GOKONEYou’re right PD, a friend of ours has had attempts too, best to stick to the subjects in hand and keep any personal stuff that is potentially useful to them out of the way – after the way China ripped off a Merc 4×4 some years ago and got away with it in their ‘courts’ and then built their own YF-22 derivative (badly) from reputedly stolen plans, its clear that they have copying in their national psyche – the latest offended is Jaguar, who have seen their Evoque jeep ripped off @ around £20k less – shields up everyone.
GOKONEYou’re right PD, a friend of ours has had attempts too, best to stick to the subjects in hand and keep any personal stuff that is potentially useful to them out of the way – after the way China ripped off a Merc 4×4 some years ago and got away with it in their ‘courts’ and then built their own YF-22 derivative (badly) from reputedly stolen plans, its clear that they have copying in their national psyche – the latest offended is Jaguar, who have seen their Evoque jeep ripped off @ around £20k less – shields up everyone.
GOKONEMike Eskriett snapped up a nice Varsity pilots panel near the end so I let him have my Varsity yoke to go with it rather than wait for C.Fest to settle up – somethig less to take back to London anmd take up space!
The yoke is from the one scrapped at Duxford that ended up at Hanningfields. I remember sitting in the cockpit which seemed like a greenhouse at the yard on a very sunny day in the 90’s with the small of leather and oil and metal and rubber and it was a real Condor moment. I swapped the other one years ago and gave the shaft from it to Bill Fern to attach to their own yoke in their cockpit at AV, not sure if I still have the other shaft in the loft.
An enjoyable event with plenty of people milling around and sellers staying longer which is what we wanted to see – I stuck mainly to photos as did the Midland Aviation Museum attendees who bought loads from V to Anson to Meteor to Javelin, they had a field day.
The seller must have been pleased as I did £70+ alone on them and I did well myself even without the sale of the yoke while I was pleased to off-load my A-10 procedures trainer panel to an old boy who did me some good buys years ago but dosen’t sell now – he said his wife would object to it less!
GOKONEAh, Kit!
Ah Nigel Spurs place at North scarle,to a teenage enthusiast this was an amazing place,had a few pieces from there ,I remember phantom ejector seats,pylons with WTM stencilled on,a lovely yet BDRTdamaged Bucc panel with the 12 Sqn fox on it,flying clothing,I found a victors AEO seat XL189 possibly? But it would not fit in my dads Vauxhall nova saloon,I was intending to go back but then an healthy interest in the female gender took over . What an idiot!
Newark Is a great event,I will return one day.
( sorry slightly off topic I know)
Never off-topic when discussing kit! I had a Victor escape hatch and a mechanically complete Mk.9 seat from Nigel’s once, and that was just one visit – a Nissan Bluebrd is brilliant with the seats down…Anyone feeling more aeroboots today would be awkward makes me wonder how we managed it every year with the more numerous ones we had to enjoy, AND still get along to Hanningfields to go through the racks in the yard and containers while stripping out things like Buccs, Canberras and Comets etc on many early and happy 90’s Saturday mornings – I reckon we were spoilt.
What we did know was that we had to make the most of it while we were there and we had some great stuff at good prices, unlike the dealer-distorted market of today. I had 20-25 Hunter control grips alone from Nigel on another occasion, and Tony D had 2 off me I think, with history. I sold the rest on at fair prices though one Dutchman didn’t think so and I still have a minter today – gave the other one away to a mate but maybe I shouldn’t have in retrospect. I had a healthy interest too in one female who lent me her old Volvo and it promptly broke down on the turn-off before Hanningfields.
After Andre came along on the day in question to pick up some Victor bits for Lindy that I had for him after he’d been to Hanningfields himself, I managed to get to a phone in a village school hall (no mobiles then) for the AA on her policy and then back to London after an AA man tested it twice and finally found under a locked bonnet a piece of slipped wood that had been bodged to hold the battery in place – I never saw the girlfriend much after that – you’d think these girlfriends would use better mechanics wouldn’t you?
