Newark Air Museum

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To celebrate 40 years of being open to the public the Newark Air Museum is hosting a Gala Day on Sunday 14th April 2013. This will take place at its site in eastern Nottinghamshire, close to the county border with Lincolnshire and throughout the day visitors will be able to visit at the special discounted admission rate of £4.00 per person.

One of the major aspects of the Gala event will see members of the Cockpit Opening Team opening aircraft cockpits that are not normally open to the public. This could include: the Vampire, Venom, NF14, Jetstream, Viggen and Draken. Some cockpits will be free to look in, and for those where visitors will be allowed to sit in a small additional fee of 40p per visit will be charged.

To support the Gala celebrations the museum is also running a free to enter photographic competition called ‘Favourites from 40!’

The competition is open to the general public and to museum members and aims to collect photographs from the past 40 years of the museum’s history.

Each person can submit a maximum of 4 photographs about any aspect of the museum or feature museum exhibits / people, taken during the last 40 years (1973 to 2013); ideally one to be entered into each of the following categories.

• Friendly
• Factual
• Fantastic
• Funny

Entries can be submitted in printed format (7”x5” prints please) or JPG digital files.

All of the entries will be displayed at the 40th Anniversary Gala event on Sunday 14th April 2013; and they will also be considered for inclusion in the RAF Winthorpe / Museum history project that is currently being compiled by the museum.

As an added incentive a series of prizes will also be awarded.

The four best Visitor Competition Entries will each be awarded a Family Admission Pass that will be valid for one year and will allow free admission to the museum and all of its events.

The four best Museum Member Competition Entries will each be awarded free museum membership for one year.

Application forms can be obtained from the Museum Shop or via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Further updates about this event, including a full list of accessible cockpits will be posted on the news & information page of the museum website at www.newarkairmuseum.org

Newark Air Museum
Drove Lane
Winthorpe
Newark
Notts
NG24 2NY

Photo by Howard Heeley, Down To Earth Promotions

News from Howard Heeley;

Bloodhound Missile Acquisition

After several failed attempts the Newark Air Museum has finally been able to secure a long-term acquisition target in the shape of a Bloodhound surface-to-air missile.

This recently acquired missile was transported to the museum’s site on the former RAF Winthorpe airfield in Nottinghamshire; close to the border with Lincolnshire on Tuesday 21st May, 2013.

After refurbishment the Bloodhound missile will be displayed alongside the museum’s Type 86 Radar Cabin, which recently underwent an external repaint. This is a complete cabin that was acquired several years ago from the Royal Radar and Signals Establishment and is believed to have carried the codename ‘Indigo Corkscrew’.

The museum also displays a Thunderbird surface-to-air missile, which was acquired several years ago. Some key items are missing from the new acquisition and the museum is hopeful of sourcing these items in the coming months.

Photo and news; Howard Heeley, Down To Earth Promotions

News from Howard Heeley;

Lancaster Corner Redisplay At Newark Air Museum

Work is nearing completion on the redisplay of the Lancaster Corner display area at Newark Air Museum, which is located on part of the former RAF Winthorpe airfield in Nottinghamshire; close to the border with Lincolnshire.

The major part of this work has seen the fuselage section of IX( Squadron Lancaster W4964 WS-J lifted off the ground and turned into a new display position, which allows improved views of both sides of the exhibit.

This particular fuselage section was donated to Newark in 1974. Its ends had been boarded up and it had been used as a workman’s hut for a road repair team and also as a garden shed. W4964 flew 106 Ops and its 100th Op was a ‘Tallboy Op’ on the Tirpitz battleship in Alten Fjord, Norway. It carried the nose art of the ‘Johnnie Walker’ whiskey company and the exhibit still wears its original wartime paintwork and squadron codes.

Other exhibits in this area of Hangar 1 include: a 619 Squadron ME846 Lancaster display; an UPKEEP Mine (Bouncing Bomb); various 617 Squadron artefacts; Lancaster wing-tip from Lancaster R5726; and various turrets.

Photo and news; Howard Heeley, Down To Earth Promotions

News from Howard Heeley;

Dominie finally acquired for Newark Air Museum

After a short set of negotiations the Newark Air Museum has completed the purchase of Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1 XS726 from Everett Aero of Sproughton, Suffolk. Funding for the acquisition has been provided thanks to the generosity of two long-standing museum members, Mike and Kathy Smith.

On Wednesday 24th September 2014 the airframe was delivered to the museum’s site in eastern Nottinghamshire, which is close to the border with Lincolnshire by a team from Everett Aero. As part of the purchase agreement the wings were refitted to the aircraft by the Everett Aero personnel.

The Dominie fills an important gap in the museum’s themed display of training aircraft. The type was used to teach the skills of systems management, air leadership, decision making and teamwork to various aircrew members including: weapon systems officers and operators, air engineers and air loadmasters.

Dominie’s were retired from RAF service in early 2011 and at that time the museum was unsuccessful in an attempt to purchase one of the airframes that had been operating from nearby RAF Cranwell. The acquisition of Dominie T1 XS726 fulfils this aim and is in line with one aim of the museum’s stated Collecting Policy of acquiring:

“Aircraft used in a Training role.”

The airframe retains its original configuration and is essentially complete. Once reassembled by the museum staff and volunteers XS726 will eventually be moved inside Hangar 2 at the museum. Here it will be displayed alongside several other training airframes, like the Varsity, Jetstream, Bulldog, Gnat and Jet Provost. XS726 is expected to retain its current training scheme markings.

Dominie T1 XS726 was delivered to the RAF on 25th October 1965 and served at RAF Cranwell and with both 3 and 6FTS. Its final training role was as an instructional airframe (9273M) at RAF Cosford and it was delivered there on 24 June 1997. XS726 was moved to Sproughton in 2007.

Photo Credits: Howard Heeley - Down To Earth Promotions