T6Harvard wrote:..
Suggestions for possible dates*, maybe @KANGA can advise?
The Jet Age Museum seems to be open every weekend ..
indeed, 1000-1600. It would be nice to have notice, but I guess I can get that from this thread and pass the word. Unlike when the museum is used as a terminus/waypoint for car or bike rallies (quite common pre-Covid), we won't need to reserve a special parking area
After this Sunday, 17 Oct (Scale Model demonstration; see other thread in this subForum), the only 'special' event on the horizon is the Remembrance observance around 1100 on Sun 14 Nov, when we
prefer not to have engines running outside..
The Vulcan is still closed, as it's not practical to ventilate/sanitise it between visits within Covid guidelines. The Trident, now reopened, we are doing on timed tickets, but only one 'family group' (which might be 1 person! Maximum 5) at a time, in 20-minute timeslots; last for 1540. Recently all tickets have typically gone by early afternoon.
Still Sat/Sun only. There are currently no plans for the formerly routine PH and Wednesday school halfterm and holiday openings; these may become feasible once we have completed induction and training of new volunteers (just restarting; more always welcome
). Inevitably, there have been losses during Covid.
I hadn't hoisted in that Twy R to the museum might not be available during 09/27 resurfacing, but I can see that it's likely; I assume and hope our Trustees would get notice. In MP3's day I guess we might have been able to negotiate a pedestrian path from the end of Twy G along the fence to our apron (although that would still be a bit of a trek), or a minibus shuttle as we had for PPs, but the regime has changed...
More background:
Last we mere volunteers heard from the Trustees, the airside secure fence project has been postponed by the airport until next year. We assume and hope that it will include pedestrian and aircraft width openable gates, with airside parking for our visitors, and at least the pedestrian one openable by our Duty Manager; but I gather that is not yet absolutely promised. Obviously, without former we could not take fly-in visitors, while without the latter we could not receive new fly-in exhibits*; either would be a shame.
*last aircraft-width opening was when we hosted the formal launch of a local Build-a-plane project, built by local (Stroud area) schools. After the aircraft had landed after flying the first of the pupils who had worked on it, it was pulled into the museum hangar for a shindig for pupils and parents hosted by the RAeS and sponsored by Boeing.
In anticipation of the works including the fence, we have spent a lot of time and effort over recent weeks moving those museum collection bits and pieces which were outside the imprecisely delineated museum curtilage to within it. This has included the jet pipes from the Javelin FAW9 (each one an 8-person lift job!) and the Javelin Mk 4 (an expensive crane job as the poor state of the undercarriage legs meant that it was not strong enough to tow; to make room for it we had had to transfer one of our Meteor T7s to another Museum); and next week we will be moving the Meteor NF13 (another expensive crane job). There's still more to do.