GOKONEGood ‘Ol Whittick
I was surprised to see the negative comments re Whittick as I had many happy buys there over many years, and as someone who didn’t live close to it, it was still worthwhile in the main to go there. It was in a school hall with adequate parking, nice toilets and bar, and hot food could be had also. Some of the personal buys included a RAF Victor display model, A-10 procedures panel, Valiant co-pilots grip, Phantom throttle box and rudder bar pedals, and numerous instrumentation from sellers over 10-15 years such as John Birkett of Lincoln re Hunter, Bucc, Phantom, Victor etc, while Roy Bonser always had something for everyone – as he often has today when he has a table at NAM.
A delighted Steve Hague picked up a rare Venom night fighter main control panel almost 100% fitted out about 4 years before the boot ended and I bought a Tiger Moth panel for a pleased Naylan Moore along with Victor spares including cockpit nuclear blanking panels. Bucc nuclear role panels were £25 from Nigel Spurr before the MAS debacle which saw so much military aviation sparesholdings scrapped and lost to dealers and collectors, which saw Nigel having to go into ground equipment and diversifying after he lost his original tender contract to this disastrous govt-inspired concern.
Another contact picked up a complete Hastings column for £140 towards the end while another still had Vulcan AP’s for a tenner a time. I still have hard to get V bomber ILS light assemblies that dear Bert Coggins sold for £5 each, and a complete Javelin gunsight purchased when another old collector Bert Aggas sold all his collection before going into log books instead. He had complete sight units for around £150 each inc F-4, but the latter item was HEAVY. I also had a gun button and a lovely original compilation book of Schneider Trophy races inc many period ads that Roy also sold to me.
John used to sell Harrier stand by sights (port coaming) for £5 each and F6 auto-pilots for £10 – wished I’d had more! We’ll never forget packing up and going out to to the car park on one memorable occasion also to find a seller late(!) arriving, and on going through his truck, buying about 30 Spitfire “Pip-Squeak” early IFF boxes in good condition for £5 each. Some buyers at Shoreham later were very pleased to get them. A mate also remembers a seller called Rodney Rose who “aways had something of interest”.
Early and late Lightning throttle boxes, a mint Andover grip and a Victor pitot followed in later days along with various instrumentation inc Vulcan/Victor MFS main flight instruments for £10 ea and though it was tiring on the way back to London, a sleep on the way back as we do today from NAM used to get us back OK. People have to work with eBay these days as they see fit though the extorting and other aspects like lousy policing and selling policy rulings annoys many, while I don’t feel that a few more aeroboots would be too bad a thing as there were more then including the additional Shoreham at season’s end. A one-off at Rougham in the 90’s was cold, windy and a nightmare for some but in general we always seemed to get to the now-defunct ones OK including the still-surviving Popham though it isn’t as aviation-based as it used to be with more auto, tools and garden tat etc in with the mix.
The original Tangmere of course was excellent with use of museum and toilets, loads of kit and £3 entrance I think, but those are long-gone days now. The one I never went to as I think I was too late onto things in the early 90’s or was unaware of it at the time, was the fondly-recalled affair at Yeovilton where from what I was told the authorities interfered and loused it all up. I think there is a u-Tube of an early video showing Hurricane canopies and all manner of rare kit for sale, which I hope are still in original collections or passed on now. But not scrapped, as with the sickening MAS debacle.
GOKONEInteresting to see a Lightning image in their latest FlyPast advert !
Usually the case if they’ve got one, always a fave with visitors as well as museums. Logo wasn’t meant to be used like that and could be a bit bigger with more of a classical font but overall its a very nice poster indeed.
GOKONEBOOT COMMENT 2
I wasn’t talking it down and it was never a question of doing that. I made the point that it was a first event as you have done, however a number of people I talked to were unhappy with it but others online were not last year – I tried to include both sides from that time with present comment on the coming year.
I’ve used aeroboots for over 20 years now but the viewpoints of users need to be laid out on both sides so that the pros and cons can be argued fairly – debate will only give a better experience for everyone concerned and that’s always been the case at NAM for example so if anyone else wants to comment please do. There are always two sides to an event as users see it and its important to show both instead of using ‘talking down’ comments.
In this spirit I had the following with 2 contacts on Monday – the old chestnut of tent hire comes up again at the new location besides wishing it would be an outdoor event – before the usual reply to the latter which I fully appreciate, I will agree beforehand that there are people like book sellers and/or who are old, or those who don’t want to be out in the wet (potentially) and that’s perfectly understandable – its an insurmountable problem until a building is ever found – unlikely I would suggest, while its always nice to have it on an airfeld or a museum where the backdrop is complementary.
