Peter Vallance

As has been said a man with not only a great passion but a man with a great vision and also determination as those who know the details of his fight with officialdom will know full well.

A man who will be greatly missed and a great loss to the aircraft preservation movement. A gentleman and also a great example to us all if it looks hard it probably will be but don’t give up and keep pushing the end is well worth the effort.

Our condolences to the family and close friends at the museum.

Mike E

www.aircraftrestorationgroup.org

www.whirlwindfighterproject.org

In 2011 a friend and myself were struggling through an intense aviation course at shoreham, we were keen to get hands on aircraft and learn about aviation. Peter met us at the gates of Gam at around noon and spent the entire afternoon into the evening showing us around and generally inspiring us.
He was kind to let us wok on his provost for a short period.
A great man, thank you Peter myfriend and I owe our jobs at BA to your kindness.

Peter was a top man, condolences to his family and friends.

I have only visited GAM once (unfortunately) back in 2005, but Mr Vallance’s passion and enthusiasm was evident in the volunteers who were there on the day of my visit, from showing me around a Shackleton and Sea Prince, then taking time to find me and pass a set of ear defenders ready for a run-up of the Sea Vixen!
This memory has stuck with me, and I have always rated GAM as one of the very best volunteer-run museums in the UK.

Mr Vallance, you have created something very special against adversity from people who do not understand the feeling for heritage, aviation or otherwise, and for that I am grateful.
May you rest in peace Sir, and I hope your dream can be realised.

My thoughts are with your family and friends at this time.

TMN

Very sad news, I very much hope the museum will continue, would like to suggest to all at GAM that perhaps the Wings Museum and GAM can offer support to oneanother in the future, when you are ready to reopen we are more than happy to display some leaflets, being only 15 minutes away I am sure a lot of our visitors would extend their visit and vice versa. Operating a museum in this day in age is not an easy thing and “us” museums should all stick together.

Rest in Peace Mr Vallance, safe with the assurance that your plans and team are in place and will succeed

Just to echo Peter Mills, I would like to thank everyone for their kind comments. We are all at GAM reeling in shock presently. Peter V was a unique man, with an unrivalled passion for establishing and continuing the dream. A man whom we shared our passion and good times with for decades. He has left us a legacy which we will be striving our very hardest to continue and excel at. We will continue to preserve and breathe life back into this collection as we always have done. We will continue the fight to overcome obstacles, and share our passion with all.

Peter Vallance was a man with a passion that is largely unmatched anywhere else in the volunteer museum sector.

One might not always agree with him, but he founded a collection that works to the very highest of standards of care for the airframes within it, and I think it a great pity that he wasnt able to overcome the obstacles he came up against in his lifetime.

We need many more people like Peter Vallance in our hobby; God rest ye sir….

Bruce

RIP Peter

I met Peter one freezing boxing day afternoon some years ago and was thoroughly taken with his his determination and drive, he had accrued a vital cross section of British Airframes and i feel it showed the Visiting public what a great aviation nation we once were. Sad news indeed and good luck to the museums future and security.

My condolences to Peter’s family and friends, and all at GAM. Fingers crossed that GAM becomes all that was hoped of it in spite of the constant opposition.

Anyone who attended BAPC Meetings may appreciate that sometimes Peter and I didn’t always agree on things immediately; however on the last couple of occasions that we met I believe that we had gained a mutual respect for each other!

Not often mentioned was Peter’s passionate support for the Christmas Island Test Veterans and it was through this topic that we were able to gain a closer understanding of each other’s points of view.

‘Blue Skies’ Peter and my support and encouragement for what you started down at ‘Gatwick’ will continue as and when required.

Did Peter Vallance once live in Albany Rd, Crawley & have a son called Steven?

Sometimes the world comes up with a person who’s enthusiasm for their dream cannot be questioned, and Peter was one of them.

Rest in peace Peter, there’s a lot of people down here who will never forget you!

Thank you for the update Peter under such sad circumstances with the loss of a well respected member of the aviation community.

Peter Vallance had courage that deserves respect and admiration and has gathered together a wonderful and varied collection of aircraft for everyone to see and enjoy.

My condolences to everyone at the museum, family and friends at this time.

Thanks for the correction and update Peter. I’m sure all our thoughts are with yourself, your colleagues and Peter’s family at this extremely difficult time.

Rob

As a member of GAM and someone who has some knowledge of the ongoing situation I would like to say we are extremely sad at Peters passing. Thank you for all of the kind and positive comments here. I would like to correct the timing and circumstances. He had been unwell for some time and in and out of hospital for a few weeks. He was diagnosed with a leaking heart valve and opted to go for a fairly high risk operation in full knowledge of what he was doing, typical Peter! He did not survive the operation carried out on Monday afternoon. Although we all all knew the risks we also somehow expected that the grit and determinatin, that was so much a part of Peters character, to carry him through sadly this time it didn’t.

Peter had a clear line of succession in place, he made arrangements some time ago. Those plans will now be enacted and we hope to realise Peters vision for his heritage and education centre with aviation at its heart.

We have kept quiet due to issues concerning security on the site. We have been working hard and have now resolved most of the issues, work continues.

In effect we expect the museum will go from strength to strength and justify Peters faith in us to carry on his work. It will be diffcult, even to match his passion and determination for “his areoplanes” we can only try. The museum will re-open, after an appropriate time has expired, it will be announced on the web site.

It is hardly possible at this time to express the sense of great loss that we feel, and we are not even family!

RIP Mr Vallance.

I hope that changes soon, visitors are the lifeblood of any museum and if regulars think its closed you lose them. Getting them back is an uphill struggle.

RIP Peter,
Very sad news, my condolences to his family and friends. I had planned a visit in March but notice on Gatwick Aviation Museum website…

‘NOTICE

It is with regret that Gatwick Aviation Museum Ltd announces that due to circumstances beyond its control it is unable to accept visitors to the museum, effective immediately and for the forseeable future.

Any modifications to this notice will be published here.’

Very very sad news, RIP Peter.
Maybe we can do something to keep his fine collection going in his memory.