Open Cockpit days at air Museums

I always look forward to the opportunity to viewing the cockpit in any aircraft these days and I am always respectfull of someone else property….

CAvM in Ottawa used to have open Cockpits on a number of aircraft on Canada Day July 1st but their policy has sinced changed and all historical aircraft cockpits are closed to the public. I think damage was becoming an issue on a number of the open cockpits so I can understand their concerns..

However The Project NorthStar at CAvM was open to the public recently as part of the Vintage Air Rally event and for a voluntery donation they would take you aboard their Canadair North Star. A great way to raise funds for their restoration and a great chance for folks like me to see the deck of the ‘Star”…which as you can see is a work in progess…:)

Andrew

the ME-410 must have been superb – is it complete internally, instruments etc ?

Seem to remember it was largely complete with possibly some instruments, what was a surprise to me was the pilots great forward and downward vision.
The other three seemed to be complete internally, the Liberator is intersting inside, with its space, mid green paint and the bomb bay walk way which must have been something else to cross when the doors were open – even has ‘Ford’ flight yokes.

XL426, ‘The Southend Vulcan’, will be offering the same on 21 Sept. 😀

:diablo: As will XM594 I believe, again this weekend … http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/newsItem.php?id=41 😀

Last year we went to Newark and the lecture we got in the Vulcan cockpit was almost worth going for on its own.

XL426, ‘The Southend Vulcan’, will be offering the same on 21 Sept. 😀

I’m very glad the smaller museums’ open cockpit days continue, almost against the H&S fearing norm.
Years ago I was lucky enough to have a guided internal tour of Cosfords Lincoln, Liberator and Belfast, and sat in the ME410, these simple actions left a lasting impression on me, as undoubtedly they still do on people lucky enough to experience these things now.

thats fantastic – throw in a fat bloke with a beard and its christmas come early! as above, I was lucky enough for the F-104, Vulcan and Argosy at Midlands, plus the Meteor they have inside and they opened up the Hind for my son as well – the ME-410 must have been superb – is it complete internally, instruments etc ?

I’m very glad the smaller museums’ open cockpit days continue, almost against the H&S fearing norm.
Years ago I was lucky enough to have a guided internal tour of Cosfords Lincoln, Liberator and Belfast, and sat in the ME410, these simple actions left a lasting impression on me, as undoubtedly they still do on people lucky enough to experience these things now.

The de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre (Mosquito Aircraft Museum) at London Colney were having an open cockpit day a few years ago when I dropped in with the family. Quite remarkably they were allowing people into the prototype Mosquito!

I’m not sure how frequently they have full open cockpit days, but you can usually get to sit in the Sea Vixen, and the Comet nose section is always open (not sure about the Trident – it was being restored fairly recently). The last time I went, Jetflap Junior tried the Sea Vixen out and remarked that the yellow and black loop at the top of the seat that he’d been hanging on to was probably to help you climb in and out. He went quite pale when I told him what it’s really there for!

Last year we went to Newark and the lecture we got in the Vulcan cockpit was almost worth going for on its own.

Sorry to hear about your minor shunt – fingers crossed that you get a courtesy car.

I might be!, things were going to plan until an armoured money van decided to do some improvised panel beating on the back of my car yesterday and I am now without transport.

If my insurance company comes through with a courtesy car then I can make it.

Regards,

John.

I wonder who that could be;), yes cockpit access is a wonderfull thing for visitors to experience but we have to be very mindfull of those who are very gentle and respectfull of what they are sitting in, and those who are hell bent on destruction testing everything within reach:eek:.

😀 Are you around this weekend?

I should be on site on the 14th but I need to review what I’m checked out on! :confused:

snip….
How long all this will last is anyones guess though, becouse of the litigious society we live in museums have to be so carefull with public access, ladders, steps and so on, this probably one of the main reasons why a large number of museums do not allow access which is ashame but unavoidable.

.

indeed….I believe that Final Destination 1, 2 & 3 are H&S training films!

I have heard sad stories associated with people getting into cockpits and agreeing it it is at their risk, injuring themselves then saying no problems…then along comes the solicitor letter……in modern society people just don’t seem to want to take responsibility for their own actions….a sort of ‘It’s not my fault, it’s someones else fault’ society

At Bournmouth in the Uk before its closure they had pretty much unsupervised access to a Hunter, Canberra, and a few of the large exhibits – they suffered the shameful loss of parts and damage but kept going – a triumph of good intentions over **** behaviour !

