News
News Update for January
Story added 11th January 2012 by Dianne
Christmas & new year are out of the way, children are back at school so we can return our attention to organising our activities for the year ahead. The news letters have never been about predicting what will happen in the coming months but we do have some exciting events planned for the year so keep a weather eye on the site or even better pay us a visit.
To follow on from last months Viscount report & pictures, a brief mention was made of some of the things still left to do, well here are a couple of things that have been done & as you would expect every one is an inside job. Having the mains power available to the aircraft means that our wish to install a de-humidifier has been fulfilled. Statistically if your interested, when left on all day it recovers about 1 litre of water from inside the aircraft. So if you are in a similar postion to us & were looking to see if it was a useful tool or not, we would certainly recommend it. A neat installation was arranged in the galley area.
Its difficult to know when to stop when restoring an aircrafts interior, as one task is completed another one jumps up to take its place & so it goes on. Cost is a factor as is volunteer time, all have to be taken in to account by every museum anywhere. Saying that, it is winter & a nice cosy inside job is difficult to leave. So no real apology about the next few pictures as they show progress in restoring the interior. All the cockpit lighting is now functional & the wiring re-established to get the "No Smoking" "Fasten Seat Belts" lights working correctly from the pilots port console.
Both crew seats have been removed for repainting & maintenance, it has also allows unfettered access to the side consoles, the port one required some new lower panels which have been fabricated as can be seen from the cockpit photo.
The two F6 Lightning missiles have been finished & await some new straps before refitment on the aircraft, Anyone having the correct missile fitting shoulders for disposal is welcome to get in touch.
A Drill round Sea Slug missile has been gifted to us by the National Museum of Scotland at East Fortune. This welcome addition to our locally produced military hardware is in excellent condition & awaits a move to a place where it can be properly displayed. Designed by Armstrong Whitworth it was in service with the Royal Navy for a number of years & there is a lot of history on Wiki that I wont duplicate on here.
News Update for December
Story added 4th December 2011 by Dianne
Well the weather has turned cold at last even in Glorious Coventry. We couldnt really expect the high temperatures to last any longer but on the up side the grass has at last stopped growing. Not a lot of work on external renovation going on at present. Tyres still have to be kept inflated & as usual in museums its the faithful few that elect to do this task, There are also activities at the museum that go along in the background that never get a mention in the news update. Turning to those tasks however that are current we can start with the long term loan of a Vulcan model. Not your usual "Airfix"type but a model that was taken from a cast of one of the original wind tunnel models. An extremely high gloss finish model it is a welcome addition to our exhibits just before the Vulcans 50th Birthday. Marked up as you would expect as 558.
Next on the agenda is a little known aspect of our museum life that normally happens without a lot of people noticing. On one day a week some students from Coventrys Henley College arrive at the museum along with their tutor for some hands on engineering work. Valuable work not only for the museum exhibits that they work on but invaluble to them in getting hands on with tools & artifacts, a couple of pics on their current projects.
Now if your not a lover of the Vickers Viscount its time to terminate your reading. But if you are, then there are a few more pictures of this project to show how its progressing. The brief on the project was to provide safe reliable lighting that didnt impinge on the aircrafts originality & character. The infrastructure in providing an outside mains point was completed earlier in November, fully protected it gives us the reassurance that if anything did go wrong then no harm would come to anyone. Taking this onboard (pun intended) the mains wiring is done to a high standard using new cable & components that are very securely fastened in dedicated looms. A small switched mode protected power supply was installed to provide for the aircrafts lighting to be powered up. A time consuming task on an airframe that has at various stages in its life been got at. The roof lighting can be seen from the photos & easy removal of the units gives good access to change the small 6 watt tubes. Entrance lights are provided & provide more light than the aircraft in its original state ever did. Important though if you are to have safe public access. Even the toilette "french remember" has its own mains lighting along with the engaged sign. Permanantely on as we dont want people trying it for size. Some small tweeks are left to do in getting the rest of the instrument panel lighting up & running, the forward cabin seat belt & no smoking lights (in french) completed but the back of the task is broken & next year it should earn its keep along with ther other exhibits.
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As an aside to the Newsy bit of this section of our site it might be worth remembering that if you want to have anything from a "fish & chip" evening with a group of fellow enthusiasts to a company presentation evening, all with or without guided tours please contact me, Dianne James, (02476301033) at the museum for very reasonable prices.
