NASAM Update as of the 10th Apr 2025
In This Edition
Summary of Contents
In this short edition of the blog, the “Museum News” section suggests a couple of dates for your diary when the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will give a flypast of both Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft, subject to weather and operational commitments.
From the Teams “Inside and Outside – The Museum“, we have a double from Barry and the Paint Team.
In the “Event Information” section, we have listed all the event dates at the Museum that are currently planned.
Pete S
Museum News
General news from the Museum
Advance Notice – BofB Flypasts
The event days that we will be organising at the Museum are listed below under the “Event Information” section. However, it is worth a diary entry now that we have two bookings agreed with the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight that they will, subject to weather and operational commitments on the day, perform flypasts on the following two dates when the museum is open:
- Saturday, the 10th of May 2025, flypast by a Hurricane aircraft
- Saturday, the 24th of May 2025, flypast by both a Spitfire and a Hurricane
The timing of the flypast will be notified on the day.
Pete S
Inside and Outside – The Museum
Information from the various teams
Paint Team Updates
25/03/25 – It’s a dirty old business!
Yes folks, the team were getting down and dirty this week as the Pressure Washing-athon continued.
Up in the front paddock the ‘A’ team (Mark and Ian W.) turned their attention to the Sea Vixen. The port wing, which is located under a tree canopy, was especially grubby as Mark made his mark, quite literally (see pic 01). As the morning progressed, the boys made their way from front to back, with Ian finishing off the tail just before lunch (see pic 02). The paint on the Vix held up fairly well, although it was easy to leave wet footprints behind in the rather ‘powdery’ topcoat.
Out in front of the Main Hangar the ‘B’ team (Cliff and Barry) set up shop next to the Jet Provost, and it was nice to see the JP in all it’s glory once the cockpit cover had been removed (see pic 03), (Note to Ed. -perhaps we could do this on open days too?). I’m pleased to report that the paintwork on the JP is in pretty good condition, although there was a lot of dirt and algae ingrained in both the white upper and grey lower halves of the aircraft.
In the arvo, the ‘A’ team moved on to the Whirlwind. Last painted in 2022, it was disappointing to note how badly the paint has deteriorated (see pic 04). We are starting to wonder whether this is due to the fact that the primer was put on in Autumn 2021, but the topcoat not applied until the following Spring. We also experimented with applying a clearcoat varnish to increase the longevity of the red paint, and this doesn’t seem to have worked particularly well either. Evidently there is a ‘DANGER’ (see pic 05) that further paint will be removed as the whirlybird bakes out over this summer!
In further depressing news, the ‘B’ team moved on to the F27 post-luncheon. During the cleaning process large swathes of white paint were removed, especially around the cockpit windows for some reason. By close of play the F27 had probably turned into an F26.5 (see pic 06)! The last hour of the day was then spent pressure washing some of the paths over by 446 and the ROC, essentially putting off the task of washing the Valetta until next week!
(Photos) Paint Team 25/03/25 Update
01/04/25 – Wave your magic wand!
With the weather evidently stuck in ‘dry, sunny, but with a chilly wind’ mode, the team wrapped up and tooled up for yet another day of pressure washing.
In the front paddock the ‘A’ team (Mark and Ian W.) had a go at the; tricky to get to; Whirlwind rotor blades with the Karcher long wand.
In midfield the ‘B’ team (Cliff and Barry) got stuck into the Valetta, starting at the rear and working forwards as the day went on. By mid-morning the elevators were done, and Mark brought his long wand up to the Valetta so that Cliff could get to the uppermost parts of the Valetta tailfin (see pic 07).
By lunchtime, the back half of the Valetta had been cleaned. With the aid of the blue steps and the long wand, Barry also managed to clean the port wing without having to physically get onto it. A good thing as the Valetta’s paintwork is still very glossy after 2 years (and intact) thus reducing the amount of available grip in the wellie department.
Post-meridian, Cliff cleaned the starboard engine and wing (see pic 08) while Barry got to the highest points of the front fuselage, again with the help of said long wand (a great purchase).
After the rotor blades the ‘A’ team moved into midfield and made quick work of cleaning the T28. In the arvo, Mark and Ian W. tackled the Pucara, taking care not to set foot on it, or go under it, due to the perilous state of the droopy port wing (see pic 09). It was touch and go for a while as to whether one more blast with the K7 would finish it off for good!
Barry
(Photos) Paint Team 01/04/25 Update
Event Information
What next at the Museum
Upcoming Events in 2025
The current list of events booked by the Museum Manager are shown below. More details on each event will be posted here and on our events pages as the date approaches. Stay tuned to the blog to see any updates.
Also, add to your diaries the dates for the flypast of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight aircraft, which you can find at the top of this blog
Pete S
The Repeat Info
Here we are, the start of a new year, and despite the fact that we will now raise some monies through our admission charges, 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 some grants and 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