Also, at East Midlands, they will (If poss) open up the exhibits but again, they run the risk – I had a sit in the Vulcan, Argosy and F-104 (which was a squeeze in a t-shirt and I’m only 5 feet 8 !) they also had the Hunter open and on certain days others open under supervision. Fine place and I’d recommend anybody to go there.

it does add to the day, I paid at Bruntinthorpe to sit in a Lightning and would happily pay, say £5 to try some more – but I guess its down to the owners etc.

Youve got your wires crossed there fella. Your referring to the Midland Air Museum at Coventry Airport.

Peter,

I believe that there is at least one regular poster here who is a member of their team!

I wonder who that could be;), yes cockpit access is a wonderfull thing for visitors to experience but we have to be very mindfull of those who are very gentle and respectfull of what they are sitting in, and those who are hell bent on destruction testing everything within reach:eek:.

Preservation of rare and older airframes is paramount but even so we can allow people ladder access to view these ones and the response is wonderfull, it always gives me great pleasure seeing people enjoy cockpit access, especially when the younger ones get involved and learn about our aviation heritage.

How long all this will last is anyones guess though, becouse of the litigious society we live in museums have to be so carefull with public access, ladders, steps and so on, this probably one of the main reasons why a large number of museums do not allow access which is ashame but unavoidable.

Regards,

John.

Good for them !

Peter,

Newark do open cockpits see here for next weekend’s offering http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/newsItem.php?id=41

They have a dedicated team of volunteers [who have to be museum members] http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/membership.htm that supervises the access.

To ensure that health & safety criteria are fulfilled the members of the Cockpit Opening Team undergo training and are checked out before they go live on aircraft.

I believe that there is at least one regular poster here who is a member of their team!

I believe that Newark charge extra for this because they cannot guarantee that their volunteers will always be available.

If they are willing to go the extra mile and dance around the H&S elements – good on them:)

I should have mentioned in my earlier post that the NMUSAF has a “kidproof” cockpit to sit in, a former studio prop F-4 cockpit.

And the Museum of Flight in Seattle has a Blackbird section from a wrecked aircraft…I’ve never sat in it so I can’t tell you much about it….as well as a couple of retired homebult (fixed wing and an early Rotorway helicopter)aircraft in it’s children’s learning area.
That’s a great feature, leave the control rods/cables intact so they can learn about control surfaces.

So my advice is to have something common for people to sit in…and don’t overlook something common like a lightplane…as people usually are looking for a general experience.
Save the wear and tear on the rare/good/old stuff for special groups who will really appreciate it.

Peter,

Newark do open cockpits see here for next weekend’s offering http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/newsItem.php?id=41

They have a dedicated team of volunteers [who have to be museum members] http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/membership.htm that supervises the access.

To ensure that health & safety criteria are fulfilled the members of the Cockpit Opening Team undergo training and are checked out before they go live on aircraft.

I believe that there is at least one regular poster here who is a member of their team!

I believe that Newark charge extra for this because they cannot guarantee that their volunteers will always be available.

some do…

At Bournmouth in the Uk before its closure they had pretty much unsupervised access to a Hunter, Canberra, and a few of the large exhibits – they suffered the shameful loss of parts and damage but kept going – a triumph of good intentions over **** behaviour !

Also, at East Midlands, they will (If poss) open up the exhibits but again, they run the risk – I had a sit in the Vulcan, Argosy and F-104 (which was a squeeze in a t-shirt and I’m only 5 feet 8 !) they also had the Hunter open and on certain days others open under supervision. Fine place and I’d recommend anybody to go there.

it does add to the day, I paid at Bruntinthorpe to sit in a Lightning and would happily pay, say £5 to try some more – but I guess its down to the owners etc.

The trick is to closely control people sitting in aircraft….even so there is wear and tear…..I took my Hunter to a show and had approx 200 sitting in it (not all at the same time!!!:)) about 4 hours remedial work including replacement of a couple of kicked off switches…

The best idea is to set aside a reasonably readily available cockpit for unsupervised sit ins….say a JP like RAFM use and then have ladder access only to others….when my Spit hits the road it (like the Hurri) is not possible to have people routinely sitting in it due to cost of replacement of parts/rareity/ease of damage…..one airworthy spitfire had its seat broken by sit ins…..ouch!

Good point j Boyle. We have had to repaint or helmets this winter after all the hands rubbed the paint off. Still it generates enough funds to support the ongoing restoration of our jet trainer.

several years ago I went to an event at the NMUSAF where they had an open evening for volunteers and VIPS.

If I had a musem, I wouldn’t open up a plane unless I wanted to repaint and restore it every 2-3 years.
Lots of people getting in & out is hard on the paint, seat fabrics, etc….even if you cover the instrument panels with plexiglas.