GOKONEXL388 Vulcan Nose Section
On the subject of XL388 I can confirm that Bill Fern was asked bout this item besides the CD Trainer when the Scampton people first visited AeroVenture to make their enquiries. They were told that it belonged to two museum people who were restoring it and that it was not for sale or loan to Scampton. It used to be at Vulcans End in Suffolk where our Victor XL60 nose also resided for many years and was chopped about a bit in the pilot’s area when used for the Aliens 2 movie all those Ridley Scotts ago.
GOKONEDISPLAY CONSIDERATIONS 2 of 2
GOK
None of my stuff is German aside from an old Spike Milligan novel. It may be a comparison but aside from not being confusing or eclectic if its done in a positive way, it is the case that the content of what Scampton had was more interesting to the public before they took so much loaned stuff away – kids will like to see a big missile, its an attraction. The offer now is greatly devalued to the public in general because the kind of stuff they would expect to see isn’t as varied re the jet-age now.
The amount of WW2 stuff they had left after the loans were cancelled was small and if I had the chance to display kit that made the overall appeal more interesting to the public whatever its period, then its a positive.
It is an extreme comparison re Marham as I’m focusing on the internal kit which is what the public see most of, as cockpits/airframes are limited anyway. If the ATC stuff is adequate to replace what’s been lost then fine, but what will it be I wonder? In the case of varying types of RAF ejector seat regardless of what aircraft served there, I think that is a loss alone.
The Station acts as parent organisation to 3 resident units, namely the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (RAFAT), No 1 Air Control Centre (1ACC) and the Mobile Meteorological Unit (MMU). What kit do the latter two units have that are of display interest aside from the ATC? As a former RFC station do they have any seats of Camel, Pup & Dolphin that flew from there? And while I would like to see those items there, would these be as interesting to kids of today if they were?
It re-opened in 1936 after farming again following WW1 so Manchester and Lancaster (no seats likely). Then B-29 (no seats likely), ending with Canberra and Vulcan (seats likely) before the Hawk arrived.
So far its fair to expect that they would only have Hawk/Canberra/Vulcan ejector seats that could be shown now. They might not have any Lanc seats so when the other seats of Bucc, Tornado, Harrier etc are added (which don’t take up that much space re footprint) then you have more interest with them and they are clearly applicable to RAF aircraft of the jet-age.
If they don’t want the items anyway re liability that’s fine though short-sighted to the public’s detriment again – I think over 80% of Brooklands stuff is on loan if I remember rightly but I can’t look at a story I did so many years ago now. Even if Scampi does have some stuff available that might have been formerly tucked away somewhere I hope its sufficient in quantity and interest. The liability issue dosen’t seem to have got to Wittering from what I understand about their display policy but I haven’t had time to look into that one yet.
PS
(This isn’t another person by the way, it means ‘postscript’). If the MLAC Rules ‘L’ mentioned earlier stand for Modern Languages & Cultures then I don’t agree that its no bad thing re RAF/MoD compliance on loaned items. Let’s hope the CD Trainer takes up some of the lost display space vacated now..
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GOKONEDISPLAY CONSIDERATIONS 1 of 2
GOK
Lightning and Hawk cockpits are nicely wooshy for Scampton.
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L
You’re missing the point. The policy wasn’t to get rid of woosh, it was to get rid of anything not having a direct connection to Scampton, which really is the right thing to do for a Scampton museum, as opposed to an aviation museum located at Scampton. A Vulcan is also wooshy and they hope to receive a large lump of one.
All Heritage centre’s focus on the aircraft and squadrons that have actually been based at that unit. Lets face it, Its much easier to create a strong museum when you have a focus otherwise it just becomes a collection of irrelevant artefacts which just confuses the average museum visitor.
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GOK
It shouldn’t be if its laid out right and items are chosen carefully – helmets of one squadron will look much the same as another if no one’s messed with ’em, and ejector seats don’t change much either, so you should be able to keep certain things in and not have any worries – especially if you don’t have many of your own anyway.
How many seats have they replaced with their own that are now ‘ejected’ from the museum I wonder. Of course have stuff relating to a base, but if you have great examples of other stuff that the public expect to see then mums and dads won’t worry too much about that, and most people would still find it interesting and not confusing.
