What Makes a Museum?

Though I haven’t been to very many aviation museums, TomH’s Alberta Aviation Museum is a great place. I visit it at least once a year and every time I do, there is something new to see. I was just there Thursday and had the chance to meet Tom in person. We didn’t have a chance to talk too much, as Tom was very busy with the running of the museum, from meeting some Safety types to getting the A/C units set up for warmer weather. There was a group of at least 30 children there too. They were all sitting in a classroom setting beside the DC-3. They were then let go to wander through the aircraft and displays, looking for answers to some questions provided by their instructor. There is at least 6 video terminals for people to look at and get info on the museum and the aviation history of Edmonton and Alberta.
Another aspect I like about the museum is being able to wander through the restoration shop. Right now the B-25 is inside and being worked on.

Tom, I’ll be back in October, for the Northern Wings Model Show.

I can’t think of a thing to add to what Rapode Meteor has said…

In to preserve history and keep people interested we must give them a reason to be involved and care.

As long as the central core of a museum is maintained adding features and atractions to keep them coming is a fact of life.

Tom H

To my mind some a/c museums seem to have lost the plot…..no names,no pack drill but they seem more intent on being a “theme park”. When you walk in you have the feeling the museum is being managed by people whose previous employment was with Eurodisney or Alton Towers. Leave a/c museums to people whose PASSION is planes……..!!!

The best museums are those that concentrate in the prime function of an a/c museum……….showing off a/c. Provide good “story boards” packed with information.

Could go on but will leave it there for the minute………..

Planemike

I agree that some museums have lost the plot, but to keep going you have look beyond those passionate about the museum’s theme.

The purpose of a museum is in its name i.e. to muse over & amuse the visitors mind, thus being a source of inspiration. This day & age with our fast pace of life, technophiles wanting the next gizmo (mostly in the teens – 30 year+ age group) & little spare time is what most museums are up against.

For us entheusiasts, by all means stick to the primary function, but because by population standards we are so few in number it makes it hard for this type of policy to attract those people who’s interest is vauge at best.

Adding a bit of other themes is hardly going to upset the apple cart-perversely, many visitors to Waddington airshow are just as happy going on the funfair as aircraft fantics are standing on the flightline.

Equally perverse there are people out there who are interested in aviation but do not go to aircraft museums ” because they don’t fly & just sit there collecting dust”- I am not saying that to knock them- the thrill of watching an aircraft being put through its paces performing a routine in the environment it was designed for is hard to beat- even I can accept that point of veiw. however to be able to walk upto those same aircraft, touch them,or even get to sit in the cockpit can be just as thrilling.

At the end of the day what you give is what you get- by giving where possible, something for everyone & have them leaving inspired can often get them coming back for more.

Hear Hear

Rapode Meteor is absolutly right

In the last 18 months the Museum I work for instituted the programming I mentioned as well as some of the things others have identified.

Before the changes
We were a nice community museum with poor attendance or public recognition. Wonderful craftsman, dedicated volunteers, great restorations and a relatively large (35+ aircraft plus artefacts) collection.

After the changes…

Attendance up 35%
Education programs up 27%
Gift shop sales up 30+%
Rental revenues up 100%
Great media attention
Regional and National recognition
Visits from Executive Directors out of the Capital

Now recognized as the 3rd largest collection in Canada and one of the most active aviation museums.

And the changes were all done on a shoe string with common sense and great volunteers and staff.

And we are still true to our collections policy…

Tom H

The more I look at the replies to this thread, the more I feel that the one thing we all have to do as keepers of our heritage is not just to listen to the ideas of committees or members, but to read & learn from those outside.

As some of you have said it pays to have a degree of fluidity to your displays, so that visitors see somthing different next time they come- in practice its is not as easy as it sounds, esspecially for smaller museums with limited resources. With our museum we are addressing this by bringing in outside groups i.e classic & military vehicle, model shows & talks by well known personalities within the aviation world.

I may seem like I am stating the obvious, but there are groups & museums out there who trundle along without realising they can acheive far more & bring itself great dividends at very little cost just by applying some of the principles so far stated.

Take for example, an aviation society has say 3 or 4 aircraft, a couple of sheds and a fair size area of ground to play with, but never advertises- it would be lucky to survive long.

Now take the same society to change its name to include museum, join a body such as BAPC, host a quarterly meeting for the said body & get a local paper to do an article about it opening to the public the following day.

That happened with our museum, on that first public open day we had over 600 visitors.

In a nutshell, what makes a museum is to have one eye on the future & the other on the past, but also to read, listen & digest good advice.

