The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 4

7/29/2019 The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 4

1/8

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.


2/8

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/


3/8

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.


4/8

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.


5/8

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


6/8

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!


7/8

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]


8/8

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

Documents

The Helicopter Museum: Newsletter Vol. 4