East Fortune Concorde secured.

Originally posted by RadarArchive
I must say, though, it will be quite something to see a building with both the Concorde and the Comet inside. British civil jet aviation at both ends of the scale.

From my previous post, you’ll notice that it is my understanding that the plans are to get not only the Concorde, but also the Comet and Vulcan under cover. It may well be that the museum is taking the opportunity of Concorde unlocking Scottish Executive cash in order to achieve this, which has always been a long-term aim anyway.

Yes well said they should also get the Vulcan and Commet inside before they rot away.

Ok people if you have a look at the EF website and then the Concorde link and read it through it would seem like they plan to put the Comet inside aswell but it may only mean that it is on the same site as the Concorde and not actually inside the hangar.

Personally I would have thought with a bit of planning the Concorde and Comet could go inside one of the hangars and then they could even get the vulcan inside aswell. Perhaps the aircraft would need the tail section removed to get the things inside but once inside the rest is history really.

What do you guys think.

Probably even still some space left for a couple more smaller ones.

Cmon EF how about putting the Bucc back inside too.

I am really pleased to see that EF has got a Concorde.

I hope this will also mean that they put the Comet under cover. The Comet was a far more significant aeroplane than Concorde – first jet airliner, first scheduled service across the pond by jet airliner etc etc.

Concorde was a marvellous achivement, but it ended up as a taxi for rich men and film stars.

Cheers

Bruce

The improvements being made to the A1 from Edinburgh will no doubt make car travel to East Fortune easier. I’m sure that, being signposted from this major route helps to catch “passing trade” as well.

Originally posted by DaveB
Duxford has a free bus from Cambridge City Centre and railway station. Presumeably they get more visitors than most though….

Interesting to know, but even Cambridge isn’t particularly easy to get to except by car. Not being on the East Coast main railway line, for a lot of people it involves getting the train to London and then another train back out again. Admittedly, for Londoners it’s easier, but the fact that you still have to get the train and then change to the bus will, I’m sure, put a lot of people off. But it’s probably more worthwhile putting up with the hassles to see regular flying taking place at Duxford.

At the end of the day, most aviation museums are based on active or disused aerodromes and no aerodrome is in a city centre! so by definition, aviation museums are relatively difficult to get to for most people.

Duxford has a free bus from Cambridge City Centre and railway station. Presumeably they get more visitors than most though….

Originally posted by Buddy Boy
Didn’t realise they had tried before with public transport.

I do feel that it does suffer from it’s location though in being able to attract visitors staying in Edinburgh. Anytime I’m on holiday I try and find an aviation museum (to my wife’s despair!). Wonder how many people do the same, but find it too far out of Edinburgh if you don’t have a car?

Then again if no-one used the service I’m not sure what else could be done.

I know this is a sweeping generalisation, but many, if not most, aviation museums tend not to be easily accessible by public transport. The most obvious exception is Hendon, but I assume that Duxford isn’t easy to get to except by car? I must admit I drive and have visited numerous different museums. One of the most out of the way has to be the Tank Museum which is hard to find even by car.

Anyway, my point is that the Museum of Flight is by no means alone in being primarily a drive-to museum, but most people in the UK either have a car or access to one, so I wouldn’t have thought this was a major problem. The MoF gets 60,000 visitors a year, which isn’t bad for an out of Edinburgh museum, but it certainly has the potential to get a lot more visitors. The arrival of the Concorde should give it the publicity to attract a substantial increase from next summer onwards.

Concorde is national icon and as such I believe that the Lottery would look very kindly on any application which helped protected such an important exhibit. The only problem with Lottery funding is that they like to have ‘land mark’ buildings, aka American Air Museum Duxford, these cost twice as much as the simple ‘tin shed’ which is quite adiquate to house Concorde, Vulcan and Comet. Time is also a problem with Lottery funding because of the necessary competitive tendering.

DOUGHNUT

Didn’t realise they had tried before with public transport.

I do feel that it does suffer from it’s location though in being able to attract visitors staying in Edinburgh. Anytime I’m on holiday I try and find an aviation museum (to my wife’s despair!). Wonder how many people do the same, but find it too far out of Edinburgh if you don’t have a car?

Then again if no-one used the service I’m not sure what else could be done.

Originally posted by Buddy Boy
BBC News site yesterday were reporting an £8m redevelopment of the whole museum, with the Exec providing £2m. One MSP was however questioning the lack of public transport to East Fortune, which is probably one of it’s main problems in terms of attracting visitors.

Similar details appear in today’s edition of
The Scotsman, although I assume everything is still dependant on the NMS being able to purchase land adjacent to the existing site, since scheduling means they cannot build on the airfield.

As regards lack of public transport, IIRC the museum organised a daily return bus service from Edinburgh in conjunction with East Lothian council, but this was eventually withdrawn because almost no-one used it. People calling for increased public transport are usually those who get to and from work in chauffeur-driven limousines! If there’s no demand for a public bus service to the museum, why spend money providing one. I don’t see such a service being provided unless it is heavily subsidised.

BBC News site yesterday were reporting an £8m redevelopment of the whole museum, with the Exec providing £2m. One MSP was however questioning the lack of public transport to East Fortune, which is probably one of it’s main problems in terms of attracting visitors.

But, hopefully this might mean the Vulcan and Comet will get indoors!

Full details of which BA’s Concorde’s are going where (and when) can be found on ConcordeSST.com here

Originally posted by David Burke
Maybe the Scottish Executive could fund a hanger seeing as they can spend £400 million on their parliament building when it should have cost £40 !

Perhaps! Certainly, when the National Museums of Scotland built the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, it opened on 30 November 1998 on time and on budget, so the NMS have a good record of cost-effective construction programmes. It may be that funding has already been arranged, and I hope these plans to come to fruition. I’d just like to see details of where the money is coming from before I can rest assured that a hangar will be built for Concorde. I must say, though, it will be quite something to see a building with both the Concorde and the Comet inside. British civil jet aviation at both ends of the scale.

Check out the Museum of Flight website for details. Its BOAA, and its going there in the Spring.:D 😀 😀 😀

How will it get to East Fortune??:confused:

Maybe the Scottish Executive could fund a hanger seeing as they can spend £400 million on their parliament building when it should have cost £40 !

The website of NMS records that the East Fortune aircraft will be G-BOAA.

I’m delighted to admit I was wrong (in a posting in another thread), and that the Museum of Flight is one of the museums to receive a Concorde.

As regards preservation vis-a-vis the Vulcan and Comet, the museum supposedly has plans for a building to house it. How this will work I don’t know, since the airfield is scheduled and they cannot build any new buildings on the existing site. The National Museums of Scotland don’t have the money to buy adjacent land (unless the Scottish Executive gives them a one-off payment) so I honestly don’t see what they’re going to do with the aircraft.

However, it is good for the museum and should help get NMS management off their backsides and invest in the museum, something which is long overdue.

Does this mean they will have a new wreck to keep the Comet and Vulcan company in a few years??:confused: :confused:

Cheers, me old shuttersqueezer.