Post on 03-Apr-2018
7/28/2019 The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 5
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Top right: One of our many photographs
from the archive. Centre right: The air
activities badge taken by scouts at The
Museum. Bottom right: An R22
manoeuvring around the helipad. Bottom
left: One of several Merlin visits over the 2month period. Centre Left: Work continues
on the Ultra-Light project; see inside for
more info. Top Left: An Army squirrel lands
at the museum, little did we know that it
was piloted by a Lt Colonel and a Major!
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Chairman of the Trustees - Elfan Ap Rees
With Consultants and Architects commissioned to
develop our exciting new Heritage Lottery Fund bid to
further expand the Museum; these are busy times for
myself, the management and the Trustees. The need to
replace our original temporary buildings with something
more fitting for the only UK Helicopter Museum, along
with new hangarage has long been an objective of the
Trustees but only now can we move it forward.
As well as a new "front" to the museum to house the
shop, cafe, office and larger display and meeting areas,
the proposals include more car parking spaces, enlarging
the archives (by relocating the film theatre/ class room),
building a new storage facility and constructing a new
hangar on part of the 10-acre site we hope to take over
in the not too distant future. The latter also includes
restoring the original control tower and pilots block.
However it is important that everyone feels involved andconsulted. For that reason basic plans and ideas are
available, along with questionnaires for everyone to fill
in. Available in the shop and the cafe the latter will be an
important part of making sure we meet everyone's
needs...get involved please.
Elfan Ap Rees
Chairman Trustees
Summer Time (Fingers Crossed)
Dear Volunteers and Staff, please note that we are now
beginning to exit the winter period (although you could
not tell with the weather as it is). Whilst I can personally
not wait to crack out the shorts and sunglasses there are
a number of consequences that come with the better
conditions. As we begin to enter the spring/summer
period, which brings considerably more visitors through
our doors, there are a number of things as a team we
need to be aware of. These are:
1. Increased visitor numbers means increased trade
in the cafe. It has always been our policy that
visitors get served first so please be patient with
cafe volunteers and staff. It might be the case
that occasionally we will be asked to have our
lunch half an hour late but that is not exactly a
chore in the grand scheme of things! Also,
offering to lend Cheryl and Simon a hand during
busy periods would not go amiss.
2. Increased visitor numbers also means that
greater health and safety precautions need to be
taken. I am specifically thinking of the chaps that
do a sterling job working on the aircraft outside
of the restoration area. The scissor lift should not
be used on busy days and all work on aircraft
should be cornered off, no matter how
apparently harmless the work may seem.
3. Increased visitor numbers also means that all of
us are on show to the general public. We should
not just aim to prevent complaints but actively
seek positive feedback. A simple good morning
or good afternoon to visitors can set a great tone
for a visit to our museum. If someone looks lost
or you overhear them querying something, I
would urge you to engage with them. Remember
you know a lot about the museum collection andcan significantly enhance someones experience
at our attraction.
Do you follow the museum blog?
Keep up to date with the very latest news at the
Museum. Follow restoration and conservation projects
and be the first to hear about new events!
To follow the museum blog click on the blog icon on the
top right hand side of our home page at
www.helicoptermuseum.co.ukThis will take you to the
collections blog where you can enter your email address
to be automatically contacted when the blog is updated.
Ivan
It is with deepest regret that I must inform you all that
one of our most universally popular volunteers sadly
passed away in late March. Ivan Iskandar had
volunteered for seven years at The Museum before we
sadly received the news of his passing. The staff and
volunteers at the Museum are understandably very
shocked and saddened by this news.
Whilst I personally only knew Ivan for a year, I think it is
only appropriate to reminisce about his extraordinary
character and keep his memory alive. My personal
recollections of Ivan were of an extremely hard working
man whose dedication knew no bounds. I think everyone
can attest that Ivan was a man of few complaints, come
rain or shine he came to the museum and gave his all for
the cause no matter how he felt. There was also certainly
a humorous side to Ivan, who was undeniably at his best
when he was dressed in a tropical shirt and chuckling
with his friends at The Museum.
