By: WZ862 - 24th May 2018 at 11:44
East Fortune. I think we need to be a little careful. I have been back in the last month after an absence of several years. While one hangar has (No1?) has been closed because there is too much in there for the public to enter safely, I did think the revised layout and interactive boards in the other hangars was much better and the whole more family friendly. Why is this important? Because if you don’t catch ’em young, you don’t generally catch ’em as they have fallen for something else. Secondly for those who abhor aircraft outside, corroding, like me, I understand East Fortune has purchased/obtained access to land just outside the listed site boundary and is building a new hangar to house all outside exhibits. I enjoyed my day more than I expected based on my previous visit and wish them well. Things are changing.
By: D1566 - 24th May 2018 at 08:10
Even East Fortune, which is one of our national museums up here, doesn’t seem that interested in the appearance of their outdoor airframes
Last time I called in there, a year or so back, they seemed to be having quite a session of cleaning – the Comet was being done by a team with access platforms etc.
Just checked, it was nearly 4 years ago …
https://flic.kr/p/ptXm9o
By: Seafuryfan - 23rd May 2018 at 19:35
A search quickly revealed more information on this aircraft, including how it was to be displayed:
By: Meddle - 23rd May 2018 at 15:39
I use Imgur to host images. I upload them and set them to ‘private’, but I can still link to them here and elsewhere. On this forum, the trick is to untick ‘Retrieve remote file and reference locally’, as presumably this uses up storage space dished out to each user.
Images or not, corrosion and general deterioration is an issue for most if not all outdoor Vulcans. Beyond getting cooked in the sun, I imagine XM606 at Barksdale, Louisiana, has a slightly easier time of it than the various B2s languishing outside elsehwhere. Goose Bay’s weather is probably horrible for airframes, even when compared to ours here in the UK, hence the apparent deterioration reported here.
Having said that, I saw photos of East Fortune’s example recently (possibly on here, but maybe on Facebook) and it is starting to look a little rough. Sadly, and with all the will in the world, I do think that Vulcans are simply ‘too much aircraft’ for smaller museums to deal with as outdoor attractions. Even East Fortune, which is one of our national museums up here, doesn’t seem that interested in the appearance of their outdoor airframes. NEAM, Midland Air Museum, et al might have some uncomfortable decisions on the horizon. B.2s survive in abundance when compared to the rest of the V Bomber fleet so can we, and do we need to, save them all?
By: Peter - 23rd May 2018 at 14:11
due to image upload issues on the forum I cant post pictures taken yesterday
By: Arabella-Cox - 23rd May 2018 at 13:13
Obvious, I know, it would have a much better chance of a longer life if it was undercover…….
By: Sabrejet - 23rd May 2018 at 13:06
The F-101 looked neater last time I was at Goose Bay too: but I’d imagine a ton of snow on those Vulcan wings would be the biggest concern, given the years and a fair bit of corrosion.
By: Meddle - 23rd May 2018 at 12:34
A quick Google of XL361 drags up historic photos of it looking quite smart. Unfortunately I found Google Streetview ‘Photo Sphere’ imagery from last year that shows it is in rough cosmetic condition:
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May 23, 2018 at 1:44 am