CockpitFest 2012

It’s good to be able to report that all of the 2012 Winner / Supporter display panels have now been positioned in Hangar 2 – albeit in a slightly rearranged format due to the extra prize winners from this year’s event. People who attend the October Indoor Aeroboot will be able to see them! 🙂

On a slightly disappointing note (from NAM’s perspective 🙁 ) I can also report that the cockpit of former ‘biz-jet’ HS-125-3B, G-AVAI left the museum last weekend after a stay of just under 12 months. Hopefully this will be back on display at Cockpit-Fest 2013.

Finally, whilst on the subject of cockpits good luck to everyone attending Cockpit-Fest USA this coming weekend! 🙂

It’s good to be able to report that all of the 2012 Winner / Supporter display panels have now been positioned in Hangar 2 – albeit in a slightly rearranged format due to the extra prize winners from this year’s event. People who attend the October Indoor Aeroboot will be able to see them! 🙂

On a slightly disappointing note (from NAM’s perspective 🙁 ) I can also report that the cockpit of former ‘biz-jet’ HS-125-3B, G-AVAI left the museum last weekend after a stay of just under 12 months. Hopefully this will be back on display at Cockpit-Fest 2013.

Finally, whilst on the subject of cockpits good luck to everyone attending Cockpit-Fest USA this coming weekend! 🙂

PDF files of the August Dispersal have just been emailed out to Cockpiteers and supporters who I have current email addresses for – c/w an offer to post out printed copies on receipt of an up to date postal address.

Apologies for anyone I’ve not got contact details for – if you PM me an email address or postal address I will send off a copy!

After a busy few weeks I’ve finally found a bit of time to look at my ‘To Do List’ and I see that I have not yet circulated the Cockpit-Fest 2012 Group Photo – sorry! 😮

With that in mind would people prefer to receive a printed version, or would the ‘masses’ be happy with me emailing out a JPG file – a bit of feedback would be appreciated so I can decide what’s best to do; thanks in advance!

A couple of late afternoon updates have been added to the NAM News Page about the autumn Aeroboot and some new kits in stock in the Museum Shop.

JETS V WW2 & HANGAR DISPLAYS

Thanx Jason for posting the link to one of the most friendliest forums on the web!
llers.

I love cockpitfest to death and have been and displayed at every one with my stuff. I realised a long time ago that Jet cockpits are more glamourous and have the bigger fan base there than WW2 and the hangar displays – which is fine.

I think I’ve only ever missed one C Fest when a family wedding needed my photographic input (think it was the year the Lib flight deck was on display) and in comparing the more glamorous aspects of the jets V interior displays then people can often not realise what they are missing.

This year was my first in displaying a cockpit but I still kept my hand in and juggled the logistics to do a hangar table display as well, with a strong emphasis on kit and instrumentation as usual, which Bill agreed would be a grand idea when we first put it to him ‘all those years ago’.

Its not just cockpiters that put in lots of hour on projects and I remember a wry smile when someone mentioned during the show that they hadn’t had much sleep for two nights, but they got off lightly as some of us had been at it on and off for months, so that to make just one Falklands montage picture of images and memorabilia alone took from 9.00pm after work one evening until 3.00am the next to lay it out, then 10.00pm till 5.00am the following evening to glue it all together and seal it all off.

Three days were needed 3 years ago to make a special vertical stand to hold a Jag throttle box and hand controller and you don’t really need to look closely to see that some people have made huge efforts indoors to entertain the public with their love of a particular subject(s).

Terry Musson used to do some great ‘in-progress’ PC sim displays while in recent years another guy had a fully working airliner and a whole battery of 4 computers to run it all, so there are many considered inputs that both the public and cockpiters should have a look at – maybe some affordable PC signage can be on the hangar to highlight the interior stuff to the public next time.

Bill Fern and some friends were certainly impressed with what he saw this year at some of the tables and I remember Neil Airey and friend a year or two ago being struck unexpectedly when visiting late on the Sunday by another Lightning hangar display that saw an F.1 fin top, articles, a brand new swan-neck column complete and a polished 56 Sqdn panel and period ads combining to make another special presentation.

3-4 years ago there were a number of excellent displays that we noted saw little throughput and I think it was partly down to the hangar door not being open, which made everyone’s head throb and feel a bit faint in the stale and humid hangar atmosphere of a hot weekend; Bill duly took note of this for the future.

This aside, a number of people sometimes don’t bother to go into the hangars to see what is on offer while in some years there have been more of the public noted looking at tables than Cockpiters.

This is a shame as it took some years to see the displays recognized with an award and this year again there were some great tables for the public and cockpiters to view with the RAF Manby College of Air Warfare, the consistently high standard of the well-thought out AAR and helmet displays from the Cold War Intercept team and the ever-professional Vulcan table of Steve Austin, which was given an award.

Newcomer Mike Eskriett impressed initially at the V Fest this year and followed it up with another excellent C.Fest display framed by a complete outer section of VC-10 as a backdrop. I’d show some of these but my pic allowance is nearing the end of what I think is permitted uploading, so I’ll try to post some elsewhere and use what is left for important image posts till it expires.

