Hand Held @ Hendon – 12Jan13

WOW! Superb quality pics. Well Done! Any chance of the JU88 Pic on you next visit?

re;

I know kind of what the public likes to see. I work in a 1766 farmhouse. we had the fire going, cakes on the range, tea on the hob and kids playing board games by the fire.

Of course the management stopped it and now the kitchen sits there lifeless. And we dont get guestbook entries like “the kids have never seen anything like it” any more.

We are not even allowed a shooting range.

David.
I like you loved those upstairs galleries, with the models, the figures and dioramas and had I had any sort of say, they would still be open.
Do you remember that when you came downstairs from the VC/GC gallery at the far end there was a Rolls Royce armoured car in a 1920’s Iraq/India scene, complete with figure with pith helmet?
I loved all that.
Still, as I said, I was pleased with the day out I had.
I never thought the highlight of a day at Hendon would looking at a Lightning.
I confess, with my love of early aviation I often just walk past jets.

And that of course is the danger.
Recently at the collection we had donated a home-built 150cc Triumph engined motorcycle (sometimes called a DMW).
We assembled it (not hugely enthusiastically I have to say), ran it and put it on display, somewhat discreetly at the back.
Then a few Sundays later I was walking around and noticed a visitor craning his neck to look at something at the back. I asked him if he was OK and he said ‘I’d love to see that DMW properly, but you’ve stuck it at the back’.
I was soon able to rectify that for him and he was really made up. He reckoned seeing it had made the trip worth it. Apparently him and a mate had built one as teenagers.
You never know what people want to see, or come to see.
Acquistions policies are a double edged sword and should never be in the hands of a single person.

Andy

Andy -its not that I dislike it as really for what you can see there it’s superb.
What does let it down is that there doesnt seem to have been a plan over the years to improve the site itself and make it more cohesive. The addition of the ‘Milestones’ concept was a flawed one -it could never achieve anything of that sort .
It really needs a big revamp to even get close to how good Cosford is!

re;

The paint job looks superb on the Defiant, but why on earth is she covered in sheets? It would be fascinating to see her being assembled for model purposes

She was very impressed and it made a nice day to see a non-aviation fanatic enjoying a day amongst RAF stuff and her memories.
It made me see the place in a new light.

You’ve hit the nail on the head, I read all these odd posts about how bad the RAF Museums are in various aspects, usually the building design, hanging aeroplanes, inappropriate types on display, poor lighting, or the Halifax being displayed in its recovered form.
However it’s when you walk around with a non enthusiast friend, or visiting witness veterans that you truely appreciate how these fabulous collections affect most people, and the memories that they take home with them.

I went around Hendon with my sister who hated aircraft when she was living at home (under the St Mawgan circuit), she was awstruck by the place and the design of aircraft precisely because of how they were presented.

Fantastic pictures yet again Brian!

Well you’re entitled to think what you like but I still like it.
I recently took a friend who is ex-WRAF, who served at binbrook in the days of the EE Lightning.
She was very impressed and it made a nice day to see a non-aviation fanatic enjoying a day amongst RAF stuff and her memories.
It made me see the place in a new light.

And I do remember the galleries in the halcyon days of the 1970’s.

re;

[QUOTE=David Burke;1974888]That’s open to debate ! On my most recent visit there was a general air of something past it’s best! Using the Milestones building as an entrance detracts from the museum and you enter the Bomber Command building very much in a ‘tradesman’s entrance’ kind of way – for some strange reason the Percival Prentice being the first exhibit !

They have a funny habit of that, like the inverted Dakota nose, and replica Spitfire in there. I can only assume the big doors at the side are the best way of getting things in?

I don’t object to milestones of Flight as such, but I fail to see the relevance of some exhibits in there. The JSF would make a striking gate guard.

That’s open to debate ! On my most recent visit there was a general air of something past it’s best! Using the Milestones building as an entrance detracts from the museum and you enter the Bomber Command building very much in a ‘tradesman’s entrance’ kind of way – for some strange reason the Percival Prentice being the first exhibit !
Generally the museum has less to see – the galleries long closed now gives you little else of interest to look at. What was once a world class museum is now very much in the wake of the rest of the world. Past mistakes such as the steel ‘curly wurly’ and the Hunter FR.10 on sticks are things that need rectifying along with a general think about the who collection and the gaps that need filling rather than the likes of the ‘Battle of Britain’ chimney idea and the yet to be recovered ‘asprin Dornier’.

Lovely stuff Brian.
The RAFM is becoming much better.

A.

That Snipe(?) undercart looks abit ropey or is that the wide angle playing?

5 stars

Always love your pictures – is that still a Sony ? Gives really nice light and exposure – but then you have a great eye as well ! Nice angles