An update would probably help ensure that donations continue as well. The initial euphoria when the project was announced undoubtedly meant that a good few enthusiasts put their hand in their pocket but with no updates many potential donors may be wondering what is going on. It could very easily look like that the project has ground to a halt and this will make potential donors reluctant to part with their cash.
I appreciate the complexity of the recovery but even a few lines saying that a lifting frame is being designed/built and a few other bits and pieces to show that things are still moving on must help maintain interest in the project.

Good to see things progressing so well. KEX has moved on a long way from that broken fuselage that we battled to get through the door of the workshop a while ago now.

Thanks for that. Shame it isn’t in the UK. The Pitts design is old enough to qualify for a place in the collection at Old Warden now and there would have been no better candidate than one which was “built on the premises”.

This helps a bit but no mention of smuggling or illegal immigrants

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%200304.html

At http://www.kentonline.co.uk they say that all Kent newspapers archives are to be available free online. I should think the Kent Messenger would have reported the incident so when the archive is ready you may find more there.

If anyone wants these panels but can’t collect within a week I will gladly put them in my garage for a while. I live on Canvey Island so I can’t be too far away from Jamie-Southend and would hate to see them thrown away if they are of use to anyone..
If you need my help just drop me a PM.

They definitely appeared at the display to celebrate the opening of the Southend Museum. They still had Stampes at that time. I was an attendant at the display and the wind was gusting to about 35 knots which was very marginal for getting them off the ground safely so they had a ground handler on each wingtip and we had to run with them along the runway until the pilot put his hand in the air.
The Stampes had been tied down with the usual oil drums filled with concrete and as I was walking past the wind gusted and lifted the port wing on one aircraft. The metal tiedown loop on the top of the drum on the other wing went clean through the fabric. I found Stebby who was in charge of our group of ex Channel Airways engineers and he sent me off on my pushbike to get pinking shears, fabric and a can of dope and after making sure there was no structual damage we sorted out a repair patch. When the pilot arrived to do his pre-flight we explained to him what had happened and he seemed quite happy with the temporary repair.
Stebby reckoned I saved the day – had the pilot found the damage on his pre-flight the display would have beeen scrubbed. My reward was the job as ground handler with a briefing by Manx Kelly.
Not exactly a huge claim to fame but something I will always remember.
It does ring a bell that they did at least one seafront display with the Pitts S2As and that it may have been connected with promoting what was then the Westcliff Leisure Centre (now the Westcliff Casino).
You could try the Pprune forum which had a special thread on the Rothmans team with contributions from many people who flew or were associated with the team.

This years Sywell Show is £15 if you buy your ticket early, and thats for a three and a half hrs display including the Red Arrows. Non profit making as all the profits go to the local Air Ambulance.
Although to be perfectly honest reading most of the posts here I wonder why we bother!!
If you are not happy with whats on offer then try running your own, maybe then you will understand the costs and hard work and hasell that is involved in putting a show on.

You seem to have misunderstood. I would prefer to visit Sywell than one of the massive shows like RIAT. Sywell is about 220 miles for the round trip – roughly the same as Old Warden – which means that the admission, petrol and something to eat for my other half and I isn’t going to leave much change from £100 and that is £100 that I simply don’t have.
In the past I have been involved in running motorcycle events so I am well aware of the costs, work and hassle in running any event but with the current financial squeeze I am sure many others, like myself, get left with little spare money at the end of each month. If I don’t have the money in the first place I can’t spend it.
One option is to join those who stand outside and watch from the boundary hedge but there is no way I would join the freeloaders out there. If I ever take photos from outside the airfield at Old Warden or any other show I ALWAYS pay my admission and make my way back to a good spot for photos simply because I want to do my bit to make sure that displays continue and that goes for all displays regardless of the airfield.

I would be extremely sorry to see the Ambassador evicted from the hangar after all the hard work that has gone into the restoration. I know that the airliners don’t fit in with the remit of IWM but they have been there a long time and are rare survivors which should be treasured. I do get the impression at times that at present they are merely tolerated.