Flixton for example doesn’t confuse anyone, the public just say what a great museum and there’s so much to see and there’s something for everyone etc.
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GR
Ahhhhh yes but you can’t really compare a station HERITAGE centre to a regional museum. It probably has a lot to do with fact that the RAF does not want to accept any liability for other people’s artefacts, The RAF are going through a period of ‘clearing out’ at their units, eg the Station gate guard policy that has been adopted. Marham has three, one of which (the Victor) they have been doing their utmost to get rid off for the past god knows how many years BUT they don’t know who actually owns it? So the RAF are learning from their lessons with accepting other people’s artefacts on loan even though this is an extreme case but it proves a point.
With RAF Scampton it might also be down to the fact that the RAF want the space occupied by these items, Scampton is quite a small unit and host the RAF Fire and Rescue service museum as well as the Heritage centre, They have also taken on the ATC heritage museum so I think they have good reason to have a bit of a clear out, after all it is still an operational air base and not an extension of Hendon, Cosford, Duxford, Flixton, Newark, Yeovil etc etc etc.
I know for a fact they are not blessed with a surplus of storage space. On a positive note it is good that the RAF have adopted this ‘Heritage Centre’ ethos as it wasn’t so many years ago all this kit and artefacts would have been packed away in boxes gathering dust and totally forgotten about….SO ‘HUSSAR’ and boo sucks to you Harry Hun.
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L
Flixton is the Norfolk and Suffolk AVIATION Museum, so it can cover anything to do with aviation. The establishment is the SCAMPTON Heritage centre so all it should display is items with a direct link to Scampton. It’s not about filling the place with an eclectic mix of unrelated artefacts that don’t tell the story of Scampton just for the sake of having a display.
They’ve a very good grasp on the past but they’ve introduced a collections policy that defines what they’re about. So the other stuff had to go. It’s as simple as that. I can see why others are so upset but it’s a risk you take when you have anything on land that isn’t yours in an organisation that isn’t yours. Then there’s the space issues.
It does look like the RAF/MoD is trying to comply with MLAC rules and that’s no bad thing.
GOKONEI’m saddened to hear that items have been removed from Scampton. It’s disheartening to hear tales of preference being given to WWII artefacts at the expense of the Cold War, but it seems to happen a lot. I wonder how many decades will pass before everyone finally accepts that history didn’t end in 1945.
Hiya,
Its not just WW2 items that are being focused on but jet items that are relevant to Scampton solely which are now deemed suitable for display from what I have been told – but the problem is the public are now missing out on a lot of great post-war kit as you say – one example is a Buccaneer seat. Yes the a/c never operated from there, but line mods or something similar was undertaken on Buccs there and so was clearly a part of the station’s history.
BUT, because it wasn’t a properly constituted Buccaneer Sqn operating from Scampton, the seat (a lovely complete example like many others inc Harrier and Tornado) is deemed not relevant. I can understand it only to a small extent as the public are interested in seeing jet-age exhibits besides any earlier history – they’re not interested if its directly linked to the base on not.
As mentioned, there is no guarantee that the Vulcan trainer will be flavour on the month at Scampton forever if a new ‘personality’ comes along or a new MoD directive is issued – and such directives don’t usually allow much time for something to be found a home as we all know (usually a month, “or preferably, less”). The irony of the Vulcan trainer is that it is going back to the base that originally got rid of it, as taken from a museum that has stored it safely for years while hoping that it would be consulted if it wasn’t wanted and allowed to properly display it after the item has been neglected by the Vulcan Trust people for almost 4 years.
Private collectors who have loaned items to Scampton including whole cockpits have had the unexpected inconvenience and worry of moving their prized exhibits out of Scampton to other locations, and who wins? The museum has less displays of interest, so that the public have a less interesting visit – kids want to see jets as well as Spitfires and Hurricanes and the more they can be entertained by it all then we will be helping with the new-millennia engineers, pilots and preservationists of the future..
GOKONEAcronyms
I have altered the somewhat enigmatic thread title suitably.
It would be helpful if posters would realise that not everyone is as familiar with acronyms as they are.
Using them does not confer any superiority over the rest of the readers.
