Have you tried contacting Nick Forder at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester? He may well be very interested in these and, if so, would ensure that they are in the public domain.

According to their on-line collections search they don’t have any (yet).
Roy – I’ve sent a PM.

Allan

Flying boat beaching gear is basically designed be used in low stress dynamic situations like pushing or towing an aircraft up a ramp

Pushing and towing is all it could handle and even then it had to be in a straight line. One Sunderland was written off when it fell off its tail trolley – the impact dropped the tail out of line.
There was, however, one exception when a Sunderland was taxyed up the slip at Pembroke Dock under power. The pilot, Wing Commander Derek Martin, knew he had to keep the the aircraft perfectly straight on the throttles alone. The experiment worked but it was never repeated.

And please make the text on your boards big enough for people with imperfect eyesight.

Oh yes, forgot about access. If you don’t want huge boards with huge text then have a large print guide written out in a couple of folders. The partially sighted like that. Well, OK, I like it: I lost my pilots licence to a rare eye disease :cool:. Having a folder to carry means I don’t get irritated having to lean over barriers or press my nose on the glass to read the signs in the dim light – and my eyes aren’t as bad as some, I’m still allowed to drive 😀
Good access benefits all without just being for the benefit of a few.

Tom,

Likes: Discovering something new, which means having the story of the aircraft, object or person clearly told.
Dislikes: Clutter. Museums which feel they have to display everything and make following the story very difficult.

The computer idea sounds good. There is plenty already available on how to label museum exhibits but I always like the three tier approach of having a headline to summarise the object (eg World’s last surviving . . .etc) bold text to fill in more detail and then small print for the captivated to study. You can walk past exhibits taking in the top line of information, or spend much longer reading the detail if you want to. Your computers will do that if programmed well – just don’t make them too complicated. And tell the story of the aircraft: saying how long the wings are isn’t really needed when it is in front of you!

But anyway, my area of work includes researching what our visitors want. I presume you have a visitor survey? This thread will work very well as a form of focus group to see what the aviation enthusiast wants but a survey will identify other types of visitors and what they want to see. Ask them about a new cafe, kids activities in school holidays, guided tours of museum highlights etc. If you want to be sure you know what female visitors want, it will show up. You can also target your marketing activity much more effectively when you know where visitors are from and what appeals to them (eg put a photo of the most popular aircraft on the front of the next leaflet)

But, it sounds to me as if you are doing most of the right things anyway. I wish you and the museum well.

Allan

What am i thinking with Fowler flaps then?

Gouge flaps were designed by Arthur Gouge – Short Brothers chief designer and used on the C-Class “Empire” flying boats, Sunderlands and Stirlings – among others. They roll back and down to increase wing area and therefore lift for take off and landing.

Fowler flaps also slide back and down increasing wing area – used on lots of aircraft, including the Cessna I flew.

They do seem very similar but no doubt somebody will explain the difference.

Attached is a detail showing a Gouge flap on a MkI Stirling if that helps with the modeling. Keep going, it looks great!

I bought it on DVD yesterday – I think it’s the director’s cut, however, but I’m still looking forward to watching it.

If your DVD has the option, try watching it in the original German (with subtitles if necessary). I think it is much better than the English dubbed version – but either way it is a great film.

Allan

….. Did any other aero manufacturers produce other automotive thingy wotsits

Short Brothers at least twice. They built bus bodies in the mid 1920s, many for London and some trolley buses for Oldham.
And in the 70s they produced the Short Shorland – an armoured Landrover with the turret from a Ferret armoured car – used in N Ireland.

Allan

A Short Sunderland with two Chariot submarines strapped to the sides has to be my favourite odd mod.

Sunderland JM714 was used in trials at MAEE Helensburgh fitted with two of the two-man Chariots. The idea was to fly over to Norway, drop off the Chariots in Asenfjord from where they would be used in an attack on the Tirpitz.

Many problems included the massive weight of the things, the extra drag and problems getting the crew on board their Chariots since in meant stopping engines – while in enemy waters. They tried dropping Chariots and crews separately while taxying but they ended up too far apart, at night when the divers were wearing WWII type diving suits with lead boots.

And in the middle of worrying about overcoming all this, the Tirpitz was moved out of range and JM714 was converted back to standard spec.

I love to see of a photo of it.