NASAM Update as of the 23rd Apr 2024
In This Edition
Summary of Contents
In this edition of the blog “Museum News,” we have the missing photos provided by Joe and Brian of the Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday, along with a report from Pam on the donation made to the East Anglia Air Ambulance charity.
Also, in “Museum News“, we have advance notice that this coming Saturday, the 27th of April, 2024, we have two sets of visitors that may well cause a little disruption to the normal Saturday flow of visitors through the Museum. Details below.
From the Teams “Inside and Outside – The Museum“, we have a double update from the Painters, with Barry reporting on the efforts of the paint team to get the outside aircraft into a reasonably presentable state for the summer months.
In the “Events Information” section, we have details of the two pre-planned events already booked for May.
Pete S
Museum News
General news from the Museum
Easter Sunday
Missing from the last blog we published, were photos from Easter Sunday and the Easter Egg Hunt we held on behalf of the East Anglia Air Ambulance charity. After an appeal to the volunteers who were at the Museum on the day, both Joe and Brian managed to find a few photographs that they had taken. Both apologised for not having taken more, but the weather was miserable on the day, and the teams reported that visitor numbers were down. The few people who did attend mainly stayed inside the hangars and buildings.
Pam, our Treasurer and Secretary, reported that only £150 was raised from the few people who attended. However, the Museum sent a cheque for £500 to the Air Ambulance charity in recognition of the superb support they provide to East Anglia.
Pete S
(Photos) Easter Sunday
Advance Notice – Saturday, 27th April 2024
Please note that on Saturday, the 27th of April 2024, we have a visit by the Battlefields Trust Group, so you may well see a large group of people being shown around the museum. This may well hinder your own progress at times.
Also, on the same day, we have visits by the 1st Mulbarton Scout Group, consisting of four groups doing Stage 2 badges (up to 50 young people), by the Hethersett Scout Group, consisting of two groups doing Stage 2 badges (up to 25 young people), and finally one group from the Elmswell Scout Group on stage 2 (a group of around 12 people). This is a considerable number of young people and their staff who will be in various sections of the museum. During these periods of time, parts of the museum will be closed to the general public whilst the scouts study the aircraft, simulators and artefacts for their various badges.
Pete S
Inside and Outside – The Museum
Information from the various teams
Paint Team Updates
09/04/24 – Grumpy old men… and women!
Well folks, according to Mark, your correspondent arrived on site in a right grump. With dodgy knees and back ache from a weekend of raised border construction, plus Mr UK Weather serving up a lovely concoction of drizzle and 40 mph gusts, yours truly was not looking forward to a full day of pressure washing! With some cheery encouragement from Mark and Ian (in other words “man up and get on with it”) the three amigos tooled up for another Tuesday of pressure washing of external exhibits.
In the middle paddock, Mark and Ian rode tandem with the long extension wand and set about cleaning the upper surfaces of the Valetta (see pic 202404-06).
In the front paddock, Mr Grumpy started on the Sea Vixen, which was very green on the wing tips and tail boom adjacent to the trees. By mid-morning Mr Grumpy had been joined by the Skipper (Cliff), who being a ‘hard northerner’ was oblivious to the squally weather (see pic 202404-07). The general air in the camp was not improved when the introduction of a second washer tripped the electrics! Further misery was piled on when a sharp shower blew through late morning, soaking everything and everyone who was not already completely wet.
Somehow, through all of this, Gwen managed to paint some more Portakabins (see pic 202404-08). I don’t know how. She must have brought her own personal microclimate!
At lunch, our bedraggled team mustered in the Main Hangar. During a conversation about the future of the ROC building and its potentially short-ish life expectancy, Gwen got a right grump on and declared that she was “never going to the repaint the ROC building cabinets ever again!”
In the arvo, Mark and Ian moved on to the Fokker F27 (see pic 202404-09) and Mr Grumpy and the Skipper tackled the Meteor (see pic 202404-10).
By the end of the day, the scores on the doors were 4 more aircraft washed and no pressure washers broken this week. The general air of gloom and despondency failed to lift as the equipment was packed away in the Bloodhound trailer. Washing the Meteor had taken off a fair bit of paint, especially from the inner wings and tail stabilisers, making a mess of what was a fairly recent full repaint (2021 – Ed.).
Paint (Removal) Team Update 16/04/24 – Carry on grumping!
The air of gloom and despondency from last week didn’t clear much this week as Mr UK Weather served up yet more wet and windy weather.
It was raining when we set up the pressure washers and it rained while we were washing aircraft. A ‘full house’ was obtained as it tanked it down just as we were packing all the washing kit back into the Bloodhound trailer. Deep joy!
The morning kicked off with Mark and Ian taking up station next to the Sea Prince. As the day progressed, more and more dayglo rescue orange was revealed as the pressure washing verged on becoming paint stripping (see pic 202404-11). The Sea Prince is certainly a prime candidate for a repaint this year.
Down in the front paddock, the Skipper (Cliff) and Barry formated just off the port wing of the F100. The Skipper cracked on with washing the greener (port) side with the powerful K7 (see pic 202404-12). Over on the other wing, Barry was suffering from a lack of water pressure with the (less powerful) K4, which kept ‘pulsing.’ After a while Barry gave up and left the Skip to it. Barry then looked for another ‘target’ on a separate water supply spur. Eventually, he found a decent water feed just outside the Main Hangar and set about cleaning the two Canberra noses.
Elsewhere, Gwen sensibly found some indoor jobs to do.
The team then regrouped for lunch and some cracking home-made sausage rolls. Yes, Mark had released his ‘inner baker’ this week and produced some fine artisan sausage rolls, complete with fennel seed topping. Cooking doesn’t get better than this! Recharged by sausage rolls, the boys headed back out into the wet.
In the afternoon, Mark and Ian finished off the Sea Prince (quite a big bird) and moved onto the Jet Provost (see pic 202404-13). In the front paddock, the Skipper made a start on the Javelin (see pic 202404-14). Just outside the Main Hangar, Barry went ahead and cleaned the Lantern, the green mobile Radar thingy and the Signals Office van, which was particularly grubby.
By close of play, the Skip had just about cleaned the starboard delta wing on the Javelin. In the middle paddock, Mark and Ian just managed to finish off the JP.
Wet through and exhausted, Ian and Barry sat down for a post-match cuppa in the NAAFI. They were soon disturbed by the sound of some huffing and puffing, interspersed with the the odd bit of scraping. What on earth was going on down Luftwaffe Weg? Ian and Barry toddled round the corner to find Gary, Mark and the Skip trying to extract the Stirling cockpit mock up, ready for collection tomorrow. Having got within 20 feet of the front door, it became apparent that the Stirling rig was not going to fit down the rest of the corridor, due in part to the newly constructed display cabinets.
So it came to pass that as some form of end of day ‘warm down’ exercise Gary, Mark, Ian, Barry and the Skip then embarked on slowly reversing the Stirling rig back down Luftwaffe Weg, round the corner, past the back of the Lightning, along the line of Ejector Seats, eventually emerging 20 minutes later near the NAAFI (see pic 202404-15). Fortunately, the Stirling cockpit rig was still intact, with the only casualties being a few scraped knuckles and some scratches on the walls/cabinets at pinch points on the way round.
Barry
(Photos) Paint Team Update
Event Information
What next at the Museum
Events in May
Looking forward to next month, we have two events pre-planned for May. For more detailed information on the event taking place, click on the appropriate poster below, and you will be taken to the events page for that day.
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.
Go to the form forEMAIL NOTIFICATIONS
Pete S