Here are the comments I had anyway, An old seller from Surrey said:
D: Its too far away!! Pitch n petrol costs £100 + to get thru the door and that’s taking the car. At least Brooklands is close to London but why not Fairoaks Airfield ? Its got a runway, huge space, hangers, café, TOILETS AND ITS 5 MINS FROM J11 M25. It has to be worth us attending otherwise it ends up as*a charity jumble sale full of stuff like the cats protection league and similar while people are encouraged to stay at home and use the bay.”
P: “Fairoaks is a possibility provided the management will accept odd members of the public wandering over their airfield.”
D: “Outdoor stalls need to be cheaper but as far as*I’m aware the other major expense, site rent, wasn’t present last year.”
P: “I’m not convinced that the tent costs that much anyway having heard the prices they pay at Damyns Hall last year.”*
I’ll certainly try to get to it if I can anyway as mentioned and hope others will do the same, but I’m still planning ahead re museum events at Flixton while building everything else in – but on the matter of ‘Norm’, airfields *& museums, I have an update.
AEROBILIA 2015
Sorry been deployed away! Yes, it’s on Saturday 16th May. It’s on our website, under events. Cheers, Norm.
GOKONEI received a text from someone at the new venue for the former Shoreham last year that I couldn’t attend and he attached a picture of a lengthy marquee with hardly any sellers or buyers in it saying disappointedly “you missed nothing”. Some buyers said they got some good bits regardless on another thread I saw in 2014, but I hope as it was a first event that it picks up this year to something more like Shoreham’s attendances.
I was looking forward to NAM’s new Victory Day event re showing some WW2 kit and memorabilia, but unfortunately someone pointed out to me last week that it clashes with the annual Brooklands jumble which I always go to, so hopefully a different date can be found next year that avoids this – but then will it clash with something else, its always a worry.
Don’t forget Cockpit Fest has an aerojumble too! I found 2 dates last year that I suggested to Old Sarum’s “Aerobilia” including one which didn’t clash with anything but I never heard anything back, I e-mailed Norm there last week asking if there are any plans for one this year, so will update if I hear more on anything.
GOKONECosford no Fest
Curses! It clashes with Cosford!
A colleague says its no loss at Cosford as the last time attended it was awful and like a big Sunday market with non-stop helicopter trips that ruined further a disappointing show.
Bet they’re dearer for their cheese toasties compared to NAM too. 😀
GOKONEIt would be nice to think that Flixton could get the unique to the U.K Canberra B(I)8 nose undecover at some stage!
I supplied the screw kit for the nose perspex and while it would be good to see it under cover there are many things people would like to see similarly protected as well as at many museums, unfortunately its a large nose and there is only so much space available. The aim I think is to keep the Canberra cockpits together also as a group. The people there work very hard to keep things up to scratch and its always worth a visit with the new Overstrand nose alone another great draw and relevant to the area.
GOKONECockpit Fest Doc Format
Just sent this to Bill after having a Fest doc forwarded to me,
Hi Bill,
As someone who can’t open Word docs, I wondered if everyone could be sent a PDF file instead – maybe Howard can advise. Acrobat seems to be on both PC’s and Mac’s, and PDF is the same format as your digital newsletter which is sent out to people- you can even make the forms better designed too as they won’t be constrained then by the restrictions of Word. How sayest thou?
Just thought, maybe its because its for filling in the form digitally as a convenience instead of posting back by mail and that its harder to do that on PDF.
Paranormal man 🙂
GOKONEVALIANT XD857 Etc
The owner is registered on the forum, I’ve told him about the thread and suggested he comments.
Sorry about the delay, my Mac crashed last year and I’ve only just rescued the database on the old e-mail prog today! The cockpit section has seen over 30 years out in the open and before the three V’s moved to Flixton there was some hope of having a lightweight roof over the three V’s due to sweating and rain ingress and the distance I live from Flixton. This hasn’t been possible subsequently but the staff have been extremely helpful in getting all three to their current display status.
