the helicopter museum: newsletter vol. 4
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7/29/2019 The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 4
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Top right: British Army Twin Huey lands at
the museum in November. Centre right: The
Museum receives its fair share of snow.
Bottom right: The museum takes delivery of
its re-furbished Palouste engine. Bottom
left: The Museum hero, he laid down his lifeso that many a sand bag could be filled!
Centre Left: volunteers Brendan and Steph
await Santa in Christmas attire. Top Left:
Martin hard at work in the archives; Martin
gives us his views on the museum inside.
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Thank You For 2012
Written by General Manager Lee Mills
Firstly, the Management Team of the Museum would like
to say a huge "THANK YOU!!!!" to all the volunteers and
staff who worked so hard to make 2012 the success it
was.
Your hard work and enthusiasm (whether it be helping
out at our events, making site repairs etc) is alwaysgreatly appreciated and the museum could simply not
survive without you.
Due to their success in 2012 all our regular events will
take place again next year with a Hangar Dance in
September, Heli-hobbies in August, Santa Fly-in in
December and a World War Two Flight Sim Event in May.
We are also introducing a new event in October to tie in
with Halloween, hosting Open Cockpit Days Weekly in
August for the first time and extending Stars of Time to atwo day weekend event in July.
As ever we are going to need your help and support to
stage these events and raise the necessary funds to keep
our museum open.
If you can just lend a couple of hours of your time to help
us decorate the hangar, move a helicopter, man an open
cockpit or help car parking it really would make a
difference.
Lets make 2013 a year to remember!!
Why is the Newsletter a month late?
I am not a person who likes to make excuses but I feel I
must answer your queries as to why this newsletter is
coming out a month late. Apart from my legendary lack
of organisation a number of elements have contrived
against me and thwarted my attempts to get this issue
out on time.
Firstly a bad spate of the norovirus (which has affected
many throughout the country and even the mighty All
Blacks squad before their thrashing at Twickenham) hit
me for six!
However my experience of the norovirus pales in
significance to the bad weather conditions experienced in
December and January. For those who do not know, the
archive office and store flooded before Christmas. Luckily
little of the actual archive material was damaged in theflood, the main consequence being an entirely
disorganised office! The archive team and I have been
fully absorbed in trying to get the situation back to
normal, hence the late arrival of this issue, APOLOGIES!
Keep an eye out!
A message from Collections Officer John Clews
As you are probably all well aware, the weather
conditions over the past three months have been very
undesirable. We have all had to deal with torrential
downpours, arctic snow storms and slippery ice.
One knock on effect this varying weather has on the
Museum is that damage can be done to the Museum site
and the collections we hold within. I really urge all
volunteers and staff to keep a look out for ANY damage
or suspected problem with any part of the Museum.
It does not matter what role you perform at the museum,
an extra pair of eyes is an extra pair of eyes. Just going for
a walk around the museum when we experience a
downpour to check for leaks, or having a nosey around
parts of the museum that are often un-checked, could
help us tackle any potential problems early on.
If you do find anything worthy of note please contact any
member of staff straight away.
Many Thanks and here is to a great (and hopefully drier)
2013!
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.
Rolls Royce Palouste delivery
Early January saw the return of our Palouste engine from
Rolls Royce. Magnificently restored by the Bristol team,
we look forward to working with them again in the
future. Thank You for all your hard work.
http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/ -
7/29/2019 The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 4
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News
Father Christmas trades in his sleigh:
On the 9th
of December yet another successful event was
held at the museum. Father Christmas and his helpers
popped in to the museum via helicopter (the reindeer
being rested for Christmas Eve of course). Children and
parents flocked from all around North Somerset to visit
Santa in his grotto which was situated in the Mil-8.
Many thanks to all volunteers and staff who helped
make the day so special; you really got everyone in to
the Christmas spirit. (Extra thanks go to our ambassador
to the North Pole, Ken Crane, for arranging for Father
Christmas to visit).
Filming at the Museum:
The Helicopter Museum came alive with the sounds of
Action! and Cut! in early January as a small film crew
recorded a number of scenes for their dbut feature.
With the use of some clever lighting angles and a large
Green Screen backdrop, the Museums 'Huey' helicopter
literally took to the skies of Vietnam once more.
The Movie, 'Shields Of Justice' is a feature length comedyshot on location in the South West of England, written
and conceived by independent film-makers - Tom
Hutchings and Ben Tallamy.