Moggy
Moderator
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That’s an incorrect assumption which is frankly unfair Moggy and I’ve just spotted it after passing it over originally – sorry but the nights are long here and I took the general view that as VTTST has been existing for so many years it would be an acronym familiar to most postees – as well as possibly associating it with its particular location.
I applied the initial thinking to the other acronyms which I had already apologised for, and which I would have thought any reasonable reader would accept was never an attempt at any superiority high-browing.
Any suggestion to the contrary is refuted, poorly considered and denied herewith.
GOKONERE COMMENT
Apologies for not spelling out the acronyms but I thought most people were familiar with them over the years, so thx TonyT for your input.
Your opinion is a fair one plough, but by the same token the opinion of the museum is of note also in the matter- and as such they feel some exposure is fair after feeling rightly let down and frankly, unappreciated, in what has been a poorly-handled piece of dealing from a charity organisation who should have done far better – and for itself thereby, too.
It shouldn’t have been down to AeroV to respond to the news as they did, they should have been contacted in the first instance by VTTST instead of learning second-hand what had been decided. It was without any courtesy being returned to them for looking after the CDT for almost 4 years and with no idea during this time I would add, of when something was going to happen re its planned final move to VTTST. That isn’t slagging anyone off, its simply what is right and proper and what anyone would expect to happen between official entities.
I can’t see how the story comes across as a ‘slag-off’, it was intended as a fair reflection of what has taken place and was approved as such. It was right that the story was told and as it was related to me, while I have my own input also which has been referred to here and exists elsewhere on the Forum in more detail.
The museum felt it needed airing firstly as the party adversely affected while not being even consulted in the first instance, and that it was worthy of comment from other quarters in preservation. I was asked to write about it after official channels had already been tried directly, again, as explained in the story above. There has been no satisfactory solution. I think it also fair to say that it has been surprisingly poor PR from an entity that is well aware of it and how to use it.
STAND
As regards the stand, there is none – as I mentioned, before the first sale fell through I was told that time to plan for storage at VTTST Robin Hood Airport (Finningley) was needed etc and that 6 months(!) would be required for a stand to be fabricated (mine was made at Flixton in under a month); ie, they expected the seller not only to deliver it at their convenience (which we agreed to, to try to assist them), but to also hold onto it ‘down south’ (meaning somewhere else – like WHERE???) free of charge – unfortunately, the reality was the farmer needed it OUT of his barn and OFF his land with all reasonable speed, after 17 years of paid storage.
The stand the VTTST engineer said was to be built before the first sale was pulled by them, was never built AFTER the second sale conversion went ahead however. This saw VTTST buy it after the move via BAPC (I’m not spelling that acronym!) Even after the late Steve Hague had engineered what was supposed to be the initial ‘temporary’ move to AeroVenture at Doncaster, nothing was done after to get the project underway and off to VTTST from AeroV – which would involve another haulage cost to VTTST, by the way.
I most recently asked Steve around 6 months ago as I did over the years before his sad demise, when the stand would finally be built so that the move could take place, but he could tell me nothing as he had no positive answers from VTTST. Historic thx again to NAM (you know that one too!) who at the time kindly agreed via Howard to store the CDT overnight should any breakdown occur during the initial move to AeroV at Doncaster – we had to think of everything we could to be sure of safe delivery.:cool:
GOKONECockpit Fest USA August 29-31 2014 / C.FEST 2015, NAM / Damyn’s
Here’s how they do it in the States, from 2014 below – are there any image uploads to the NAM site yet to promote it or any u-tubes of it maybe? Looks a bit squeaky clean in the U.S. hangar version (look at the shine on that floor, you could eat your chilli-con off it!) and quite a few exhibits are more flight-deck projects than proper cockpits due to their major cutting, nothing seems to be done along the lines of the superb complimentary table displays the British Fest provides.
I think our Fest also looks much more like a community with a support and pitch-in together and enjoy yourself approach, the U.S. event comes across as very clinical and staid – no chance of a museum member there bringing his 1972 platform shoes, Marc Bolam scarf and t-shirt to interact with a table display against a great tailored soundtrack as well either I’d say! British is best!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNlz6Ui6tsc
Fuel isn’t an issue re Damyn’s as its paid for as mentioned, but we all appreciate that health and family can take priority. I can’t worry about canopies even though Sea Hawk one are rare however, as something like this needs to be shown where financially possible.