I managed to get a dehumid in the Vulcan last year and it later froze over due to the cold, I haven’t had time yet to get a small heater to take the temp up a bit on that one, but in general its been a help. Sadly the rain is still getting in via the canopy guide rails, something we didn’t think of when ‘445 was first restored externally 3-4 years ago, so a cherry picker and a filler of some sort has to be tried as the ceiling instrumentation is good only for junking and its very frustrating. I also have to try to get 2 rear seats out (‘V’ stiff in their mag rails at present) AND a 2nd pilots seat. Some say the latter can’t be done without taking the canopy off. Well I have to try anyway! The rudder bar area and floor are in great need of treatment there also, and its an impossible contortion to do any anti-exfoliation work with both seats in place.
I’m afraid that without a roof over the Valiant in particular there is no chance of restoration, it was suggested that a rear section be built to shut her off from the elements with a door, but then you have to look at sealing it from underneath from insects, birds nests etc which would be awkward. I don’t think it would be a good thing in general however as really she needs to be inside and open to view into, due to her historical sectioning. Sadly ‘857 was sectioned before I got her and she could have been restored as a whole section with patches here and there. As long as she is out in the open it isn’t practical to restore her while any instrumentation would also need to be protected also clearly, not just from rain etc but extreme cold.
Another idea mooted by the Flixton years ago was to have a hole cut into it from a wall somewhere so that people could see it from inside one of the buildings, but again this would mean that a rare V cockpit would still be exposed to the elements and the inner widow frames are long-corroding along with the floor and centre pedestal. Mind you, a small pitched roof on the outside just might be doable, but then you would have to look at sealing all round the edges of the shape to keep out the rain from getting inside any building she was projecting from.
Its a shame as it would look lovely with some new internals using the old ones as patterns and some light bulbs at the foot of the rudder bar area to add some atmospheric lighting. Shoulder and upper roof panels are hen’s teeth but are fashionable though a bit of a job, I have a main and centre panel and a fair number of the instruments, but the main concern is her age and general condition due to outside display and the cutting which has made her existence that more difficult.
Flixton is a treasure trove of other complete airframes, cockpits and artifacts too numerous to mention, and there is understandably only so much that can be put under cover to be conserved as best as can be arranged by a dedicated team of talented people. More major exhibits are also due to arrive or may have already (I’ve been up to my eyes in other matters and flu so far this year) but I aim to get up there again as soon as I am able. Its the usual problem in the UK of too little space I’m afraid. I Hope that brings things up to date Fouga, if any other queries please let me know, I’ll try to look in again at a later date but again I’m very busy with design matters at present to keep the wolf from the door so don’t get much of a chance to get onto the forum as much as the past.
Cheers:apologetic:
GOKONEDartford Heist
Hi Howard,
The fuel reduction helps at present but it won’t last forever while the margins realised by our .Gov masters mean that tolls will persist sadly unless we give a reaction that usually comes only from our tricolour cousins across the water. Its OK at present but when both tolls kick in then the Catford side of the usual table display contribution will be drastically reduced.
The comparison of the infamous Skyebridge fiasco in Scotland saw the bridge brought back into pubic ownership in 2004 after many people repeatedly refused to pay the toll and went to court over it – during the preceding decade £33.3 million in tolls had been collected.
Figures obtained under freedom of information laws showed the building consortium’s operating costs on the bridge during this period had been only £3.5 million. Dartford must be taking taking more than some small African countries PA and more so in the light of the 2015 automated hike and £10 top-up scam, whereby the British public needs to give a response similar to the fuel tax affair.
Let’s get Jan out of the way anyway and then we can see that we only have another 11 months to go till Xmas… 🙂
GOKONEMORE AERO EVENT OBSTACLES IN .GOV DARTFORD RIP-OFF SCANDAL FROM 2015
Its not only the broken historical promise of free public use of the Dartford Tunnel being instigated when its original building costs had been met, or that the latest insult via automating payments has seen a hefty increase insult slapped onto the previous cost – clearly a blatant attempt to recoup set-up costs for the new system with all speed, but to the public’s detriment, with further hikes to come in the years ahead.
COST HIKE PLUS A TOP-UP EXTORT
One disgruntled user has pointed out that you are now required to register and put £10 credit on account. If like the complainer you fortunately use the crossing only once a year, it means the outlay is exactly twice what used to be paid (£2.50 of change thrown into a bucket each way). This is only the half of it however – for as soon as your balance drops below £10, this scheming .gov money-spinner automatically takes out another £10. This means that currently, this annual user has had to pay £20 for just two crossings – scandalous.