Jet cockpits will always be most popular and they are certainly the first thing you see when you go through the ‘Fest gates, but I hope more people remember to go into the hangar table displays and look closely at the thought and dedication which has gone into making another sector of the event so interesting since its inception – you will be pleasantly surprised.
😉

CHIPPY COCKPIT

Thanks for the support Anon.

But what realy hurt was being pushed down there to make room for a totaly non aviation item!!

On arrival, I was told that we should have been where the Army lorry was parked, next to anothe DH icon, the 125 cockpit, which would have been great. We know we don’t exactly turn up with world shattering projects each year, but we do work very hard to be there at all.

Still I got my own back!!!!! So next year I will be luck if we are not left outside the gates!!!!!

I’m usually a jet person Rich but I really enjoyed the chippY cockpit you both put together including the personal touches in it, it really looked the part and look forward to seeing it again.

C.FEST LAYOUT PROBS

As for the Cockpit-Fest layout I wasn’t involved with the location selections, but whatever we seem to try, we always manage to not get it quite right for someone – apologies if that was you!

I see that the themed areas idea has come round again, this was much discussed on another thread and almost forgotten; and yet here we are again!

Newark staff have been nothing if not accommodating in their efforts over the years to get it right and we all know that if anything crops up as a problem it will be looked at next time so that the refinement goes on as ever.

Actually trying to refine things as the museum changes in its offer and layout also dosen’t help staff but whatever is decided on will come about as the result of feedback, so its helpful to list any probs as they occur.

Maybe at a later date ideas like the themed area can be voted on either by separate mail or just by a show of mails back in to this thread, and possibly when a better idea of 2013 exhibits are known nearer the time.
😎

I’ll have to keep an eye on this one! 😀

Not yet, still in the planning and feasibility stage. If it comes off success will be measured by the column inches on the forum rather than trophies.

Do I presume from that post that I need to start looking for a ‘new supporter’? 😉

Be carefull what you wish for Howard, just imagine what would happen if 30 pluss pimped cockpits turned up!!

It’s too late to warn him, planning has started.

It’s a good job you have us all to look out for you Howard

It’s a good job you have us all to look out for you Howard, I dread to think what trouble you could get in to if left to your own devices!!!

I was loosely aware of what I was leaving the event open for; hence the “Mental aberration!” annotation in the update section – that said what I hadn’t accounted for in the original statement was ……………… 😮

Mind you, it would create yet another interesting “cross over” with the kit car guy’s!!!!!

Be carefull what you wish for Howard

Be carefull what you wish for Howard, just imagine what would happen if 30 pluss pimped cockpits turned up!!

And knowing how the likes of Anon and Pully always show the rest of us up, it could be quite a spectacle!! And Rocketeer and GeeDee with retro WW2 pimped rigs, its mind boggling to think what could happen.

Mind you, it would create yet another interesting “cross over” with the kit car guy’s!!!!!

😀 “Spectrum is green!” – it’s your ‘destiny’ to win the next ‘Pimp your cockpit award!’ 😀

Now there’s a thought – if anyone is up for the challenge for 15th & 16th June 2013 – a ‘pimped cockpit award’ I’ll sort out a supporter for the category!!

Any takers? :diablo:

I love WV838 🙂 Amazing to see the transformation when you see how it started. Maybe someday I’ll own her!:D

C.FEST SEA HAWK PROJECT AFTERMATH

Thanks to NAM staff for waiting for me when I brought the Sea Hawk up the dodgy A17 on the Thursday before the Fest. Thanks too for looking after her and letting me do some further remedial work on her while she was up there after the weekend.

What a shame I couldn’t get it all done in time for the Fest but it looked pretty impressive when I rolled her out of NAM on Thursday 21st to head back down south. The B-25 Mitchell gunship nose on ‘838 has given her a nice revamp – amazing what you can do with some fibre glass and broom handles and its added a few more teeth to her armoury, but I haven’t worked out yet where all the bullet feeds will go…

The B-25 J side armament pods on the van went well with the existing paint scheme too and had to be staggered to allow for the fuel cap flap on the port side. The decals and remove before flight items came in handy while the port Tornado roof refuelling probe took some work to rig up some internal supports for, but its all worked out OK.

I considered trialing it all at Beltring this year to see how it goes, but the thought of the now legendary sanitary arrangements made me think otherwise. Hope it dosen’t all affect my insurance premiums anyway, d’you think I ought to update the DVLA on things? 😮

Another question about the lightning. What is the red frame over the windshield? Been bugging me for ages :p

Hi Fouga,

The red frame is a protective cover that was fitted over the main screen to protect the screen when ever the aircraft was being serviced or worked on in the hangar.

Martyn

Black on the Hurri!!

Well I had to get you on to the Hurricane some how:dev2:, how about the panels on that? You have instruments fitted with non painted screw heads. What would would you advise, to black or not to black that is the question!!

Cheers.

Ant. ( HOPING TO MAKE TO COCKPITFEST 2013, WITH SOMETHING !);)