Upcoming events
February:
10th Open cockpit day
March:
10th Open cockpit day + flights
31st
Flights
Dear volunteers:
I am sure you have all heard about Roger Cowies
proposed trip to France. I would just like to say good on
you Roger for showing some initiative and organising
something for all the volunteers and staff.
Rogers move to organise a trip got me thinking. As a
group we do not often go on trips to other heritage/
aviation attractions. I think this is probably a missed
opportunity for a number of reasons. Firstly, if a trip was
organised to an aviation museum and we gave prior
notice to the attraction we could probably secure
somewhat of a behind the scenes look at restoration
areas and ask technical questions. On an even more
practical level, if we can fit five to a car, then the fuelcosts can be split and cost kept to a minimum.
Let me know what you think and where you think would
be a good attraction to visit, I was thinking of starting
somewhere local?
New Volunteers
Please make the following new volunteers welcome. Just
remember you dont have to be mad to work here, it just
helps!
Roger Cowie Restoration
Keith Harvey Restoration
Jack Killmurray Conservation
Interesting visitors:
Shipham First School
2381 Squadron
Eurosigns
The Museum also received a visit from Grander Grooms
and Graceful Gowns, a wedding outfitter, for a
photograph shoot in our main hangar. The company were
extremely happy with the results of their shoot in our
hangar. It just goes to show what a great venue this place
is for numerous and unusual events.
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Restoration News
Rotodyne update:
Written by Richard Street and Chris May
The prototype Fairey Rotodyne flew in 1957 and is the
largest British helicopter up to now. It could carry 40
passengers between city centres such as London, Paris
and Brussels. It flew for over four years before
government funding was cancelled and the aircraft was
broken up, but some components were recovered by the
College of Aeronautics at Cranfield, and eventually came
to the Helicopter Museum. The main pieces are a
section of fuselage, the rotor pylon, a Napier Eland
engine, a rotor blade used on a ground test-rig, two
large bits of a broken flight rotor-blade, and various tip-
jets.
The parts we have are over fifty years old but the
engineering concept has still not been overtaken. From
time to time the design is re-examined - quite recently
by a British university research group assessing the
economics of applying modern composite materials and
the latest engines, with much more effective silencers.
So it is important to keep this exhibit in good structural
order, as a guide to what flew successfully in the past.
This is why the Museum usually orders aircraft-standard
materials, even though they may be more expensive.
Such materials may not only be needed for a long-life
safe flying structure; they may also be necessary, to
withstand stresses during manufacturing processes. For
example cheap light alloy sheet tends to split during
forming to a required shape.
The photograph shows part of the trailing edge of the
rotor blade after replacing the corroded light alloy skins
on one side. The leading-edge half of the blade is
stainless steel and not corroded. The new skins areaircraft standard 25swg light alloy and the rivets are
3/32-inch. Each new sheet, about a foot square, needs
over 80 rivets - solid on one side of the blade, pop (or
blind) rivets on the other. For the solid rivets we use a
portable air compressor (quite noisy) a Desoutter rivet
Restoration newscontinued
gun and a variety of dollies to compress the rivet-tail in
awkward locations. Pop rivets need only a special pair of
pliers. The last inch of the trailing edge is a strip of 25swg
material folded to an angle of 22 degrees. For the
outermost ten boxes, centrifugal force approaches 350
times the force of gravity, and here Tufnol (an early
composite material) was carved to the required shape.
The internal frames are less corroded. Treatment is tobrush and vacuum; apply 10% solution of Ardrox 1074,
then thoroughly wash with clean water; finally dry and
apply Waxoil by brush.
Because of the noise of rivetingwe held off work on the
blade during the summer months when there are more
visitors.
Meanwhile in the Duke of Edinburgh hangar, we had a
steel blade root spar, which was quite rusty.
It was cleaned down to bare metal and now looks
passable with a spray-on coat of ACF50 rust inhibiting oil,
so it will be reassembled with its "lag-plane damper",
without which, early landings had to be at only 1 foot per
second maximum vertical speed to avoid ground
resonance dynamic coupling between the rotor and
the undercarriage, which can wreck a helicopter
completely.
The future
A priority will be the two pieces of broken rotor-blade.
We hope to assemble one of these to the root-spar we
have, and with suitable support, fit it to the pylon. The
other piece could perhaps be assembled to a silenced tip-
jet. More fancifully, if we mounted the pylon above the
fuselage section, supported at undercarriage height, and
a rotor-blade attached to the pylon, it could be held in
place by timber and brackets to show visitors what an
impressive aircraft it was.
