NASAM Update as of the 23rd Nov 2024
In This Edition
Summary of Contents
In this edition of the blog’s “Museum News” we have photos from Steve and a short note on the NASAM Christmas lunch at the Dove hotel. Also from Steve, we have information on a new arrival due in 2025 that will be on loan with us from the Norfolk Tank Museum. Nope, not a tank, but a Skeeter helicopter that will be restored here by the volunteers and then put on display.
Next in this section is news of a BBC program on the discovery of a ditched Hampden that was found in the North Sea. Ian D sent in the information along with pictures of another Hampden being restored by the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre in the Midlands. Bob C, our historian volunteer was interviewed by the BBC as the Flixton Museum has parts of that newly discovered aircraft already on display (dredged up by a trawler many years ago). Gary provided the photos from our own collection of parts from the aircraft in both the wreckology section, and in the Bomber Command Museum.
From the Teams “Inside and Outside – The Museum“, we have an update from Malcolm on his work producing models and dioramas that show the evolution of military aviation during WWI.
In addition, we have a triple update from Barry on the work being undertaken by the Paint Team in December.
Although strictly not “Events Information”, finally, in the blog, we have details of the two days we are open in December (the last opportunity to attend the Museum with free parking and free entry). We have the opening date in 2025 and the admission charges that we, unfortunately, have had to put in place in order to continue to look after the museum site, the various aircraft and the artefacts that have been entrusted to us.
Pete S
Museum News
General news from the Museum
NASAM Christmas Lunch
On Saturday, the 14th of December 2024, the annual member’s Christmas meal took place at The Dove, which looked after us extremely well. We were slightly densely packed, but the upside was that we were all in the same room. Much banter flowed around the room.
After the meal our manager’s wife told us that it had been his birthday (I won’t tell you how many) a couple of days previously and she had kindly arranged a cake.
All in all, a suitable end to a great year for the volunteers.
Steve B
(Photos) NASAM Christmas Lunch
Skeeter XL739
The museum will soon be accepting a new exhibit on loan from Norfolk Tank Museum. The Skeeter helicopter was one of the trials aircraft initially before becoming an active squadron aircraft in the British Army of the Rhine.
It later served as a gate guard at Wattisham Barracks before moving to NTM.
It will be on loan for at least ten years. Initially, it will be in our restoration area. Once restored and repainted it will be placed on display within one of the hangars.
Steve B
Note Ed – When looking up the aircraft on the internet, it shows the following info “XL739 – Skeeter AOP.12 on static display at the Norfolk Tank Museum“.
(Photos) Skeeter at Norfolk Tank Museum
Hampden – North Sea Find
I received an email from a member (Ian D) of the museum the other day, saying that an item was broadcast by the BBC on Look East earlier in the week about a ditched Hampden that had been discovered in the North Sea. The Handley-Page Hampden P2123 had ditched some 80 years ago off Salthouse on the north Norfolk coast. The wreck had been discovered by a diver whilst filming sea life in the area.
Our own volunteer member and historian, Bob C, had also been interviewed as part of the program
The BBC article can be found at:
Why have I mentioned this in the blog ?? …. Well, apart from Bob being interviewed, we have part of that Hampden in our collection. An engine from the aircraft is in our “wreckolgy” area, having been trawled up in the past by fishermen and passed on to the Museum. Some other parts of the aircraft can also be found on-site in our own Bomber Command Museum.
Ian D also mentioned that there had been a big article in the December edition of FlyPast magazine about a Hampden being restored at the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre (MBCC) at the RAF Museum Midlands, with a view to displaying it at the RAF Museum Hendon when complete (minus the wings).
Ian was recently at the MBCC Midlands Museum and took a few photos, which are shown below. Also shown are the artefacts that we have in our collection from the ditched aircraft, along with Bob being interviewed and the ditched Hampden engine as it arrived at Flixton.
Pete S
(Photos) Hampden P2123
Inside and Outside – The Museum
Information from the various teams
MMU Updates
WINTER PROJECT : THE EVOLUTION OF MILITARY AVIATION DURING WORLD WAR 1
Since my last update early in November the new display has been completed.