END OF AERO TABLE DISPLAYS FROM LONDON
There are occasions when I have picked my mate up from Catford for aviation events where Dartford has been used to access the M11, such as Cockpit Fest – but this nonsense means putting on a combined display will be a non-starter in the near future – and it will affect other aviation fans who may unfortunately have no choice in the matter due to cost. I took my contact to the enjoyable Damyns Hall Military & Flying Machines Show in Essex last year, returning to Catford in 45 minutes on the final day.
The new payment sting means another way to and from the M11 will have to be looked at – realistically this is Blackwall Tunnel, and as THEY are planning to charge for that in the near future thanks to dear cuddly BORIS who assumes Londoners and others can pay for every grandiose scheme he dreams up yet still have an affordable life, we will in effect be financially stuffed coming from London before we even think of fuel costs, etc. The effects of this socially will be very telling to Londoners and outside communters, but small businesses and commuters will feel disgusted and threatened in being fleeced daily with this unaffordable intrusion into their finances.
People need to wake up to it and start raising awareness now – I had a number of detailed e-mails 2 years ago with the .Gov office looking into charging at Blackwall posted up before the V.A. site got hacked. All instigated by people on comfortable government jobs with comfy pension schemes. Johnson earns £250k a year with his Telegraph column, what does he care about paying service charge hikes, TV licences, C-Tax and other bills the masses struggle with?
FUTURE UNAFFORDABILITY
In theory, it means that my mate and I would get screwed twice over if I have to pick him up and use Dartford alone (£20.00). When Blackwall starts charging however, I would potentially pay ANOTHER two times myself, due to using Blackwall to get across to and home from, Catford – presumably Blackwall will try the same Dartford con on myself re the £10 balance top-up extort, after I drop my mate back after doing a show and then need to return to East London. Its just scandalous and I certainly won’t be shopping over that side of the river again for things like white goods – the social impact will be telling, with the river in effect becoming a financial demarcation line for millions of shoppers and travellers everwhere.
THE FUTURE – YOU KNOW IT MAKES EXPENSE
I also don’t like paying for services like this digitally at the best of times while many unhappy people will be furious at Dartford’s calculated robbing of their already too-pressured funds that this .Gov toll is already making interest on now, re the extorted £10 over-payment top-up ploy, on TOP of the latest fee hike itself.
Dark days ahead then and we’re all doomed, so do remember to enjoy yourselves if you are still able to attend events in the future. Display events aside, do try not to leave Aeroboots early. We only get to see various mates 3-4 times a year these days and always make the most of our time at NAM and elsewhere. I also made another £25 staying behind with other sellers at the last boot.
GOKONEPRODUCTIVE TIME
“I have certainly been more productive since leaving the forum.”
I have a good feeling that 2015 will prove to be a vintage year for Cockpit-Fest. ;)[/QUOTE]
I’m afraid I’m keeping badly at present after collapsing on ASDA on Sunday but it was my fault (No Mark, I wasn’t drinking!) – flu took hold on the Friday and I had to get out for some some pills at the ASDA pharmacy, taking two Paramol before shopping. Unfortunately I didn’t eat anything beforehand however.
I started feeling sick after 45 mins or so of shopping, then when queueing up I started to feel the lights going out and came to on the floor – I was up after 5 mins anyway and explained what the prob was.
I spent an hour there resting and having a meal to boost my Merlin, and subsequently I’ve lost some weight anyway. The other bonus was seeing a lady holding my legs in the air for the first time in 14 years, so it wasn’t all bad! 🙂
Sadly 2015 looks to be heading for more howls of derision at silly price time again which helps preservationists, collectors and museums very little. I’ve come in briefly today to be given a number of links to absolutely stupid demands for various aviation items by too many get rich quick merchants. Its still being spurred by some sellers who have nil concern for stifling matters further in a still depressed market, besides the country itself in general.
Looking forward to the Fest as ever anyway along with other projects also, but also for the WW2 event, which I know is going to have some interesting gems on display, for which I am fitting in quite a ‘few’ myself.
I understand where Tone is coming from as unless you’re earning a living in some manner in aviation its hard to put as much time in on Forum talk though I take time out now and then, but bills, newsletter and book commitments alone as well as Flixton trips make it hard to comment on a regular basis in recent years, but will update as and when.
Ibuprofen Man
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