Its partly a post-Fest blues effect I suppose but its also tiredness while reflecting on the enormous effort that goes into the displays and cockpits, only to see them out for public view once a year. It just seems ridiculous to make such a commitment for such a limited audience. Mine took around 6 months but other table displays took the whole year to create.
Even allowing for the rain, understandable health issues, date clashes and family commitments etc it seems crazy and uneconomic that all that massive effort is shown only at one venue to a modest footfall. If any other forces shows are available to piggy-back on for another table display then I’ll try to show the Hawker display again while I’ll plan a slightly smaller production next year.
I’m very surprised at the lack of Post-Fest comment so far in general from many of the people who made so many great displays and cockpit commitments this year, but maybe they’re still recovering also – I know I still ache after Sunday night! Time to play Johnny Winter’s ‘Ring the Bell’ again this evening before retiring – but only after microwaving 2 spuds and a tin of chilli-con! Rock on:cool:.
GOKONEHOOTON – NEWARK – DAMYN’S HALL & SPREADING THE PRESERVATION WORD
From what I’ve seen online of Hooton it deserves a big slap on the back for helping collecting and preservation along, not just in terms of cockpits etc but uniquely, the actual buildings themselves – to be able to save them where possible is just magnificent.
On the southern front our eyes were opened last year to see the Damyn’s set up and it deserves to be a Mecca for the south in the same way that Newark is between Hooton, while Hooton itself will become the more northerly event in time as the buildings are renewed and hopefully more aviation events will flourish.
The more we make aviation preservation noticeable on the media map by linking with other forces events the better; it makes us look less specialized and/or eccentric in what we do and tie-ins with responsible and well-led military events like Damyn’s means that both fraternities can benefit and give the public a varied and interesting show, while highlighting our own aviation heritage and the kind of work we undertake to preserve and commemorate it. It does us more good and in particular, with local councils as well as other media to make us more recognised on the national stage, and by the public.
Some people were unaware of Damyn’s this year and will make a effort to attend it next year with hopefully a cockpit or three. After our table displays there last year which were well-received I’ll certainly try to bring a cockpit from my ‘home’ museum if staffing issues can be resolved in time due to conflicting dates.
GOKONECOCKPITS TO DAMYNS HALL!
Amongst the many attractions of Damyns last year was included some great flying performances including not just the best but the longest, Spitfire display I have ever seen – it was surprising to say the least.
BUILDING UP DAMYNS AVIATION DISPLAYS
As aviation people we do need to reach a wider audience and not just appear to be keen, but actually show, that passion about what we do like the Damyns regulars, who are into their jeeps and tanks etc.
I can’t see what more MFMS can actually do to encourage cockpiters to bring their projects along and the covering of fuel bills is a rarity indeed. I hope to bring a Sea Hawk cockpit but the revised Damyns date this year means it clashes with something else and I won’t know until later in the calendar if I can definitely come along as a result.
If I do it will be because my fuel bill is covered due to ‘challenging’ times as they say in the financial press, while regarding wear and tear concerns, a motor vehicle/trailer wears down daily or whenever its used – this event is only once a year and 250-450 mile round trips won’t use that much rubber up really. I wonder how much it costs to bring a tank to the show, as opposed to a much more mobile cockpit!
Yes time may be an issue re family and work commitments, but again Damyns is annual only to plan for like many other events, while being better publicised in advance than many. I have nil doubt whatsoever that any cockpiter will be happy to show people or fellow admirers their own exhibit in the evening also as well as during the day.
COME ON COCKPITERS!
As Alf has said, the beauty of the HMVA show is
“All weekend and gives ample opportunity to mingle and play once the public has gone home.”
“There is a huge beer tent and catering vans on site, and 2 nights of free entertainment. The Essex HMVA understand the problems faced by cockpit owners and will happily chip in with some petrol money. Hopefully more will take a leap of faith in subsequent years.”
Come and have a great weekend with lots of friendly people and organisers.