The new build BE-2C and Zeppelin ‘P’ Class airship have both been finished and these together with 40+ other models depicting aircraft of WW1 have been brought back to Flixton and arranged in the emptied display cabinet. In this process the Model Store has gained from the previous display in excess of a further 100 aircraft models of various scales, most were in reasonable condition and will either be eventually boxed up for future use or for sale, I estimate on a ratio of 50/50. The new display is all based around 1:72 scale models apart from the Zeppelin which is 1:720 (if at same scale I doubt if it would actually fit into the cabinet).
Hopefully what I have achieved is a story of how aviation developed on both sides during the great war. I must admit when starting this project my knowledge of this period in aviation history was lacking but on a visit to Felixstowe shortly after taking on the project I visited a very good second hand book shop (unfortunately can not recall it’s name) and acquired a book titled ‘THEY FOUGHT FOR THE SKY’ by Quentin Reynolds. As well as being a very readable book, its text fitted the theme of the new display perfectly. Having read it from cover to cover I was able to produce 12 short narratives which with the aid of some clear upright stands, purchased from a well known online site, gave an ongoing summary of the main events affecting the birth of the aerial fighting machine.
As well as the models, the display has also been enhanced by two dioramas , one new depicting a scene in front of a German Aircraft Hangar and the second being a Western Front Royal Flying Corps Canvas Hangar which had previously been on show elsewhere in the museum. Scale airman and groundcrew were added to both scenes. To finish the display off two China plates were retained from the previous display and I also found a picture of an aerial battle in the depths of the model store which fitted in perfectly.
Whilst it did take up a lot of time putting the display together, choosing which models fitted into the theme, building new models of types which we did not have examples of but were key to the story, I think the final display should enhance that area of the museum.
A break from the models over the Christmas period but I must give that Valetta priority in the new year.
Malcolm
(Photos) MMU Update
Painters Update
03/12/24 – The windmills of your mind!
You may be wondering whether I’ve lost my mind, let alone have windmills whirring around in there, but Noel Harrison’s 1960’s hit (remember him?) ((no – Ed.)) was the topic of conversation today during the reinstatement of the Mighty Mouse camouflage on the Scout Car. Last week Mark had painted the near side with his made up ‘kakki’ paint. Upon drying, this look rather too glossy, so the first task was to ‘dull down’ the paint with some gentle rubbing with glass wool.
After that, the circle templates for the so called ‘Mighty Mouse’ ears were positioned ready for Barry to do some outlining of the required circles. Hence, (Noel’s) circles were definitely in the minds of the boys (in an otherwise vacuous space) as Mark and Ian proceeded to backfill Barry’s outlines with matt black (see pic).
By lunchtime the job was complete, with a little help from John S’s hairdryer (no, really) to ensure there were no ‘runs’ in the paint this week.
Early doors, the day’s ‘loosener’ exercise was erecting a set of scaff’ (see pic) to enable Tony and Ivor to close the canopy on the Lightning for the winter.
With Cliff having a duvet day and Gwen cleaning stuff, the boys spent the rest of the day sanding and sealing a small display cabinet that Ian H. is going to use to display some ‘Spit bits’ (see pic).
(Photos) Paint Team 03-12-24
10/12/24 – Welcome to the gates of hell!
Yes folks, the gates in question being the Adair Walk’s wrought iron gates which proved to be a right pain in the fundament to paint. With very little flat surface area Mark and Barry had to hand paint all the swirly fiddly bits by hand with very small brushes (see pic). Coverage of the Hammerite Dark Green proved to be patchy at best, particularly on the Adair’s arch (see pic) and therefore we look forward to doing it all again next week (i.e. a second coat). On the plus side, this was a job that could be performed in John’s heated restoration workshop.
The availability of ‘heat’ attracted other parties too. Gwen started the day by giving Ian H’s ‘Spit Bits’ cabinet a coat of wood primer (see pic). After that, Gwen moved on to refresh Colin’s wireless stand thingy with a coat of High Speed Silver (see pic).
Elsewhere, the Skipper (Cliff) went cleaning in Bomber Command while Private Walker sensibly stayed warm by attending his village Xmas Meal instead.