Planemike makes an excellent point…

I too have been to museums (not aviation so far) that have lost the point.

We are very careful (and have a membership that reminds us) to keep aviation history as the focus. Our AV displays all relate to the history and the sims all relate to the aircraft in the collection.

The key I think is a very defined collections policy and that it is followed.

Keeps us on track and focused on our part of the history.

Remoroh

I have not yet had the chance to visit Evergreen, but I am glad to here your experience was so wonderful and am moving them up my list of museums to visit.

I need to steal some new ideas.

Tom H

FAST at Farnborough, a great little museum with very informative ex personnel of the old RAE Establishment. http://www.airsciences.org.uk/museum.html

very nice, i think i will have to pay them a visit

668
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FAST at Farnborough, a great little museum with very informative ex personnel of the old RAE Establishment. http://www.airsciences.org.uk/museum.html

To my mind some a/c museums seem to have lost the plot…..no names,no pack drill but they seem more intent on being a “theme park”. When you walk in you have the feeling the museum is being managed by people whose previous employment was with Eurodisney or Alton Towers. Leave a/c museums to people whose PASSION is planes……..!!!

The best museums are those that concentrate in the prime function of an a/c museum……….showing off a/c. Provide good “story boards” packed with information.

Could go on but will leave it there for the minute………..

Planemike

some very good points made by all, i hope so museums are reading this 🙂

i think the key points are

* Something for everyone (even if you arent a keen aviation enthusiast)

* Being “interactive” useing computers and leeting people touch and feel things is good – most of us have 5 sense so make the most of them

* price – having a price that allows you to put some money in the pot from projects but so that the paying public dont have to fork out much for a good day out

they seem to be the key factors for me anyway
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Forgive me for butting in on this thread, but I don’t visit aviation museums regularly (I worked in several whilst employed with Her Majesty’s Royal Aeroplane Men!!! – but I jest!).
I’ve been to Hendon – not overly impressed.
However, having read this thread with some considerable interest, it seems that – quite by chance – I have visited possibly the best aviation museum by far.
It is the Evergreen Aviation Museum at McMinville, OR, USA. I was accompanying some American rellies. The Ladies were ‘shopped out’. I was bored out of my tiny mind, and they relented by allowing me to go to the museum.
It was brilliant. It had all the things that the various posters have highlighted in this thread as being A Good Thing. The retail outlets were very good (and low-priced – but I don’t know if there is any County, or State, funding). There were aircraft seats dotted about the display hall for those of us of advanced years who required a ‘sit down’ from time to time. The Ladies elected to sit. They were approached by a Staff Lady who first asked if they were all right, and then produced pix of WAAC, etc, WW2 uniforms. Now you will all know what ladies are like when clothes are being discussed. Say no more!
I wandered round the displays (Spruce Goose (gob-smacked to find!) – and a Vampire and Spitfire just to prove that the USA didn’t win WW2 single-handed!).
They were “doing something” to the Spruce Goose’. I watched with interest – and photographed unimpeded. One of the staff asked my interest. When I explained my meteorological aviation background he said “Come and have closer look”. And moved the ‘ropes’ so that I could get closer. You can ‘officially’ get to see a bit of the inside of that vast aircraft, but this guy produced a ‘Visitors Badge’ which enabled me to crawl into places the ‘public’ don’t normally see. Absolutely brilliant!!!
After about an hour, or so, I thought I’d better go back to the ladies. I was told by them to “Go away” as they were deep in discussions on uniforms, cabin service (I suspect the lady staff member was ex-airline cabin staff!).
All in all, a very satisfactory aviation afternoon. AND (most important!) The Ladies felt they had spent a very pleasant afternoon! Not, as I read the various threads on this subject, is often the case!!!
Sorry to ‘go on’ a bit but if there is an aviation museum in UK that offers the same facilities then I could well make the effort – and I’m in my mid-70’s!
HTH
Resmoroh

Rapode Meteor/JDK

Your comments are all very relevant in my mind.

With regard to this thread, JDK points out correctly that the words profit and museum don’t really go together (like military intelligence/honest politician).

Our museum is, at the moment, having a very good run…but we constantly look ahead to plan for the long term sustainability of the total facility.

When we have a surplus it goes straight back into the collection and building.
(Our building is a historic site).

While we are not for profit I think it is important not to make profit a bad word.

We keep our admissions as low as possible (about the same as going to a movie), have several no admission days a year (so everyone interested can attend regardless of financial ability). But still need to generate the funds to sustain and grow…that means profit.

Our gift shop prices are considerably lower than typical retail outlets…but we still maintain a profit that is applied to our library and other projects.

