NASAM BLOG as of the 13th Feb 2026
In This Edition
Summary of Contents
In this short edition of the Blog, under the “Museum News” section, we have details about the date of the museum’s reopening for the 2026 season. This provides details of the days we will be open and the events already booked into the museum diary.
From the “Teams At The Museum“, we have the Paint Team updates from Barry covering the first two weeks of February at the Museum.
Pete S
Museum News
General News from or about the Museum
Reopening Date
- 3rd April 2026
- 10th April 2026
- 31st July 2026
- 7th August 2026
- 14th August 2026
- 21st August 2026
- 28th August 2026
2026 Event Dates – So Far
Teams At The Museum
News from the Various Team
Paint Team Update
03/02/26 – Flooring it!
With the temperature upon arrival a heady 3 degrees, and probably even less in the Main Fridge er… Hangar, the first job of the day was to put on a second pair of socks!
Suitably kitted up, the team picked up where they left off last week.
Gwen soon knocked off the staining of the legs of the remaining 4 NAAFI chairs (see pic) and by lunchtime all chairs were back in situ. Cunningly the new dark woodstain of the chair legs seemed to make the NAAFI tables appear larger than they actually are. An optical illusion perhaps.
On the other side of the Main Hangar, Ian W. took the lead in repainting the floor adjacent to the Ejection Seat display (see pic).
While Ian was playing at being ‘Red One’ roller, Mark and Barry went off to give the floor in Bomber Command a quick sweep and wash prior to re-opening. Mark celebrated his appointment as new Paint Team Leader by taking the lead with the BC mopping (and very happy he looks too – see pic).
Before luncheon, there was just time to repaint the section of hangar floor in front of the Bric-a-Brac shelving (see pic).
The afternoon was spent tidying away all the floor painting equipment. Barry (now I/C Paint Store) also made a start on re-organising and de-cluttering the Paint Store and by close of play, the dumpsters were fairly full!
(Photos) Paint Team 03/02/26
10/02/26 – Time for a wash and brush up!
Yes folks, it’s that time of the year again when we ‘fire up the Karchers’ and get washing the external exhibits!
Down in the front paddock, and with the recent incessant wet weather, the F100 was looking decidedly ‘green’ (see pic). With visitors due back through the gates next week El Supremo (Gary) suggested that it might be a good idea to give the aircraft near the entrance a bit of a spruce up. Always happy to oblige, Mark and Ian W. set about blasting off all the grime (see pic).
With drizzle in the air, Gwen sensibly decided to look for inside jobs and the ‘Queen of Green’ became the ‘Baroness of Blue’ as she repainted a number of engine stands in the Main Hangar.
Back in the drizzle Barry turned his attention, and his Karcher, onto Canberra WH840. With the Canberra being top of the shop for a repaint in 2026, Barry was keen to get some of the grime off (see pic) before the sanding starts in the Spring. Using the K7, the most powerful pressure washer we have, Barry started washing the underside of the starboard wing. It soon became apparent that the 7 year old paint on the underside of the wing was not well adhered as it proceeded to fall off the aircraft in large flakes. By accident, it seemed Barry had discovered new form of media blasting! The ‘media’ being water, which is no bad thing as it is non-destructive. By the end of the day probably two thirds of the under wing paint had been ‘removed’ thus potentially saving a lot of back ache and sanding time prepping the underside of the wing (see pic).
Lunch was accompanied by the breaking out of a box of Celebrations to celebrate a very positive set of sporting results over the weekend, including the mighty Seattle Seahawks winning the Superbowl (hurrah!).
In the arvo, Mark and Ian completed the washing of the F100 that now looks rather less green (see pic). Well done lads. There was also time to pressure wash half of the Javelin. The other half will be completed next week.
Meanwhile back at the Canberra, Barry moved upstairs and started to wash the top side of the starboard wing. Rather surprisingly conditions here, and the reaction to the K7, proved to be quite different. Although a lot of the silver paint had thinned and gone very dull, there was nowhere near the same level of flaking. That said, there was quite a bit of algae to remove. By the end of the day the starboard wing and outer fuel pod were looking less grimy (see pic), although there will be an extra job to do to clear up all the paint flakes (when it’s a bit drier perhaps)!
Barry
(Photos) Paint Team 10/02/26
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
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Pete S