As John and Roger headed off to inspect the Tank Museum’s Skeeter helicopter (that’s coming our way) there were a few mumblings about the Paint Team taking over the Restoration Workshop and filling it with ‘clutter’ as John put it.
Well, when the cat’s away… as they say, the boys hatched a plan to fill the Restoration Workshop with even more clutter! During his cleaning of Bomber Command spotted that the Mosquito model hanging from the cleaning was looking rather tired and in need of some TLC. Therefore, the boys set about getting it down from the ceiling (see pic). Once down, the ground handling team (Mark and Cliff) took over and set about transporting the Mozzie to the other end of the museum (see pic). With the roller doors up the Mozzie was then ‘parked’ in its new hangar, ok, the Resto workshop (see pic).
When John and Roger returned from the Tank Museum, Barry suggested that what they really needed instead of the Skeeter was a ‘Moss-skeeter’ up in the workshop. Much guffawing ensued over a cuppa and confectionery.
(Photos) Paint Team 10-12-24
17/12/24 – Welcome back to the gates of Hell!
After last week’s streaky patchy first coat on the gates and lack of any coat to the back of the Adair Walk archway, the boys took up station again in the (heated) Restoration Workshop. Running on a rich diet of Mince Pies and Millionaire’s choccy yummy cookie things, good progress was made in the morning (see pic) and by lunchtime the gates and archway were looking fit for purpose.
STOP PRESS: Man preps and sands an entire aircraft in just one day! Barry must have been working at warp speed to finish a whole aircraft in a day! Or maybe the aircraft in question was very small. OK folks, I must ‘fess up at this point. The aircraft in question was the 8-foot Mosquito model from Bomber Command. At the start of the day the Mozzie was looking very dirty and all the decals were peeling off (see pic).
During the course of the day Barry took down the measurements of all the decals before giving the Mozzie a very thorough clean with soapy water. He then used some white spirit to remove the sticky residue left behind by the decals. After that, Barry gave the whole aircraft a light sand (see pic).
Some debate ensued regarding the construction of the Mozzie model. Not so much a ‘wooden wonder’ more a combo of fibre glass, some plastic, some ply and possibly some wood veneer. If anyone at El Museo knows for sure, can they please let me know as some repairs are required, especially to the ‘veneer’ on the wing skins.
By the end of the day the Mozzie was de-decaled, cleaned and sanded (see pic). Next time should see some repairs taking place, prior to paint. We will also use our new vinyl cutter to produce some much sharper decals.
One other repair/replacement required is the bomb aimer’s blister on the nose. This looks like it has had one repair before but now the whole thing ideally needs replacing (see pic). If anyone knows where I might get such a blister (or more likely how one could be fabricated) please let me know. The model scale is rather weird which probably won’t help either. The wingspan is 8 feet, whereas the real thing is 54 feet 2 inches = 1:6.8 scale?!
Anyways, signing off for Crimbly now. Do have yourselves a good one and ‘I’ll be back’ in the New Year. Pip pip!
Barry
(Photos) Paint Team 17-12-24
Event Information
What next at the Museum
Next at the Museum
It is not strictly an event at the Museum, but just a reminder that we are still open on the following days in December and still free to enter and park on these two days.
- We will be open on Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th of December from 1000 thru to 1500.
- Please note that not all areas may be open during these days.
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Reopening in 2025
The Museum will reopen after our winter maintenance period on Wednesday, the 19th of February 2025. We will go back to our usual hours from 1000 through to 1600, and the opening days will be the same as in 2024 on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and all Bank Holiday Mondays.
More information can be found on our events page, where Graham explains things in more detail. To go to the events page, click on the “Welcome Back” below:
2025 Admission Charges
The reopening of the Museum in February 2025 will see the museum charging admission for the first time in order to ensure we have the finances available to continue to display the various aircraft and artefacts linked to both aviation and East Anglia. We take pride in maintaining this view of the heritage that we have been entrusted with. For details of the charging in 2025, click on the button below.
Click to see theMUSEUM CHARGES
Pete S
The Repeat Info
Here we are near the end of 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 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
Great write up.