Tag: Newark Air Museum

We have taken the sad decision to cancel the Cold War Call Up event that was due to take place on 16 & 17 May, 2020.

This decision has been reached following some detailed in-house discussions; and the pessimistic outlook regarding the current coronavirus situation.

Many participants in things like the planned Meet & Greet sessions are in the age group that are now self-isolating and are likely to be doing so for the next 12 weeks.

In order to give people as much notice as possible of our intentions it is felt that this is the best time to make this decision. Our current thinking is to try and run a similar event sometime in 2021. We will be notifying people via email later today and tomorrow.

We are sorry for any inconvenience these changes may cause, especially to those people and groups who have been working on preparations on their displays for this event for many months. This includes external participants and our own museum members who have been working tirelessly on many different aircraft and projects like the Yellow Sun rebuild; but we are convinced that it is the right decision.

In the coming weeks we may use our Twitter timeline to continue with some tweets for a Virtual Cold War Call Up feed, using some materials that we were already preparing.

At the moment we are waiting to review the situation with regards to Cockpit-Fest in June and more updates will be released as and when any decision is made.

www.newarkairmuseum.org

Some repainting work has been stared on the North American F-100D Super Sabre airframe, 54-2223 that is displayed at the Newark Air Museum (NAM).

The current de-corrosion and repainting project was planned before the Covid-19 virus outbreak and the work has focused on the upper surfaces of the airframe.

Like other Super Sabre, Lockheed T-33 and Dassault Mystere IV.A aircraft displayed in the UK; the F-100D is on long term loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force Collection Management Division (NMUSAF/MUC); located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, USA.

What is not as widely known is the pioneering work undertaken by the trustees of NAM back in the mid-1970s to make such loans possible. At that time the original intention was for aircraft to be gifted to the IWM Duxford and Newark. However, tax implications of such a gift meant that NAM would have faced a significant tax bill for each aircraft.

Key personnel from NAM worked with the appropriate authorities, lobbied through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords to resolve the situation. This pioneering work led to the establishment of the long-term loan programme from the NMUSAF/MUC; something that helped a number of UK aviation museums become established.

NAM’s F-100D was move from RAF Sculthorpe, Norfolk over a period of several months in early 1978.

www.newarkairmuseum.org

Despite the gradual lock-down of the UK in response to the Covid-19 virus work has restarted at Newark Air Museum on further restoration work on Avro Vulcan XM594.

The distinctive wing shape of this former Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber is clearly visible in the accompanying photograph, which shows museum volunteers undertaking some awkward and tiring work on XM594.

Members of the Vulcan Repainting team have just started work on the underside of the port wing of XM594, which will progress throughout the year as and when the current health crisis allows access to the museum site in eastern Nottinghamshire. Last year the same team undertook similar de-corrosion work, surface preparation and repainting work on the underside of the starboard wing.
Elsewhere a lot of cleaning and renovation work has been undertaken on the aircraft, much of which has been focused in the aircraft’s cavernous bomb-bay. This work has seen the Vulcan Repair Team able to operate the Rover APU to once again start cycling the opening and closing of the bomb bay doors.

Nice to report work is still ongoing on significant parts of the country’s aviation heritage even in these challenging times.

Avro Vulcan XM594 was flown to the former RAF Winthorpe airfield from RAF Waddington on Monday 7th February 1983. At the time XM594 was the only Vulcan aircraft disposed of by the RAF that was flown into a non-licensed airfield.

www.newarkairmuseum.org

We have taken the decision to cancel the Indoor Aeroboot /Aerojumble Sale that was due to take place in Hangar 2 on Saturday 4th March, 2020.

This decision has been reached following some detailed in-house discussions; and the pessimistic outlook regarding the current coronavirus situation. It was not taken lightly and we do appreciate that this could upset some people. However, many sellers and buyers often travel long distances to attend the event and it was felt necessary to give these people as much notice as possible of our intentions.

At the moment we feel unable to set a revised date for this sale, but the eventual choice will aim not to clash with any other known Aerojumble type event, any other museum event, or any major events on the adjacent Showground.

Details about what to do with existing seller locations / passes will be taken at a later date. In the fullness of time if anyone is unable to attend on any revised date we will arrange to for a refund.

Emails will be sent out to our Aeroboot contacts this evening, but if you know of anyone who was planning to attend, either as a seller or as a buyer we would be grateful if you could make them aware of the cancellation and the re-arranged date.

Once again sorry for any inconvenience these changes may cause but we are convinced that it is the right decision.

More updates will be released as and when they are confirmed.

www.newarkairmuseum.org

Newark Air Museum has won a 2019 Visitor Attraction Accolade in the Welcome category, which recognises that the museum is one of the outstanding visitor experiences on offer across the country.

The museum’s Award follows a VAQAS (Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme) assessment last autumn and was based on the score the museum gained during a secret visit by the VisitEngland assessor.

This Award was one of only six (6) made this year in the East Midlands and of seventy three (73) across the country

 The following statement was issued by VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes:
“England’s attractions provide visitors with amazing experiences and these accolades recognise the outstanding customer service and quality on offer across the country.”

He continued, “From Best Told Story interpretation to Hidden Gem and overall Gold, these accolades show that there is an attraction capable of capturing everyone’s imagination creating lasting memories and spreading the economic benefits from tourism.”

In conclusion, “The 73 attractions are being recognised as a result of the exceptional experience they provide visitors from story-telling to food and drink and from customer service to overall winners.”

Howard Heeley responded on behalf of the museum trustees: “We are honoured to have been recognised in this way by VisitEngland. This Accolade is a tribute to all of the hard work put in by the museum members and our staff, each and every day the we are open to the public; well done to all of them!”

www.newarkairmuseum.org