the task and spent the morning removing all the duct tape and bitumen sealant (see pic 2307 02). In the afternoon, the cockpit and dome were de-taped/re-taped and then recovered with the tarpaulin (see pic 2307 03) to keep the rain out.
With the Skip, Mark and Gwen otherwise engaged and Private Walker ragging it around a Shropshire racetrack in a variety of Coventry Cats, that just left yours truly (Barry) to continue the Hunter repaint. Progress appeared slow, according to Mark, but by the end of the day the tail section was wearing a coat of Deep Sea Grey (see pic 2307 04).
04/07/23 – We fade to Grey!
Yes 80’s pop pickers, this week was a sort of homage to Visage as the Hunter turned from light grey to Dark Sea Grey. At the start of the morning, the Hunter was wearing mostly grey primer and Light Aircraft Grey on the undersides (see pic 2307 05).
With the forecast saying rain would arrive in Flixton by early afternoon, the boys powered on through the morning, applying a coat of Dark Sea Grey gloss to the upper fuselage sections and wing roots. After luncheon, and with no rain encountered so far, the boys managed to get a second coat on most of the fuselage, allowing them to remove the masking tape from the cheek line before close of play (see pic 2307 06). The plan is to cover all the upper surfaces in Dark Sea Grey before adding the Dark Green ‘camo’ over the top.
Over by the 446th, the Skipper (Cliff) and Gwen gave the flag poles a second coat of white gloss, before repainting the propellor hub in black gloss. The memorial plate was then given some ‘lick and spit’ to clean it up (see pic 2307 07). By the close of play, it was pretty much job done, save for giving the prop tips a fresh coat of yellow next week.
Barry
(Photos) Painters Update
Upcoming Events Posters
Details of the next two upcoming special events are shown in the posters below
Pete S
And
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
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Pete S
Looks like the painters have been busy!!!!