Ivan you will be sorely missed,
From all your friends at The Helicopter Museum
http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/7/28/2019 The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 5
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Comparisons by Robert Heath
The Helicopter Museum is constantly thinking of new
ways of trying to improve the museum collection. This
can take a number of forms from working on the actual
exhibits to improving how they are displayed. One of the
most effective ways of improving our museum is by
comparing ourselves with similar attractions to gauge
our strengths and weaknesses (and possibly stealingtheir better ideas). This method is even more poignant
given that proposals for expansion have been
announced. With that in mind Robert Heath recently
visited the Midland Air Museum: below are his thoughts
on areas in which we could improve by comparison.
Midland Air Museum Vs The Helicopter Museum:
1. Use the display area walls to better effect, e.g.
we have numerous rotor blades languishing
around. I suggest we paint them up and erect
them vertically, or at an angle against hangar
walls as a backcloth. THM has a lot of wall space
and a lot of rotors. A bit of imagination would
add interest, colour and flavour. THM has a
yard full of retired/surplus aircraft. Why not slice
some down the centre-line, paint them up for
display and mount them on the hangar wall, or
slice off cockpit/nose sections and mount them
on the wall (strip them all down for lightness,etc.). This should be achievable by the in-house
volunteer team.
2. Photographs. Each helicopter has a descriptive
panel. It would be even more interesting to
expand the panels to include photographs of the
aircraft in question in action in the role it was
designed for. This will increase the interest for all
visitors, but in particular the younger people and
the mothers, who generally will be visiting
simply because father wants to see everything
3. Movement. Obtain from Proper Job/Halfords
some cyclists flashing white and flashing red
helmet lights to place on, or in, various aircraft
to simulate aircraft in operation. The lights are
LED and batteries will last for 80 hours (figure
quoted on my LED light). It should not be difficult
to position them to be inconvenient for visitors
to reach, but convenient for staff. They will add
background life and movement, which is largelylacking at present.
Thanks Robert. Remember folks, next time you visit a
museum jot down your thoughts and send them to me.
Upcoming Events
April:
14th Open Cockpit Day + Flights
20th & 21stBehind the Scenes Spotters
Weekend
May:
4th The Helicopter Museum Story: 24th
Anniversary Lecture and Tour
12th Open Cockpit Day + Flights
18th & 19th World War Two Weekend including
Living History Encampment and Flight Simulator
Convention
26th Helicopter Experience Flights
Dear volunteers:
Dear volunteers, please note that there will be no
restoration taking part on the dates of Saturday the 18th
of May and Saturday the 27th
of July. This is due to
Museum fundraising events taking place on these days.
However, you are all encouraged to lend a hand in any
way you can. I know that the management team wouldreally appreciate as many volunteers for events as they
can possibly get. Join inits more fun than you might
think.
If you are interested please contact Lee Mills for further
arrangements.
New Volunteers:
Please make the following volunteers welcome and sayhello:
Al Humphries Restoration
Keith Harvey Restoration
Interesting visitors:
Just a few of the interesting groups that have visited in
the past two months:
West Penard C of E School
Beavis Holidays
Milton Park School
Probus Pensioners
Norton Radstock Vehicles
Weston Mini Muckers
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Restoration News
Fairey Ultra-Light by Mike Lait
The Fairey team have been busy making a replacement
rotor head as the original went missing years ago and is
unfortunately presumed dead (i.e. scrapped). The
central part of the replacement has been fabricated
from steel to ensure that it is strong enough to carry the
surprisingly heavy rotor blades. A trial assembly hasconfirmed that the rotor blades are a good fit. Next, we
intend to add filler and shape it to make the part look
exactly like the original and then paint it the correct
colour.
It will be fitted to the helicopter on top of the large
spherical ball joint which we could have machined from
a solid lump of aluminium. One of the team however,
has found an aluminium frying pan of exactly the right
size and shape so we are using this in the hope of saving
a lot of time, work and money. Oh, what the volunteerswives have to put up with!
Meanwhile, Fairey team member John Derrick has found
a manufacturer of transparencies (ie windows) who
appear to be able to do a good job at a reasonable price.The manufacturer has produced quality work for a
number of BAPC (British Air Preservation Council)
members and The Helicopter Museum is applying for
funding.
Tour Guide Tutors
Bell 47 - by Chris May
To the soldiers in Korea 60 years ago, the H13 Sioux was
the Angel of Mercy coming to carry the wounded to life-
saving medical facilities. In the late 50s it was N975B, the
civilian helicopter from the TV series, Whirlybirds. Then
recreating the Korean War was the TV series M*A*S*H
with the dourly wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye.
