NASAM BLOG as of the 24th Jan 2026

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In This Edition

Summary of Contents

In this edition of the Blogs “Museum News“, a reminder that we reopen on the 18th February 2026.

From the “Teams At The Museum“, we have a double update from the Paint Team, a week one update from Mark K and a second week update from Barry.

Under the “Events Information“, we republish the events so far booked by Gary, the Museum Manager. We will add to this list as we move forward through the year.

Pete S

Museum News

General News from or about the Museum

Reopening in February 2026

Remember that we are currently closed for maintenance work and that we will reopen on the 18th of February 2026.

Teams At The Museum

News from the Various Team

News from the Paint Team

13/01/26 – First work week of the New Year

With the temperature starting at minus six degrees, the Paint Team had decided to skip Tuesday, 6th January, so Tuesday, 13th was their first of the new year.

Unfortunately for Barry, the deep freeze had left him sitting still at home for too long, and his better half had politely requested he consider decorating a couple of rooms. He’s hoping to finish those rooms in time to rejoin the team next week.

But for those that did make it, Cliff (on a rare Tuesday appearance) did his HSE walk around before settling in Bomber Command, whilst Gwen gave the Valetta cockpit floor a good clean before joining Ian and Mark in tidying the 446th Bomb Group display.

Mark set about removing cobwebs from pretty well every nook and cranny, leaving Ian and Gwen busy cleaning display cabinets. These cabinets included the one that shows the engraved bricks from the old Ditchingham Maltings, (see pics) – “Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone”.

Later on, the boys swapped jobs, with Ian taking over cobweb removal. Sadly, it all proved to be too much for the poor Henry (see pic) which started clogging up with tedious regularity. Rumours that Ian fired the whole of that ammunition belt at said Henry are only slightly exaggerated.

A new smoke detector completed preparation of the 446th Bomb Group display, ahead of the museum’s reopening in February, leaving Ian and Mark about an hour to help Cliff clean yet more cabinets in Bomber Command.

Mark K

(Photos) Painters 13/01/26

20/01/26 – Who needs the Red Arrows when you’ve got the Red Rollers!

Yes folks, Flixton has its own aerial display team (see pic)! Here you can see the team in three-ship formation with Red 1 (Mark) in the lead position, with Red 2 (Ian W.) off his starboard wing and Red 3 (Gwen) to port. Having recently secured their PDA, the team went through their full low cloud base routine, flying along literally a couple of feet off the ground, with full smoke (er… paint) on. More importantly, by lunchtime, they had managed to repaint the ‘scuffed’ Main Hangar floor area just to the starboard side of the Jag.

Elsewhere, Barry went into full ‘Marigolds’ mode and spent the day cleaning several aircraft adjacent to Luftwaffe Weg. First up was the Sea Hawk, which got a hoover and a wash (see pic). Next, it was the turn of the Gnat. During the cleaning process, Barry noticed that the specially fabricated backplate to the cockpit was looking rather shabby, and the white hardboard had gone soft and flaky (see pic). After a bit of solution-ising, John S. and Roger took possession of said backplate and toddled off to the Restoration Workshop to effect some repairs.

After luncheon, it was on to the PR Canberra for a hoover out and a wipe over. During the vacuuming process, an interesting discovery was made (see pic), which begs the question. “Where’s Ken?”

Having possibly sat in their chairs for too long over lunch, the Red Rollers noticed that some of the NAAFI chair legs had gone mouldy and black. This may have been due to their natural wood finish. Various anti-mould cleaning lotions and potions were then tried, but to no avail. It was therefore concluded that a sanding back was going to be required, followed by a coat of Woodstain to cover up any remaining marks. Red 1 then undertook a proof of concept (see pic).

Back over on the Weg, Barry completed today’s Wash & Go by giving Spitfire TD248 a clean (see pic). After that, there was just to time to fit the refurbished cockpit backplate back onto the Gnat (see pic). Thanks to John and Roger for a top job, having replaced the old hardboard with clear plastic sheeting that now allows one to see more of pilot’s seat.

Barry

(Photos) Painters 20/01/26

Event information

What’s next at the Museum

Upcoming in 2026

A few dates for your diary …

The Repeat Information

Funding

We are a charitable organisation, relying now on admission charges, grants and donations from the people that visit. Any and all help is greatly appreciated 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”.

Would you like to help??

One of the ways we save money is by having a dedicated group of volunteers who keep the Museum and its exhibits both manned and maintained. We hope, that a few people would consider helping in any the three ways below:

Help by becoming a Museum Member, by volunteering to help at the Museum, or by making a Donation to help with our running costs. To learn more about these three methods of assistance, please click the corresponding button below to access the relevant 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 what is going on at the Museum throughout 2026, you can follow us on Social Media (see the Social Media buttons below) or alternatively, you can be emailed every time a new blog is published. To register for these email notifications, please click on the button below and complete the form. We will take care of the rest.