With the advent of the better weather the pace of work on three aircraft repainting projects has stepped up a gear at the Newark Air Museum site in eastern Nottinghamshire.

Over the winter period as and when conditions have allowed paint stripping and de-corrosion work on de Havilland Heron 1.B G-ANXB has been progressing on a steady basis. Work has now just started on the application of primer paint to the upper wing surfaces and parts of the fuselage. Heron G-ANXB will eventually be repainted in the BEA Scottish Division markings it wore whilst serving as an air ambulance in the western Isles of Scotland.

Elsewhere on site, new painting teams have now also started work on the Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.14 WS739 night fighter aircraft and on the Avro Ashton fuselage from the WB491 flying test-bed aircraft. Both projects will be completed in parallel with various other restoration projects around the museum site.

Following detailed conservation studies on Avro Vulcan B.2 XM594 and some significant internal restoration work in the cockpit and bomb-bay areas of the airframe; planning is now in an advanced stage for some external restoration work on the aircraft. In the coming weeks a scaffolding structure will be erected around the tail fin, which will allow restoration work to be undertaken in a safe manner by another dedicated team of museum volunteers.

Progress reports on all of these projects will continue throughout the summer.

www.newarkairmuseum.org

Saturday 18th May 2019

The preparatory work for the 2019 Canberra Saturday event on Saturday 18th May, 2019 is now almost complete. The event will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Canberra aircraft and will be centred on the museum’s extensive collection of Canberra aircraft and cockpit sections.

The day will also mark the 20th anniversary of the Tribute to the Canberra event at our Gateway Aviation Site back in 1999, which was the forerunner of the ground breaking Cockpit-Fest event. As part of the event there will be a Canberra Reunion for former personnel who operated Canberra aircraft, with a number of veterans already having confirmed their participation at the event.

Canberra Saturday 2019 is also open to the general public and museum trustees, volunteers and staff have put together a range of visiting special displays and activities. On both days a number of museum aircraft will be open for people to visit – this will include the Canberra aircraft and cockpits at the museum. A small additional charge will be made for each aircraft visited (proceeds towards the museum’s various aircraft restoration projects).

Newark Air Museum Canberra exhibits

Canberra B(I)8 mod – WV787
Canberra T.19 – WH904
Canberra PR.7 – WH791
Canberra T.17 cockpit – WH863
Canberra PR.9 test-rig cockpit
Large scale Canberra radar profiling model

Visiting Displays

Mainly Military Model display
Canberra related sales stall
Newark Air Museum model display – Canberra & associated aircraft models
Airfield Research Group display
Andy Ward – Large Models display
Blackburne Aircraft – Canberra B6 (mod) cockpit, WK124
John Davies & Grub Street Publishing – Canberra Boys Book sales
Stephen Dring – 3D display/sales
Rob Williams/Kooky & Kitsch Publishing Promo display – e-book & activities
Wingless Wonders – Display of panels, manuals helmets & parts
Vulcan To The Sky – Canberra PR.7 Cockpit, WT534 & Canberra WK163 return to flight displays
Canberra/aviation related sales stall
Canberra Flight Simulator ‘flights’ will be ‘taking off’ in Hangar 1

During the event digitised extracts from the Roland Beamont interviews that the museum recorded shortly before his death will be played in the Cinema area in Hangar 2.

BBMF Flypast

Saturday 18th May – Dakota
(This will be subject to serviceability & suitable weather conditions)

Normal museum admission rates apply: Adults £9.00, Over 65s £8.00, Children £4.50 and Family ticket [2 adults & 3 children] £24.00.

Opening times; 10am to 5pm; last admission 4pm.
Full event details and exhibit lists can be found on the News & Information page of the museum website: www.newarkairmuseum.org

Lightning forecast! The cutting-edge F-35B Lightning will make its Royal Navy International Air Day debut on Saturday 13 July at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. Making an airborne-only appearance, the state-of-the-art multirole stealth fighter will bring a glimpse of future UK airpower to Air Day with two flypasts – one slow and one fast. A full-sized F-35B model with cockpit access will also be on static display for a close-up look at the UK’s new fifth generation fighter.

F-35s currently equip the RAF’s legendary 617 Squadron – The Dambusters – at RAF Marham, where both RAF and RN pilots fly them. This autumn British F-35s will embark in HMS Queen Elizabeth for the very first time marking a new era of fixed wing naval aviation for the RN as they work up to becoming a fully-operational, global carrier strike capability by late 2020.

The F-35B will be joined by some very rare and exciting displays, including the world’s only flying Westland Wessex HU5 which will be opening the show. The Red Arrows will perform one of their last UK displays this year before their tour of North America. Unique to Air Day is the dramatic pyrotechnic-filled Commando Assault demonstration by Royal Marine troops and the Commando Helicopter Force – an unmissable finale to the thrilling line-up.

These displays will be part of the action-packed five hour flying display whilst on the ground there will be a vast range of attractions from the latest defence technology exhibitions, STEM fair and service displays to trade stalls, arena displays, military bands and the chance to meet the pilots and even sit in the cockpit!

Further information and discounted advance tickets (Adult £28, Child U16 £5 and Child U5 Free) available at www.royalnavy.mod.uk/airday.

This summer’s Royal International Air Tattoo has promised to amaze and delight spectators with yet another thrilling flying display.

The world’s greatest airshow, which takes place at RAF Fairford in the Cotswolds 19-21 July, has announced that the Breitling Jet Team will be returning to demonstrate their acrobatic skills for the first time in five years.

The Team was created by Breitling in 2003 to demonstrate the brand’s values – performance, prevision, aesthetic, sophistication and innovation – to a broad audience and is the largest civilian flight team in Europe.

Operating seven L-39 Albatros military jet training aircraft, the Team are world-renowned for their formation flying displays and have displayed in Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Specialising in opposition passes, solo routines and synchronized manoeuvres, the distinctive twin-seater military training jets can reach top speeds of over 700 km/hour.
Head of Marketing at the Air Tattoo, Helen Webb said: “The Breitling Jet Team are a highly skilled and energetic in their close formation flying, exactly what we like to see. A great mix of experienced civilian pilots in military aircraft and I know they will wow the crowds as they did 5 years ago”.

Also taking to the skies above Gloucestershire are the RAF Red Arrows in their last UK display before flying to North America for their Western Hawk 19 Tour, the Ukrainian Air Force’s Russian-built Sukhoi Su-27 and an airshow favourite the Spanish Navy’s two vertical lift AV-8B Harriers.

In addition to featuring exciting aircraft from around the globe, this summer’s Air Tattoo will host a wide range of entertaining and interactive activities in its critically-acclaimed Techno Zone®, including a planetarium show and a full-scale ExoMars rover prototype from Airbus Defence and Space, which visitors can witness drive across a simulated Martian surface.

Elsewhere on the showground, visitors can explore exciting exhibits in the Activity Zone, Vintage Village and RAF Experience.

Tickets for the airshow, which is staged annually in support of the RAF Charitable Trust, can be purchased online at www.airtattoo.com or by calling 01285 713456. All accompanied under-18s go free.