The Bell 47 has provided life-saving and productive
activities since 1946. It was the first helicopter approved
for civilian use. It was also the first helicopter to be used
to transmit television signals for people viewing at home.
Our Examples
Specification
Capacity: 1 passenger or 2 Litters
Length: 31 ft 7 in (9.63 m)
Rotor diameter: 37 ft 2 in (11.32 m)
Height: 9 ft 3 in (2.83 m)
Disc area: 1,085 sq ft (100.8 m2)
Empty weight: 1,893 lb (858 kg)
Useful load: 1,057 lb (482 kg)
Max. Takeoff weight: 2,950 lb (1,340 kg)
Power plant: 1 x lycoming TVO-435-FIA flat. Six-
cylinder, reciprocating engine, 280 hp (210 kw)
Performance
Maximum speed: 91 Knots (105 mph, 169 km/h) Cruise speed: 73 Knots (84 mph, 135 km/h)
Range: 214 nmi (245 mi, 395 km)
Rate of climb: 860 ft/min (4.37 m/s)
An Agusta-Bell, 47G-3B1,
XT190 built at Yeovil 1965
for the Army Air Corps.
A Bell 47-H, G-AZYB, built
at Fort Worth Texas in
1956, notably owned at
one time by the Belgian
Antarctic Survey
Expedition
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Archive News
Donations
The past few months has seen many interesting items
being donated to The Museum, amongst these, some of
the finest examples are a number of original Queens
Flight items.
This tie, sweater and plaque were all donated by WO
(retired) Baldry who served with the Queens Flight from
1982-83 before being promoted, and subsequently
moved off the Flight.
Project Patent
One of the newest projects to have been started by
members of the archive team in the last few months has
been Project Patent. For those who do not know, the
archive houses thousands (and I mean thousands) of
patents relating to vertical flight. The project has been
started with the aim of cataloguing them all and entering
them on the archive database system MODES.
The first step of the project was to devise a template for
the database so that specialist patent information could
be entered and later searched by users. This was
dutifully created by the resident IT guru Tony.
The project has since moved onto the next (and longest)
stage. Mike Costello has begun entering the individual
patents on entry forms and subsequently entering them
onto the database system. The job is made all the more
difficult by the various technical engineering jargon that
Mike has had to deal with during the process.
Whilst this is certainly a long term project, by the time
the project has been completed we should posses a fully
preserved and searchable patent library.
Two Minutes With...
Restoration Manager - Rod Holloway
How long have you been at the museum?
I have been at the museum since February 1988, so I
guess thats 25 years[N.B.I dont want to flaunt my
youth too much Rod but just to let you know, I was born
in April 1989! You have been volunteering here longer
than I have been alive!!] Ed-John
What did you do before joining the museum?
I joined the RAF at the age of 15, as a Boy Entrant and
was trained as an Air Radar Mechanic.
I then spent 24 years in the RAF maintaining Lightning,
Hunter, Kestrel and Harrier aircraft, before going on toservice Bloodhound, Milan and Rapier weapons system as
well as various ground and air radars and computer
systems. I spent the last 11 years at RAF Locking writing
training courses for the E3D AWACS Aircraft system and
then became the very first Air Technician for the E3D.
After leaving the RAF, I worked for a Swiss company in
New York for 3 years. Then I returned to the UK and
worked for a company called Deutsch Ltd helping
engineers design electrical and fibre optic systems for a
range of projects for, Airbus, BAE Systems, Westland
Helicopters and MoD. The last five years before I retired I
worked for Cabletec in Weston.
What has been your best experience at the museum?
The years I have spent marshalling at Helidays! Those
times will remain with me forever. But also all of my time
has been very satisfying!
What would you like to see happen at the museum in
thefuture?
I would like to see the expansion of the museum go
ahead very soon before I am too old to be a part of it! We
need to be able to make more space for the aircraft on
display and develop more interactive displays to improve
the education of visitors. As Aircraft Restoration Manager,
I would also like to have the chance to improve workshop
facilities to include a better machine shop and some
heating for the winter.
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Spotters SectionMarch
Date, Type, Registration, Flown From:
10.03.2013, AS355F, G-OHMS, Denham
12.03.2013, Chinook, ZH904, ???