GOKONESTEVE AT WHITTICK AEROMART 2004
Well I’ve found the pic but unsure if it will go up, Bruce can you do the honours if it fails plz and I’ll send on to you.
This was taken as above and shortly after his appointment as BAPC Chairman I think. To his utter amazement someone with a nearly complete Venom panel – night fighter version I think – came along and I think Naylan spotted it and tapped him on the shoulder. Like one of those Angling Times images of a happy person with a Crucian Carp of a certain poundage. Here goes for upload anyway…
Minutes later.
OK what have I done wrong, I’ve loaded it into a new-style file folder of past posts, and clicked ‘upload’, but nothing’s happened.. Hold on, will try again, have to click ‘Insert Inline’ I believe- my, its changed a but since I last had space to post…
[ATTACH=CONFIG]237772[/ATTACH]
GOKONEThe worry is, if this is how the 5th(?) richest nation in the world deals with its obviously deserving multiple illness cases then I can’t for the life of me (and Steve’s now sadly gone) see, how a government can even think of delivering a 7-day service, when the health service failed in Steve’s case so consistently, with convenient brush-offs via inadequate anti-biotic get-outs when he should have been referred INSTANTLY to a specialist long ago. Shame on his GP’s and their precious budgets that are not doled out to clearly deserving cases. This is one of the reasons we pay taxes to give doctors a living.
GOKONESteve Pt.2
LUDDITUS EXAMPLE
“I am not opening this until I know what is in it – I don’t want any nasty viruses humping into my computer.”
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TREATMENT
Here are some of the exchanges prior to his admission, again, for someone not just so ill but frustrated at the vagaries of receiving proper and prompt care, his sense of humour is an example of how I guess we’d all like to be in such a situation. “Yeh, I’m crap. So what? Now where’s my next model coming from?”
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9th Jan
I am really rather unwell at the moment, myself. I have finally got a diagnosis for the excruciating pain in my left foot – after one month and having been told that it isn’t gout… I have gout! I have also got cellulitis in my right leg, which is equally agonising. If you add this to a galloping kidney infection and a flare up of my Crohn’s disease, plus a load of other hassles, I am just about ready for the knackers yard.
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14 Feb
As you know, I haven’t been very well for a while and I have only just managed to persuade the doctors that there really is something amiss. Having splitting headaches, flu-like fevers, a high temperature and all the other symptoms for six weeks isn’t normal, apparently…
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So, this morning (Saturday) I am supposed to present myself to the medics at St James’ hospital for a full MOT, involving a head CT scan, abdominal scan, all kinds of blood and other tests to find out what the problem is – about bloody time! I was told that they might be looking for an abscess, or some other kind of nastiness. If I have got some thing in my head, other than the usual straw & newspaper, it would explain a lot, including why I nearly flaked out in a motorway service station on Thursday night!
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There’s nothing to worry about at this stage – it could be trapped wind (!) I will just be glad to get a hint at what the problem is. I don’t know how long they expect to keep me, but I will be trying to escape as soon as possible. If I get my way, I shall be going to the Huddersfield Model Show on Sunday, even if I have to go back in on Monday morning. They might not even keep me overnight (I hope) I just have to wait and see what they come up with.
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I can’t guarantee being able to get access to the internet until I manage to tunnel out, so there’s not much point in attempting to contact me that way, until I break free. If they keep me for any length of time I will need supplies bringing in – so that I can build a glider… I could have done with a bit more notice of this, not least because I haven’t got any pyjamas, which might cause a bit of stir… No good will come of it!
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26 Feb
Feeling as bad as ever and still no joy from the doctors. I went there last Friday and came away with the promise of being set up with an urgent appointment to see a man about some skin cancer. I am not the slightest bit worried about it – it either is or it isn’t and I have had such problems before. What annoys me is that they get ****** idiots to produce the information letter, which isn’t really in English. See the scan and decide how one is supposed to wait urgently…? You can wait patiently; you can wait impatiently – you can’t wait urgently.
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My 9 hr stay in hospital last week produced no specific results other than boredom and a £15.00 taxi fare. No surprises that they didn’t find much, other than I don’t feel very well and have a high temperature, when they didn’t do all of the tests that they said that they were going to do and sent me home none the wiser, is it?