Profit…is a good thing, but with a museum JDK is right…it must go back into the operations and fixed assets.

Too many museums have fallen in the trap of having a successful stretch, adding staff, adding massive marketing programs and other pet projects only to fail when the market shifts or the economy turns down.

Long term sustainability needs to be carefully planned for.

Tom H

As a member of a museum myself, I have read this thread & see some very good points & advice which all museums should take the effort to digest & take on board.

The UK probably has the highest proportion of aviation related museums (around 70) for the size of the country than anywhere else. This can be both good & bad, the high numbers giving a good choice of venues, set against limited funds to restore & display what we have. The majority of these museums do work hard to maintain & adapt the whole site to encourage visitors.

So to me what makes a museum is a good,well displayed collection, but more importantly:-

The visitors- even Duxford would mean nothing, for all its collection, if Joe public never passed through the gates.

Advertisement:- Its OK to see adverts in Flypast, other magazines, Wrecks & relics & entheusiast’s journals, but again these aren’t aimed at ordinary folk. Although it is useful we tend to be(but also need to be less) reliant on “word of mouth”.

From a museum point of view, it is a constant, uphill struggle to acheive these- exacerbated by red-tape, H&S issues & other regulations which have to be adhered to.

What makes a museum? Simple.

“A building, place or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical or artistic value.”
(http://www.artefoundation.com/pages/glossary.html) A different definition, but hitting the points Kev’s example also made.

The three critical ideas are preservation, presentation and interpretation.

The trick is how to balance and manage these often contradictory requirements; but if you can’t put a tick in all three boxes, it’s not a museum.

Note no mention of profit or finance. Being solvent is a requirement to continue to preserve and present the objects, and a museum without a future is failing point one, but making a profit is not the point. The ‘profit’ is ‘setting off fireworks in people’s minds’.

Hello again Beurling

We beat you to it…

All our simulators are etheir in a real cockpit (DC-6) and use the original switches and yokes or in simulated cockpits using as many real components of the aircraft it represents as possible.

When our B-25 is ready to go on display the B-25 simulator will be with it, under the wing, and used the extra yokes pedals and panels from the restoration.

We are trying to bring it alive…

Tom

A good example of getting the museum viewing public involved is Kermit Weeks “Fantasy of Flight” in Florida. How often does anyone ever get to walk through a b17 fuselage for just the price of admission. I would go back again to just do that again. (That was cool but flying in the 17 at Yankee that was amazing!!!)

You guys are right on the money though – if the exhibits can not establish a connection with the visitor via sight, sound and touch the purpose of the collection is lost. Because if the museum only has value to the staff and an elite group, then it will only be a matter of time before the doors close because the whole point of the collection is lost on the upcoming generations. Why collect spitfires and hurricanes when you can preserve a 1991 honda with 19″ spinners. But if you get the next generations involved and they can connect with the exhibits just in being able to appreciate what was done to preserve their present way of life then the museum has done its job.

I have been hooked on warbirds since I was a little guy and it was growing up listening to the veterans and watching old movies like the flying tigers etc. But I really didn’t appreciate what those veterans did for me and everyone else until I started building my spit. There is something to be said for sitting in the cockpit, seeing how limited the visibility is (not like a video game), and just getting in and out on the ground is a routine in itself (otherlone trying to get out of a damaged aircraft in the air). That said there is another one for your museum Tom – more simulated cockpits to scale to give the visitor a first hand chance to sit in nearly the real thing.

Kev35

I think your vocabulary is just fine…so are your points.

I think a key factor here is the fact not for profit museums that are not government funded have a first priority that goes beyond the standard museum definition.

First you must survive!!!

If you do not survive it does not matter how good a museum you were…

All of the points you bring up are accurate and sound, not only that a good museum that wishes to survive will address them all.

The interactivity you express is important in making history relevant and entertaining.

We sometimes forget that MOST aircraft are not that fragile, being able to walk up and run your hand down the side of our Mossie is not going to damage the artefact…just means we will need to paint it a little sooner (and make corrections from the original resto) but it means children and veterans will get to touch a piece of history that is truly important to them.

As I said earlier…entertain them, when they are not expecting it…educate them.

another 2 bits

Tom H

well the uk has some fantastic aircraft museum, but what makes or breaks these museums?
What should an aviation museum need to have sucess and make a profit?

668

Not being flippant here but I think the ideal situation is where the Museum doesn’t NEED to make a profit. Although that is no guarantee of success, largely due to poor or apathetic management and misidentification of the needs of a) the exhibits, b) a target audience and c) the casual visitor or the public at large.