12.03.2013, Chinook, ZA675, ???
13.03.2013, Squirrel, ZJ246, Middle Wallop
30.03.2013, R22, G-OASK, Bristol
Visitor Feedback
Just a few comments taken from our visitor book, we
always encourage constructive comments from our
customers:
Great DisplaysWe love it here
Really great to see up close
A lovely family experienceBrilliant, plenty to doA great museum, thanks!Had a great time again, thanks tovolunteer Ray for his chat
Spotters Section
Spotter information about the aircraft that have landed
at the museum in the last 2 months for all you spotters
out there. As you can see from the front cover there are
quite a few!
February
Date, Type, Registration, Flown From:
01.02.2013, Merlin, ???, Benson
04.02.2013, Merlin, ZJ127, Benson
12.02.2013, Squirrel, ZJ254, ???
14.02.2013, Squirrel, AAJ18, ???
15.02.2013, Chinook, ???, ???
16.02.2013, Chinook, ZA674, Salisbury Plain
Photograph Competition
Mystery Volunteer...Revealed!!
The loveable rogue pictured in the last issue was none
other than Geoff Worner. I can safely say that there was a
myriad of different guesses but nobody was correct!
New Mystery Volunteer
It would seem that the whole mystery volunteer
competition seemed rather popular so I am offering up a
new photo for your guesses. The year is 1966 and this
young bruiser is pictured in Singapore, who is it???
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Hire The Museum!
Do you have a Birthday or anniversary coming up? Have you thought about Hiring your village hall for a party?
The Helicopter Museum is available for public hire and is not as expensive as you might think. We already have several
private events booked in for 2012 with groups ranging from 50-500 people. If you are interested in aviation, the
museum can provide a unique backdrop for your special day. Please contact Lee Mills or Sharon Webber for details.
Other Ways You Can Help?
There are many ways in which you can volunteer at The Helicopter Museum. Many of us have our own set duties in our
own little section of the museum; but there are many times throughout the year when volunteers can branch out and
get involved in a number of ways, raising funds being one of the main ones. If volunteers would like to play their part
and help the museum raise funds and secure its future, please have a chat with either Lee or Sharon.
The museum is always desperate for volunteers to help out at its events and you can play your part in many ways.
When was the last time you took some museum leaflets to your local pub, club or school?
Have you ever pinned up a museum event flyer on your local village notice board?
Could you give up an hour or so to help prepare for an event?
Have you given unwanted items to a charity shop recently, could they have been given to the museum to sell ontheir bric-a-brac stalls?
Please don't just leave it for other people to do, play your part and support the museum you volunteer at.
Your Museum Needs You!
How to contact us? Tel: 01934-635227,
Email:helimuseum@btconnect.com
Website:www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk
mailto:helimuseum@btconnect.commailto:helimuseum@btconnect.commailto:helimuseum@btconnect.comhttp://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/mailto:helimuseum@btconnect.com7/28/2019 The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 5
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HOW YOU CAN HELP
Whilst it is easy to forget, The Helicopter Museum is indeed a charity. Aircraft do not preserve themselves and a big part
of what the museum does is conservation and restoration based. The acquisition, preservation and restoration of
aircraft, some of which are the only existing examples left in the world, takes place on a daily basis at the museum so
that our aircraft can be enjoyed for generations to come. If you would like to help us in our task by contributing to therestoration budget, then please fill in the form below and send it off to us.
Your Donation
I would like to support the Helicopter Museum in their efforts to conserve and restore aircraft and educate the public
about vertical flight history and technology with a gift of:
10 20 30 50 100 Other
Name:
Phone Number:
Email Address:
Home Address:
Postcode:
I enclose a cheque made payable to The Helicopter Museum
Help us further by using gift aid
Thanks to the gift aid scheme we can reclaim money on your donation from the government. For every pound you give
us, we can claim an extra 25p. For example, a donation of 15 becomes 18.75 with gift aid at no extra cost to you.
I am a UK taxpayer and would like The Helicopter Museum to treat all future donations from today as gift aid donations.
I understand that in the relevant tax year I must pay an amount of income tax and/or capital gains tax at least equal to
the tax that the charity reclaims on my donation.
Signature:
Please return this form in an envelope to:
The Helicopter Museum, Locking Moor Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, BS24 8PP