Don’t know if I can be bothered to go to Newark when I feel so ill. I am not really in need of anything and, unless Andy is interested in going I might just give it a miss – again. This lurgy is sucking the life out of me – along with some real ********* that are having a similar effect.
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3 Mar
By this time Steve was struggling to walk very far and I wondered how he was going to do basic things like shop, and could he use public transport etc.
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The mechanic sounds like he doesn’t want to do the work. As far as I am concerned, the numbers still add up to less than buying a reasonable replacement, which could turn out to be a problem and just as bad, in 12 months. The steering rack, rear suspension arm, exhaust and back brakes all need sorting. In addition, the sump is rotten and starting to leak and the engine emissions are proving difficult to tame.
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It is likely to go to the top side of £1000, but that is still cheaper than picking up a second-hand Focus, with no real guarantees that it is any good. Talk about a rock & a hard place… Better the Devil you know…?
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Going anywhere by Public Transport is not really an option. It’s O.K for long distance journeys but, if you have luggage for an overnight stay or for a presentation, it would be impossible for me to carry it, especially in my knackered state. I went to a meeting in London, a couple of weeks ago, and that meant travelling down on the Wednesday evening and staying somewhere near Hampstead to avoid the congestion charge. We used the tube to get across town and the walk between stations nearly killed me! It was bitterly cold and that affected my breathing.
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Even going to Leeds on a bus would damned hard work and incredibly time consuming. The bus station in Leeds is anything up a mile and half from most of the places that would want to go. Two of the hospitals that I have to visit are a two bus journey, each way, with a walk between stops. Shopping is easy enough – I am only 25 yards from the Supermarket.
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I am being steadily ground down by this illness. It has been going on since before Christmas and there is no sign of improvement. My G.P’s don’t give a **** and I am going to have to get myself an appointment with the Consultant in the Urology Department, because they won’t do anything. If he finds something significant, that the G.P has ignored, the **** is going to hit the fan.
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18 Mar
I felt things were looking bad and more importantly I didn’t know that it was definitely cancer on Steve’s scalp, asking what was happening with the specialist? If the doctors(GP’s) were disinterested couldn’t he just demand a specialist/consultant meeting from the GP?
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19 Mar
It is getting to the point where I just don’t want to bother with the ****** G.P. It is soul destroying and a complete waste of time and energy to try and get anywhere with them. This is probably what they want, of course – to p*** me off so that I leave them alone. It’s a much easier life for them if they don’t have to deal with patients.
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Steve finally saw some people who bothered to look at all of his problems and things looked brighter on the diagnosis and treatment side at last.
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20 Mar
My trip to the hospital today was very productive – we didn’t discuss my chest problem, but **** listened to the list of symptoms and ailments that I have and has already decided that I am being ****** about – he has asked for a reference to the consultant urologist.
He has also ordered up some tests to check for other things including, would you believe, tuberculosis! When I was describing the ********* about by the G.P., especially over the kidney/urine problem, he said “Well, it’s a no brainer – you should have been referred to the urology department ages ago” – Eureka! Someone that actually has a brain and knows his trade.
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CARRY ON
When Steve realised he was stuck at home and finally needed help to get to hospital he said it took two hours just to crawl to the stop of the stairs to sit upright so that he could begin to dress himself, it took more hours by the time the ambulance came. It was just so cruel that his flared-up disc problem (yet another ailment) meant he could’t walk while in hospital.
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This was a man who gave new meaning to the phrase “Carry on regardless” and until I meet him again I hope if I have just a fraction of his spirit, wit, drive, determination, intelligence and humour, it won’t be a bad thing. Will be looking out for you regardless at the boots Steve, and I’ll still see you there in the way I still remember you.
GOKONESTEVE PT.1
Sorry if its a bit long but I knew him for a long time and Part 2 breaks it up a bit with a sum up.
Yes Bruce has captured a lot of what made Steve who he was along with other contributions – such a Wickedly Dry Yorkshire Wit that I could probably design a beer label for it. I met him sometime in the early 90’s and in the last year in particular we mailed each other regularly as I followed his decline and frustration at GP’s. I’ve put some of it down here in Pt.2 as aside from the trials he was suffering not just from his ailments but the lack of concern from GP’s (including refused referrals that he felt were purely down to cost) it also shows that despite it all, his humour was still shining through.
