NASAM Update as of the 5th Sep 2023
[joli-toc]
Summary of Contents
What’s In This Edition
From The Chairman
We hear from Steve about the land purchase made by the Museum and the setting out of the boundaries of the purchase. This will enable the Museum to fence off the land and start to plan how to use it all. Photographs provided by Steve and John S when the Surveyor did his work. John also provided a note on the surveyor’s work (below Steve’s input).
From Around The Museum
We have two weeks’ worth of updates from Barry in the Paint Team. With the major repaint on the Hunter completed, the team moved on to the Valetta and the details that the blast company did not paint. The team are also working on the Trojan and giving that fuselage a repaint.
This work on the Valetta will go on for a further few weeks and is being reflected in the Valetta Refurb video being produced. The video will contain photos from John in Engineering and Barry’s photos from the Paint Team. The video will be produced in a blog update in the near future when the detailing has been completed. The video will be put up on our YouTube channel. You can visit the channel by clicking on the button below.
Upcoming Event Days
The next two special events in the Museum Calendar (in brief) these are:
-
The “Fenlanders” HOG (Harley Davidson Owners Group) on Saturday 9th September 2023 from 1000 thru to 1600.
- Battle of Britain Day on Sunday the 17th of September 2023 again from 1000 thru to 1600
- Including a flypast by the RAF BBMF Lancaster, (subject to weather and operational commitments)
Poster details are at the foot of this blog
Museum Closure Reminder
This is a reminder that if you are planning to visit the Museum on either Saturday, the 30th of September or Sunday, the 1st of October 2023, 
please be aware that the museum will be closed to the general public. The reason for the closure is that around 500 youngsters aged between 6 and 8 will be at the Museum. The youngsters are Beaver Scouts who will be using the museum facilities to work towards two aviation skills badges.
The Beaver Scouts will be taking on various activities as well as exploring the entire museum to find the answers to the quiz and trying on various items of flying clothing.
So, in order to keep the youngsters safe, and as the 500 plus the many supervising adults is greater than the number of visitors we would normally expect on a non-event day, we have decided to close the museum to the public.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Pete S
Chairman’s Update
New Land
Part of the contract to purchase the two new pieces of land was that we had to fence them off within a given deadline. The original negotiation on our behalf had been by Nicholas Rudge, land agent for Durrants of Beccles. As part of this, he defined the exact pieces of land that we would purchase. Obviously, it is vital that we fence off the correct piece.
To that end, Nicholas came over to the museum on Tuesday 29th August and used a measuring wheel to mark out the corners of the purchased land. That done we had to join the corners with straight lines, simple?
The front piece was easy, complete line of sight so a straight line was easy. The woodland was much less so. There is a significant rise in the centre of that piece, thus no easy straight line. Using mathematics and geometry (and a long pole with a flag on it) we managed to get a line marked out. The gateways have been marked too. Now we just need to get three quotes for the fence and then the job done.
Steve B
Land Survey
Included here are a few comments made by John S in Engineering who accompanied the surveyor on his visit.
On Tuesday, Durrants estate agents came to accurately measure out our newly acquired land. He used a measuring wheel from a known point to get the start point and we proceeded from there in a rather archaic mechanistic way, I thought. I asked about geolocation, map references etc, but no!
We’re getting quotes for the simple post and two wire fencing with two, two-leaf gates
John S
(Photos) Land Survey
Around The Museum
Painters Update
22/8/23 – Spinning Classes
With the Hunter now finished (save for decals), the boys were looking for new work. The Skipper (Cliff) directed them towards the Valetta and suggested the boys got on with the detailing, starting with the props. Therefore, Mark and Barry repositioned the scaff’ tower in front of the port engine and set about giving the spinner and the props a ‘light key’ before applying a topcoat of red/black. A ‘light key’ soon turned into a more significant sand back as the boys inspected the (flaking) paintwork close up. By lunchtime, the port spinner and prop had been prepped, and a coat of grey primer applied (see pic 2309 01).
A bit further down the field, the Skipper and Gwen started to mask off the markings on the T28 Trojan, prior to applying any topcoat (see pic 2309 02).
After lunch, Mark went off on a slight deviation to finish the repaint of the white on the Javelin’s fin flash, a carryover from last week. Meanwhile, Barry toddled off to the Paint Store to find every remaining scrap of scaff’ so that the boys could erect a second tower in front of the starboard engine on the Valetta. By around 2 p.m., the second tower was in place (see pic 2309 03) and the boys started the sand back of the starboard spinner and props…to be continued next week.
Back over on the T28, Gwen spent the afternoon with a roll of masking tape, masking off all the numbers on the tail, prior to applying a red topcoat (see pic 2309 04).
29/08/23 – It’s paint a painter week!
Yes folks, Mark evidently got bored very quickly with the prospect of painting the props and spinners on the Valetta this week as he set about painting Barry instead. Not satisfied with spilling some grey primer generally on the wind, he followed up with some black spatter down the arm, plus some drips of gloss black down the back of the neck. Nice! That said, some of his paint did reach the intended target. By lunchtime, the starboard prop had been primed. Over on the port side, Ian, happily back to full fitness following a dose of wet Yorkshire, moved serenely on in the morning with top coating the props in gloss black.
After lunch, Mark and Barry gave the starboard props two coats of gloss black, while Ian painted the port spinner in post office red. In the half-hour left, Ian then joined the party on the starboard side to give the spinner a first coat of red (see pic 2309 05). By close of play, both engines were looking pretty slick (see pic 2309 06). Next week we will give the starboard spinner another coat of red, plus there are the yellow propeller tips to reinstate. After that, it’s on to the red cheat line down the centre of the fuselage. Speaking of which, John S. and Roger spent most of the day painstakingly removing the masking tape off the windows (see pic 2309 07).
A little further down the paddock, the Skipper (Cliff) and Gwen continued with the repaint of the T28 Trojan and its dual colour scheme. On the port side Cliff concentrated on the yellow markings (see pic 2309 08), while over on the starboard side, Gwen was in ‘red’ mode as she reinstated the red areas on the nose and the tail spine (see pic 2309 09).
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
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
Pete S