News Update for November
Story added 1st November 2011 by Dianne
Got to be honest this news report is going to be a bit thin on content, lots of group visits & making sure we are ready for the coming winter soaks up the available manhours, leaving a reduced workforce to push on with the renovation work. However some progress has been made on the Fletner. The tail section has been attached to the fuselage giving a much better idea of the aircrafts overall length. Loads more work on the project to follow of course which will be reported as it happens.
The Viscount story goes one step further with the addition of the mains lighting panel being made & mounted in the rear cabin luggage compartment. The mains suply to the outside of the aircraft is being proffesionally installed & will be a fully safety certified installation. We anticipate using small strip lights in the original roof lighting units to maintain as much originality as possible. Blackpool it wont be but it means that lighting will be available when it is finally opened. Anyone who has had to take down airliner trim panels knows that it is not an easy task to refit them afterwards so its a job that can be done over the winter without pressure. The second picture is where the power lead will be stowed when its not in use, once again making use of an external access that involves no interference to the basic airframe at all.
Finally as a bit of padding for the news, three pictures of the Leopard, two to show just how luxurious the interior of this business jet would have been & the third of the engine compressor (small isnt it). Needless to say that to keep the interior in its pristine condition we dont allow access to anyone (members included).
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Second half of October
Story added 17th October 2011 by Dianne
Getting ready for the winter weather and lining up those indoor projects.....
News update for October 2011
Story added 3rd October 2011 by Dianne
AGM,Super Sabre & updates on various projects. Read on.
News update for September
Story added 19th September 2011 by Dianne
Art Exhibition Pictures, assorted Vulcan,Voodoo,Viscount updates.
News update for the second half of August.
Story added 15th August 2011 by Dianne
Conclusion to the Lightning F6 story, Canberra nails it, art exhibition final touches
News update for August
Story added 1st August 2011 by Dianne
Latest on the F6 re-paint & Pilots name, Event preps,Landscaping !.
News Update July 2011 (Parts 1 & 2 )
Story added 1st July 2011 by Dianne
Report on the model show & the latest on the re-paints.
Update June 2011
Story added 3rd June 2011 by Dianne
Rolling News update for June,Starting with the Flea,Link,Hunter and more.
News Update May 2011
Story added 26th April 2011 by Dianne
Rolling news update to be trialled, read more.....
News Update April 2011
Story added 29th March 2011 by Dianne
Model show & art exhibition dates, plus some work in progress news & photos.
News Update March 2011
Story added 1st March 2011 by Dianne
An update on some of the current work in progress
News Update Feb 2011
Story added 6th February 2011 by Dianne
Apologies for not updating combined with some of the news (with photos).
Latest updates
Story added 19th March 2010 by Damien
Work has begun on a new education centre building, with restoration work on the Sabre now complete and work ongoing with the Voodoo and Viscount.
Les Bywaters
Story added 16th January 2009 by Damien
Les Bywaters, often referred to as 'Mr. Canberra', was a regular museum visitor and one of those instrumental in the restoration of our Canberra, WF922. Sadly Les passed away on 13th January. All of us at the Museum are greatly saddened to hear of his passing and would like to extend our condolences to his family and friends. Les was one of those friends we would all like to have. - Barry James, Museum Chairman
Latest updates
Story added 19th November 2008 by Damien
T-33 repainted and Gnat wings nearly ready; one of Hunters is leaving us.
New arrival
Story added 12th April 2008 by Damien
Our new arrival is the CMC Leopard prototype, G-BRNM, ex Bournemouth Aviation Museum.
News update
Story added 9th March 2008 by Damien
The Museum is going to be having a bit of a quiet year in 2008, with most effort being put into the ongoing work on the F-100 and T-33. A new arrival is expected shortly, of which more when it's here! Currently on the schedule for the summer is work to re-assemble the Viscount.
News Update 20/10/07
Story added 20th October 2007 by Malcolm
Beaver & lightning updates + Catching up on all those "Lets do it later jobs"
News Update 13/10/07
Story added 13th October 2007 by Malcolm
News is a bit thin this week,steady as you go springs to mind.
News Update 06/10/07
Story added 6th October 2007 by Malcolm
Major events over for the time being, just time to clean some airframes before winter sets in & it gets too cold to use the hose.
News Update 29/09/07
Story added 28th September 2007 by Malcolm
Model show pictures & WIP.
News Update 22/09/07
Story added 22nd September 2007 by Malcolm
Model Show on Sunday 23rd with a chance to sit in some oockpits as well if the weather is kind.
News Update 15/09/07
Story added 15th September 2007 by Malcolm
After the arrival of the Viscount life returns to normal.