A problem remains though. We would need a new
building with a roof rather higher than we have now.
(HINT HINT HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND!!)
Many thanks to Richard and Chris for taking the initiative
and compiling this piece.
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Archive News
Accreditation:
At the end of October the Museum received the go
ahead from The Arts Council England to renew its
Museum accreditation. For those who do not know, the
Accreditation Scheme sets nationally agreed standards
for museums in the UK. We, as a part of the scheme,must demonstrate our commitment to managing
collections effectively for the enjoyment and benefit of
our users.
As Collections Officer one of my main duties for the past
months has been to complete our returns. This has
meant that I have been going around asking staff
members annoying, hard to answer questions. I would
just like to say a big thanks to all who have helped me in
this process, especially Lee who heroically counted howmany volunteer hours we use in a year (over 14,000 in
total), the returns are now complete and should be sent
of later this month!
New Items:
The museum collection has been added to considerably
in the past three months. Perhaps some of the most
interesting pieces have been a number of Rotodyne
models collected from Duxford (thanks for driving Rod)
and are now on display at the museum.
A number of less glamorous but just as important pieces
have also been sent to the museum over the past three
months. From training manuals to rotor blades we have
had it all. We are extremely grateful for all of our
donations and urge anyone who is, or knows of anyone,
wishing to part with anything helicopter related to get in
touch with the Museum.
Two minutes with...
This time up we welcome Martin Handcock, an archive
volunteer, to give us his views on the museum. Martin is a
great laugh and a brilliant asset to the archive team; he
also often helps out all around the museum doing various
jobs and helping out at events.
How long have you been at the museum?
My first anniversary of working here was on the 19th
of
January
What did you do before joining the museum?
I have had a number of jobs from trainee supplier and MT
Mechanic in the RAF to aircraft refueler , civil servant and
receptionist.
What has been your best experience at the museum?
Having the opportunity to take photos and video films of
aircraft as they touch and go or take off from the helipad.
For example, recently I have managed to get great
footage and photos on my phone of a Westland Lynx Mk 7
and a Robinson R22 which have visited the museum.
What would you like to see happen at the museum in
thefuture?
I would like to see a Chinook added to the Museum
Collection! (You and me both Martin)
Spotters section
Spotter information about the aircraft that have landed at
the museum in the last 3 months for all you spotters out
there:
November
Date, Type, Registration, Flown From:
23rd, Bell 212, 2J969, Middle Wallop
26th, A109, G-EVIP, ???
28th Bell 212, 2J969, Middle Wallop
December
7th
, Bell 212, 2J969, Middle Wallop 8th, R22, G-GJEB, ???
9th, Bell 206, MFMF, ???
10th, Chinook, ZH 901, Odiham
12th, Merlin, ???, RAF Benson
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Visitor Feedback
Sarah from the Carers Centre
I just wanted to thank you for Saturday.
All of your staff were friendly andwelcoming, the tour guide Chris was
absolutely fantastic very knowledgeable!
Our group really enjoyed the afternoon.
Well definitely be back for another
outing in the near future.
Damian from Mill Autoquip
The Helicopter Museum and the teamare absolutely fantastic, a truly unique,exciting and flexible location for acorporate event. Mill Autoquip as acompany has vast experience inorganising trade shows and events andwe are always looking to use venues withcharacter, excitement, supportive staffand a can do attitude. Everythingabout the Helicopter Museum and the
team exceeded our expectations, withexhibits such as the dramatic Russiangunship and the Queens Helicopter as abackdrop to our event, the HelicopterMuseum really stands out as a top venuefor us as a business. We would highlyrecommend the Helicopter Museum toanyone looking to host an event whichcreates a lasting memory.
Spotters sectionContinued
January
Date, Type, Registration, Flown From:
5th, R22, G-GJCD, Bristol
9th, Lynx Mk 7, X2642, Middle Wallop
13th, R22, G-GJCD, Bristol
16th, R44, G-CDWK, Gloucestershire
24th, Lynx, ???, Odiham
24th, Lynx, ???, Odiham
Photograph competition
With all the dramatic weather conditions at the Museum
there have been some great photos sent my way recently.
Congratulations to Lee Mills, after months of trying you
have finally won the photo competition!
Mystery Volunteer...
I was also approached by a very shady character around a
month ago who had a brilliant idea for this section.
This photograph was taken in 1935, which restoration
volunteer is this? Email me with your guesses and I will let
you know if you are correct or wrong. Good luck!
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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:[email protected]
Website:www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/mailto:[email protected] -
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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