NASAM Update as of the 6th Feb 2024

In This Edition

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Summary of Contents

Firstly, we have news on our reopening date and the opening days and times for the foreseeable future. We will reopen on the 17th of February 2024. The opening days and times are given below, and these will remain in operation until further notice.

Next, we have news from the Teams around the Museum on work that has been or is being undertaken to prepare the Museum for the 17th Feb opening. These articles include information from Steve B on his work in rooms 2 and 3. Barry chips in with the Painters Update and the work, mainly inside the Museum, to spruce up various areas. Graham then gives us another article from the Archives, this time from a wartime newspaper.

In addition, Graham , wearing his other hat of keeping the events pages up-to-date on the internet, has put more details on the Museum reopening on our Events Pages on Facebook and the main website. You can read this further info @ Opening Date Information.

Finally, in this post, we have details of the event days in March at the Museum. These include a couple of car club visits, and on Easter Sunday, we have our annual Easter Egg Hunt in support of the East Anglia Air Ambulance fund. This is our first major event day of the 2024 season, and we hope to raise funds for the Air Ambulance to help support this facility. 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 walking quiz for the children with a prize for all children competing, and the prize for taking part is, would you believe, an Easter Egg

Museum News

We reopen on the 17th February 2024

The Museum is pleased to let you know that we will reopen our doors on the 17th of February 2024 and will then revert our opening days and times to those that we had in 2023. So as from the 17th Feb, and until further notice:

We are open every Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday,
Plus all the Bank Holiday Mondays
We will be open from 1000 through until 1600,

Pete S

Inside and Outside – The Museum

Rooms 2 and 3

On a very cold Saturday, 20th January, my wife wanted to put the new season stock out in the shop, so I took the opportunity to display the Civil Defence uniforms and memorabilia in the newly painted cabinet prepared by the paint team. First I needed to fit a glass shelf in the cabinet at a slightly different height to that which it was at before.

That done, the uniforms were thoroughly brushed to get rid of several years of dust accumulated during their previous open display position.

One of the manikins was rather short, so a replacement was sourced from our spares and dressed accordingly. The uniforms are all displayed waist up only due to height restrictions in the cabinet.

After that, it was time to display small artefacts on the bottom shelf of the cabinet and the larger ones to the side of it. The display isn’t quite complete as there are metal signs to fix to the top of the cabinet but that can wait for a warmer day!

The space where the display was previously in room 2 is now ready to be painted so that items of aviation archaeology currently displayed at ground level can be moved to a more convenient height for viewing in cabinets below the photographs from RAF Marham. Over to the paint team again.

Steve B

(Photos) Rooms 2 and 3

Painters Update

16/01/24 – Carry on ROCing!

Well, hello everybody peeps, your regular Paint Blog correspondent is back in the chair after some man flu issues! Did you miss me (er, no. Mark did a great job filling in. In fact, why doesn’t he… – Ed.)?

Plenty to report this week and there was a right old ‘carry-on’ in the ROC building. More on that in a bit.

After last week’s sub-zero temps, the team arrived to relatively balmy conditions, with every possibility that paint might actually set this week! That said, there was still a bit of a ‘white out’ going on in Room 2. Needing to get their weekly ‘fix’ of white gloss, Mark and Ian were dispatched to finish a couple of white walls in Room 2 with Mark carrying out his forfeit to always kneel in the presence of Ian, following the Hammers recent victory over the Gunners (see pic 2402 01).

Returning to the fold, but still a bit ‘chesty’ Barry was quarantined off to the Boulton & Paul Hangar to crack on with the Grasshopper re-paint. With the rattle can warming nicely, Barry masked off the ‘cockpit’ area (guffaw) and associated cables, ready for the rattle can to be applied to all the fiddly bits that had proved too difficult to paint with a brush or a roller. After about an hour of masking up (see pic 2402 02), the rattle can was then applied in less than 5 minutes. After lunch, a partial second coat was applied just to even out the first rattle can coat. Most of the masking was then removed, save for the pilot’s seat (see pic 2402 03). Thankfully the Hammerite Smooth Silver tin, and rattle can colours proved to be identical – phew! The last hour of the day was then spent frankly faffing about testing different stencil options for putting back the markings by hand… to be continued.

Keen to capture all the Paint Team’s activity, after lunch Barry poddled across to the ROC building to see what Gwen and Cliff were up to. Evidently also after a ‘fix’ it was white gloss rollers to the fore again, with Gwen tackling those ‘difficult to reach’ places, showing admirable flexibility for an octogenarian (see pic 2402 04)! On the other side of the ROC building, Cliff was having to work around Ian S. and his shipmates who were re-dressing the guardians of the ROC. For a brief moment, it looked like a scene from a Carry On film (see pic 2402 05). Showroom dummies everywhere (and some mannequins too!!) Feel free to add your own caption but I imagine Ian S. (to the right but not in shot) is ‘up in arms’ at the lack of material progress on the other side of the display cabinets. A ‘finger of blame’ certainly seems to have been cast during his cross examination!

30/01/24 – A Bertie Bassett kind of day!

Yes folks, there were all sorts going on this week.

The day kicked off with a quick diagnosis session of why Barry’s Makita sander kept locking up after replacing the Velcro pad. A short inspection of Mark’s identical sander identified that Barry’s was missing a crucial spacer/washer, which must have remained attached to the old Velcro pad, that got ‘binned’ some time ago – doh!

