You could always set about planning a visit here on the 27th!! 😀

The NAHR is online http://www.bapc.org.uk/html/nah_register.html and IIRC it has been discussed on here already this year; yes more aircraft need to go inside!

I have tried to consider the issues raised in the OP and I have made a couple of comments on this thread so far; what follows are some almost random thoughts and observations, grouped under some general headings, which for whatever reason don’t necessarily offer any firm answers.

I became involved in aircraft preservation as a 13 year old schoolboy in the 1970s; I was the one given the ‘menial’ jobs, but my love of aircraft and certain determination not to be beaten saw me persevere – one way and another I’ve been involved ever since.

Things that haven’t changed:

Firstly I don’t necessarily believe that the ‘volunteering profile’ has changed that much since I started – there certainly weren’t that many youngsters involved when I joined NAM and I feel that aspect has remained fairly constant. It may have moved a bit towards the older age group, but perhaps this reflects people’s extended life expectancy.

The outlook has always allegedly looked ‘bleak’ – I attended a BAPC Conference at Iron Bridge more than 25 years ago; where one keynote speaker, foretold the demise within 10 years of every Vulcan that had just been purchased by museums and were displayed outside by non-national collections.

There will always be examples of how not to do things; in my personal experience some of this has arisen from armed forces personnel, who perhaps ought to know better.

People have always expressed concern about the future, when I started out that tended to be during car journeys to air displays or to collect exhibits; it then moved to the pub; and I guess now it is on Internet fora.

Things that have changed:

Aviation generally has become more accessible. When I started for me the mere chance of getting to go inside an aircraft was a key driver; now so many people use aircraft to travel they do not have quite the same mystique they once did.

There are more aviation museums; but equally there are more other forms of transport and ‘yesteryear’ collections / hobbies as well.

There are more individuals that own aircraft cockpits and the like. Just a thought, does this individual ownership perhaps dilute the number of people that are volunteering at a museum? Perhaps it does, but surely that is something that should be embraced and encouraged as a least some effort is being made to save something!

At NAM the actual time when people volunteer has changed – when I started it was one night in the week and on a Sunday; then it moved slightly to include Saturday as well. Currently weekends are lower volunteering days and mid-week days are more the norm, especially Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Perhaps this reflects more early retirees and more flexible employment patterns.

Opportunities & the future:

There needs to be an acceptance that national standards like Accreditation are a good thing, not least because they’re designed to encourage and enhance best practice. However there is an inevitable consequence that this will limit what can perhaps be done and indeed how it is done. Also this will ruffle the feathers of some groups and individuals, but I believe this is a price worth paying.

There is a healthy number of ATC Squadrons; D of E groups looking for ‘service’ opportunities; and Scouts studying for aviation badges etc. – these youth groups need to be engaged and encouraged to become more involved.

Volunteering opportunities are being promoted by various government led initiatives. I believe that these need to be considered carefully, due to the various factors and expectations that are now being placed on museums, e.g. paying travel expenses; implementing volunteer contracts; grievance procedures; etc. These items can be divisive and potentially alienate the existing and well-established styles of volunteering that are prevalent at many organisations.

‘Where there’s a will there’s a way’ – e.g. old skills such as the application of fabric can be relearnt and are not necessarily lost; but perhaps just have to be re-learnt.

Manage expectations – people should not expect just to turn up and be given the job of restoring the prize exhibit, as that privilege has to be earned. While some ‘volunteers’ may be lost along the way because of such policies, but I suspect that has always been the case.

Try to minimise the growing trend towards everything being viewed with a ‘risk adverse’ outlook – not easy I know but it should be encouraged wherever possible.

Whilst over at NAM (formerly RAF Winthorpe) today I took a few measurements, which paint an interesting picture.

I couldn’t access a complete dispersal point to get the full diameter of the main pan, but I was able to measure the width of the approach concrete to the pan. For the Hangar 1 approach this had an average width of 48’ 9”.

The individual concrete slabs also showed no standard size. On the approach concrete and on the circular dispersal pan the following widths were noted:
16’ 10”
16’ 9”
16’ 6”
16’ 4”

The lengths of these slabs were typically:
20’ 6”
30’ 10”

I know that these concrete sections have been surveyed properly so I will try to gather some further detail from that source.