When Concorde arrived, East Fortune really became Concorde and other aircraft, rather than the well thought out and laid out museum, it was previously.
Gone went the display stands detailing early attempts at flight, before moving onto actual aircraft themselves, the Sail planes and hang gliders that were suspended from the roof, the Puss Moth and Tiger Moth diorama etc from Hanger 4. Gone went the Space display from Hanger 1 in order to make room for the Spitfire and Me 163 Komet to come over from Hanger 4.
Hanger 2 was always aircraft just line up, and Hanger 3 was always the restoration hanger, so it’s great that these are open full time now, but they have become viewable storage area, as there has been that much squeezed into them. Hanger 3 just looks a mess with the Viscount fuselage against one back wall, bits of Nimrod that escaped then it was broken up, and the Beau laid out awaiting restoration – to begin who knows when.
And on the other wall with no identification at all – it’s not even mentioned on the website any more – was the Space display material including a Blue Streak Ballistic Missile.
It’s one thing refurbishing the smaller buildings, and the Parachute store, looks good if only to walk in, spend 30 seconds taking a photo and then walking back out again as there is only the audio recording playing in the building itself. Fantastic Flight is fine if you have kids, and I understand any museum has have educational elements, and the Fortunes of war whilst well laid does little more than replace the cinema room from Hanger 4 that’s now dedicated to films about Concorde.
Of the what other buildings can be refurbed and to what extent, there isn’t any that will increase the aircraft display space. Nowhere for the 1 1/2 Stutter or Bolingbroke to be shown in their glory, or even show of the Nimrod section that when I was there last was stuck in beside the civil aircraft in Hanger 2 rather than be a centre piece of the military display in Hanger 1.
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