Next, it was off to ROC where the Skipper (Cliff) and Gwen were getting their weekly fix of painting white cabinets (see pic 2402 06).

Not wanting to miss out, Mark and Ian went to Luftwaffe Weg where the Chippies had erected another display that required a topcoat of white gloss. Along the way, Mark also covered over some footprints on the base of a cabinet that rumour had it belonged to Ash (see pic 2402 07)!

Keen to avoid any white painting, Barry loitered around in the Metal Workshop where he was propositioned by John S. to repaint the Chipmunk. A quick inspection suggested that the paintwork was pretty sound, but the fuselage was very dirty indeed (see pic 2402 08) and also had some graffiti on the starboard side. Having tested several cleaning materials on a small area, Barry set about cleaning the white areas on the upper fuselage with a bottle of CIF (other cleaning products are available – Ed.) and a nylon scouring pad. The difference was immediate and transformational (see pic 2402 09). Several hours later, after a lot of scrubbing and a sore elbow, the upper fuselage was looking much cleaner (see pic 2402 10). There was even time to test removing some of the graffiti on the lower red section, just ahead of the registration number. The CIF did the business again, although it needed a little more agitation, by way of some wire wool. To be continued…

After luncheon, the rest of the team moved into the BP Hangar for some assorted cleaning and painting action. Mark and Ian gave the top surfaces of the Anson a quick spring clean. They then moved on to the Sycamore, where Mark took full control of the ‘fluffer’ while Ian, looking a little peaky, ‘took five’ on the stretcher (see pic 2402 11)! After his short break, Ian then painted the new flagpole caps (see pic 2402 12) that had been turned for us last week by Tony.

There was no progress on the Grasshopper today as the team took some time out to contemplate how best to recreate all the markings that were on the fuselage. Hand painting one of the markings using a stencil last week proved to be very time consuming and the end result looked uneven (and frankly, sub-standard).

Barry

(Photos) Painters Update

From the Archives

The Museum has a collection of wartime newspapers in its store – most of them trumpeting headlines on Dunkirk, Russia or even Rudolph Hess’s flight to the UK. All of them carry adverts, which are as interesting as the main articles – but I’ve only found one quiz so far. This one was taken from the Daily Express in late 1940 – the date is not exact as we only have a fragment of a single page. It seems no opportunity was missed to inform, educate – and bamboozle, the public with propaganda. I particularly like the idea that the quiz is ‘sponsored’ by what is now a major hotel, pub and hospitality chain but, at the time, was just starting on its way to ownership of Premier Inns everywhere.

How would you answer these questions?

Graham

GAS RAID QUIZ

QUESTION: Should a soldier or Civil Defence worker give up his gas mask to a woman if he finds her unprotected in a gas raid?
ANSWER: No member of the Fighting Services or of Civil Defence is allowed to take off his respirator and give it to a civilian. If, being without a respirator, he is gassed, he would not be able to attend to the needs of others.
No woman who leaves her gas mask at home can expect to be given anyone else’s in a gas raid.
Moral : Don’t be caught without your gas mask.

QUESTION: Why is a civilian’s gas mask different from a policeman’s or a warden’s?
ANSWER: Policemen and Civil Defence workers must, like soldiers, “stay put” in a gas attack. The only difference between your gas mask and a Service respirator is that the latter allows for very hard work to be done while the respirator is on. During a gas attack a fireman may have to play a hose or climb a ladder; policemen or wardens may have to carry out strenuous rescue work.

QUESTION: If you had a young child, what would you do if he were so frightened and upset in a gas raid that he refused to put on his gas mask?

ANSWER: It might be too late then to calm his fears, and you would have to force him to wear his mask. His struggles might make it impossible to keep gas from reaching his eyes, nose and mouth, and his fear might have a serious effect on his nerves.
Now is the time to get your children used to their gas masks. Children love to imitate their parents. If you often wear your own mask and pretend to your child that it is a game, he will soon learn to do the same and his fear will vanish.

QUESTION: What has kept Hitler from invading this country?
ANSWER: The knowledge that we are fully prepared and ready to resist him.

QUESTION: What will keep him from using gas?
ANSWER: The knowledge that every citizen is fully protected against gas. So decide to beat Hitler at his favourite game of surprise by being ready for a gas raid at any time. In other words, have your gas mask with you day and night. Are you sure that yours fits so that it is gas-tight — and do you know how to put it on quickly?

Surprise is one of the enemy’s strongest weapons.

THIS SPACE IS PRESENTED BY WHITBREAD AND CO. LTD

Event Information

Come March, we will start having clubs and organisations who have requested a special visit to the museum arriving for their day out. Gary, the Museum Manager, has been scheduling these for a few weeks now, and we can see the first three event days in the posters below. This list includes our annual Easter Egg Hunt in aid of the East Anglia Air Ambulance. This is a great day out for all the family and results in the Museum being able to make a large donation to the Air Ambulance funds.

If you would like to organise a visit for a club or an organisation, please click on the button below to be directed to the visits page, where you can start the process by filling out a form.

Go ToBOOK A VISIT/EVENT

Pete S

Events in March

Click on the poster for more information

Pete S

The Repeat Info

Here we are in 2024 and 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.