Hi Troy,
I realise how difficult it is to run a museum with limited resources, I wasn’t having a bash at the museum,the aircraft or the folks who run it.My point was more about the atmosphere of the place,which probably sounds daft but I really felt there was something lacking.I’ve been to other small museums such as Tangmere and the DH Museum (where Bruce works,although this was a few years back) and they had a more positive atmosphere.
It’s a difficult thing to pin down,but it has something to do with the way information is presented,the appearance of the place in general,condition of exhibits,content of info boards etc.
As DHfan said,it just ‘felt’ like nothing was happenning at NEAM, the place was ghostly quiet on a weekend afternoon,both in terms of staff and visitors.The biggest surprise to me was that signposting thing-if you wanted to attract visitors then surely decent signposting would be the first thing to sort out?
As for offering time to the museum,and museums in general,I’d be happy to,but unfortunately I live in London and was only up in the North East visiting my sister.As for museums closer to me,I did offer my time to the RAFM at Hendon a few years back and was told I wasn’t needed,and recieved a similar reply from the IWM at Lambeth.I can’t drive as yet,but when I get that sorted out I’ll be able to look further afield,eg Dh Museum,Brooklands etc.

Excluding ‘558’s financial troubles and going purelly on current condition and location,I would say the Blackpool example first (perhaps within a year or two) and then the Sunderland example shortly thereafter.As Bruce says,it will be difficult to preserve any of those currently outdoors in the long term.

Here’s my 1/72nd scale Hawker Tempest V from SMER/Heller.Old 1970’s kit,so not brilliant detail or fit,but came out ok.:cool: I wrote an article on the kit for the ‘Modelling Madness’ website. Follow the link to the article…

http://m2reviews.cnsi.net/reviews/allies/gb/harringtontemp.htm

As time goes on and the more pictures we see of ‘391 I increasingly wish they’d just go ahead and scrap her and put her and us out of our misery.
As for the Intrepid/Concorde thing,it doesn’t really matter how much cash they have to throw about.The environment in that location is such that she simply won’t survive no matter how much tlc she’s given.Ten or perhaps 20 years maximum,then it’ll be time to scrap her,and the Barbados one even sooner than that I’d have thought.

Beautiful pictures once again Franck,thank you for sharing them with us. 😎

Perhaps not the best preserved example,but a good excuse to post a couple of pics!This is FAW.2 XJ580 at Tangmere,looking rather tasty after a new coat of paint. 🙂

Hi BlackKnight,
Although that is what was reported in the IWM’s October airshow programme,it appears not to be true.A couple of forum folks who are close to OFMC asked around,and apparently it’s total twaddle. It’s thought that the La-9 WILL be diplaying in the UK next year.
The P40 and the Corsair are off to NZ for the airshow at Wanaka over Easter 2004,with the P40 definately staying there,and perhaps also the Corsair.

I have to agree that the decision surrounding the Hampden is pretty disappointing,particularly as it is probably the only oppertunity we’ll ever have of seeing a complete example in Europe,if not the world (the one in Canada,although a spectacular piece of work,has a number of ‘non-standard’ items to make it look complete-it’s also outdoors so doesn’t have a garaunteed future anyway!).
As for the Halifax,we’ve had this discussion before (a number of times!).As far as I’m aware,it would be an enormous task to restore the Halibag to full static standard.In a way,NA337 was a much better project to start off with than the RAFM example,which had been seriously bent and subsequently fire damaged during it’s crash landing.You’d probably have to make a complete new wing spar and a whole host of other pieces if you wanted to see the RAFM example on her feet.NA337’s wings were pretty much undamaged,and so she can bear her own weight whilst still retaining many original load bearing components.My feeling is that W1048 should be left as she is both in terms of her impact as a wreck and because of the financial imlications of attempting a full restoration.