I specifically and deliberately stayed away from looking at the current RAF Museum ‘experience’ from the enthusiasts point of view or that from someone who has been involved with historic aviation since the early 1970’s, trying to view it instead from that of a first time visitor.
The aircraft and equipment on display and available for public viewing at the time of a visit are truly STUNNING. There can be no argument about that. However, that is not all that is noticed.
Without doubt, the piles of items and equipment just left without any real explanation what what happening, the surliness of 90% of the staff, the overall ‘tattiness’ of the Bomber Command Hall in particular, the buckets to collect water-drips in both Bomber Command AND the new Grahame-White building and the complete failure to provide any information regarding the closures – and I searched all over their website and called their ‘information line’ and saw or heard nothing relating to any ‘closures’ I experienced on Saturday last – would have led to me, as a ‘first time visitor’ having a far from satisfactory visitor experience. Even though I had paid nothing, I am sure I would have felt ‘cheated’ in not being allowed to see all that I could have seen.
To this end, I am compiling a report/article that I intend to present to ‘the powers that be’ and would like to call upon the services of the forumites.
Museums in general, and in particular the public-funded ‘Nationals’, have to draw up (and usually publish) a series of documents. These are normally categorised as:
A Strategic Plan (nominally a five year plan)
A Collection Plan
An Exhibit Plan
A Conservation/Preservation Plan
An Archive/Library Plan
A Disaster Plan
I have spent the remainder of the weekend attempting to locate without success ANY of the above-listed documents that relate to the RAF Museum. Does anyone know of them?
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