I’ll try to explain what I mean but doubt I have the vocabulary to express exactly what I mean. This is just my opinion.

Firstly, what is a Museum? The UK Museums Association adopted in 1998 the following definition….

“Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artifacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society.”

This may be ok for National Musea but herein lies the first problem. Let’s take as an example the Midland Air Museum. The aircraft and exhibits are, I presume, owned by the Museum and it’s trustees so they are not ‘held in trust for society’ in the same way as exhibits at the RAF Museum for instance.

But let’s look at the points that definition raises in order.

Collections.

A good Museum needs a strictly defined collecting policy. It should have aims and objectives which are clearly laid out and adhered to. It shouldn’t be there to snap up every airframe or artifact simply because it is offered to them. The RAFM at Hendon offers a case in point here. In the 1970’s, the upstairs galleries were an Alddin’s cave of Memorabilia and were one of the most enjoyable parts of the Museum for me. The RAFM has thousands if not hundreds of thousands of items which have been donated and which will never ever be available for public inspection or enjoyment. To my mind this a sad and ludicrous waste. This last point also leads us neatly into accessibility.

Accessibility.

The big example here of a major public institution letting the public down by offering only limited access to exhibits is again the RAFM at Hendon. The Claude Grahame White Hangar and Battle of Britain Hall only open at limited times. To access the CGW Hangar and make the visit worthwhile the visitor be there between 10 and closing at 12. This, quite frankly, is a National disgrace. But it’s not only Aviation Museums that are guilty of this. Military and Regimental Museums also accept donations which will never again see the light of day.

Safeguarding.

How many iconic and sole surviving airframes have been lost because Musea have failed to actively safeguard their collection? There must be others but again the RAFM comes to mind as a supreme example of this lack of care and consideration which has seen the loss of the Beverley at Hendon and an early Mark of Vulcan at Cosford. If a Museum is to acquire an exhibit, be it an airframe, logbook, item of flying clothing or anything else, there should be a form of guarantee undertaken that that exhibit will be safe for perpetuity. I understand that airframes, especially outside, need a lot of care and that should be taken into consideration. Midland Air museum is a perfect example of ongoing work carried out if not to restore an airframe, to try and actively prevent any further deterioration.

But what would make a Museum for me?

All of the above need taking into consideration, but I also like some of the intangible aspects which are just naturally there. East Kirkby, Thorpe Abbotts and I dare say a number of others I haven’t visited are redolent of the past. These places reek with history. It’s that indefinable something which can give a display so much more impact. There’s nothing quite like a Museum on a former Operational Airfield, housed within the very fabric of the place.

I like a Collection to be that. The DH Heritage Centre with all things DH. The 100th BG collection at Thorpe Abbotts. East Kirkby which transports you back in time to a wartime Bomber Command airfield. The Wellington Museum at Moreton in Marsh. Boulton and Paul at Wolverhampton. Shuttleworth. There are doubtless others.

Regarding the safeguarding aspect, perhaps it is time to take the NAHR out of the hands of the BAPC and to give it some teeth. There are enough knowledgeable people out there that an organisation could be set up to independently grade airframes on the NAHR as opposed to Musea and Collections grading their own exhibits. Find some way of enforcing certain standards to ensure that exhibits, not only airframes, are kept safe and in trust for the education and enjoyment of society. Find a way to ensure that the treasures of our aviation heritage are easily and readily accessible. A child can learn that a World War Two flying jacket was needed for protection from the cold and not for style. Let them wear that jacket and it takes on a whole new meaning as they experience the weight, the texture and the smell.

But it’s not only children. let’s take for instance the SE5 at Suttleworth. A nice enough aeroplane. But since I’ve been involved there and seen close up the craftsmanship in the structure, felt the texture of the skin and learned to appreciate just a little of the complexities of the rigging procedure I now look at that aircraft in an entirely different light.

But in answer to the original question I suspect that there are as many opinions as there are Museums.

Told you I didn’t have the vocabulary.

Regards,

kev35

Well, I think museum has a different meaning in different countries. For example this is an Aviation Museum at Kymi Aerodrome, Southern Finland. The planes at the museum have never operated from the gravel runways at Kymi, the museum is operated by the Karhula Flying Club so there’s no staff and you can visit the museum free of admission charge.

Still, the museum has been successful more than 15 years.

Kymi’s flying museum of
Karhula Flying Club

Beurling

You are absolutely right!!!!!!!

The displays and exhibits need refreshed on a regular basis or there is no reason for a second visit.

Events are also important….we try to have an event of some kind 1 per month.

Tom H