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He was continually scathing of GP’s in his final year and their lack of logic in dealing effectively with his case besides the referral issue, along with unthinking hospital lapses in anticipating when he would need supplies of drugs that he had not been told were not available at specific times. In the end I told him to be a bit more forceful, horrified after he told me of two evenings when one GP said while standing in the doorway (after he had waited a considerable time) that he hoped it wouldn’t take too long as he had other things on, while another almost made him say ‘You just want to get home and have dinner don’t you, palming me off with more ineffective antibiotics that I don’t need’.
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Towards the end I told him that he had to give up BAPC and just stay with AeroVenture for his health – as you will see further on, the travelling alone was wearing him down as he couldn’t do long distances and careful planing was needed – especially when his car started giving similar terminal problems and he had to start using public transport.
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Time will only confirm more markedly what an indispensable person he was to BAPC, and to people also. He threw himself into many things and seemed never happier than wandering around aeroboots dispensing updates, Yorkshire wit and painfully accurate impersonations of people who had raised his ire including one source who had treated him disgracefully with mean and ungrateful machinations. One in particular was my personal favourite and he seemed to find his forte at AV, working in the shop there while dealing with his BAPC duties and everything else that life threw in the way of his health. It was selfish of me perhaps, that despite everything I knew of his health along with*his spiralling condition at hospital, I still expected him to pull through.
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There is a GR3 at Elvington that his initiative fostered along with later bits added, and he has made a mark that will be remembered in preservation. He was also instrumental in saving the former LAHC Vulcan CDT after the VTTST proved unwilling to pick the item up themselves and the first sale fell through. After I mentioned this to him he swung into action with BAPC contacts and between them and VTTST we worked to make pick up and delivery arrangements ourselves along with payments, ensuring that it was saved and passed on.
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I was told originally by my original VTTST contact at Finningley that 6 months would be needed to build a stand for the item (the oldest piece of Vulcan built, made before the prototype flew) but it had to go from its Surrey location fast, and AeroVenture kindly took it on re temporary storage. Much time later it was still there however and I’m not sure if it is in fact still there today. Many other people will know something of Steve’s positive effects on preservation too I’m sure.
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He was pleased to get some Harrier cockpit parts from me around 5 years ago at knockdown price and told me he had secreted them away in his loft for a future project while a BAe manual followed later, he was very pleased though when around 3 years ago I bought a cache of German 72nd scale bombers (yes, they’re in the loft but they were just so nice). Beautifully painted by a deceased model maker that had left his collection with NAM to raise some funds, I duly presented him with a favourite of his which was a FW189? (the one with the cockpit on one wing and the engine on the other), but on mailing him shots of the other models I was surprised at his knowledge of them all – he had specialist Luftwaffe books also along with other reference and could always be relied on to sort an aviation query or ID a plane which was suspect.
GOKONEyes i never thought this would happen, but thanks to the awesome team @ KP this did not go undetected..
sir i know your ip, ur from brazil, your in either Sobral or Rio de genero, so please stop my friend. i wana live in peace …
IP Address Country Region City ISP
201.9.26.235 Brazil Ceara Fortaleza Oi Velox/ Telemar Norte Leste S.a.Continent Latitude Longitude Organization
South America -3.3167 -41.4167 Oi Velox/ Telemar Norte Leste S.a.
Hi,
Can all the people getting hacking attempts please confirm if they are running Kaspersky anti-virus on their PC’s plz?
GOKONEyes i never thought this would happen, but thanks to the awesome team @ KP this did not go undetected..
sir i know your ip, ur from brazil, your in either Sobral or Rio de genero, so please stop my friend. i wana live in peace …
IP Address Country Region City ISP
201.9.26.235 Brazil Ceara Fortaleza Oi Velox/ Telemar Norte Leste S.a.Continent Latitude Longitude Organization
South America -3.3167 -41.4167 Oi Velox/ Telemar Norte Leste S.a.
Hi,
Can all the people getting hacking attempts please confirm if they are running Kaspersky anti-virus on their PC’s plz?
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