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By: - 22nd December 2015 at 14:38 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Great, nice to see progress. Roof looks a bit low, i presume Hunter, Meatbox etc... will have to stay in the middle ?
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 14:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
That's a phenomenal looking hangar. Well done to all concerned.
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 15:02 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The roof is low in places, it's actually three heights, this is part of the compromise to get planning permission and the highest footprint. The Hunter pic is deceptive, it will go much further over and the Harrier will sit alongside, their fins accommodated by the middle height section. It's surprising just how much clearance there really is, even in the lowest part.
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 15:08 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Good to see this happening , a big step towards a secure future hopefully. I assume the shack will be remaining outside due to its size?
Rob
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 15:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
You have got to applaud the GAM for not giving up and getting to this incredible stage against all the odds :applause:
Rob
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 16:14 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Nice to see some good positive news,well done to all concerned.
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 16:15 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
well done all
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 17:14 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
That's really great to see.
Moggy
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 18:18 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Check out our Facebook page for more recent developments and future progress.
https://m.facebook.com/Gatwick-Aviation-Museum-183094805077755
By: - 22nd December 2015 at 18:21 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I know someone who'll be looking down on this great project with a huge grin on their face - well done and great progress!! :applause:
By: - 23rd December 2015 at 10:00 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Great work chaps - been a long time coming.
By: - 23rd December 2015 at 12:56 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
FWIW, I snapped off this shot of the museum as we climbed out of Gatwick in May of this year......
Ken
By: - 23rd December 2015 at 17:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
With the movement of the aircraft to undercover storage what a happens to the plans for ground running any of the jets ? IIRC the Sea Vixen, Buccaneer and Lightning were all being worked on with plans to engine run them ?
Undercover is good especially for the winter months when the collection is closed, but the size of the building with limited high will mean moving aircraft in / out for ground runs difficult.
I do hope the temptation to fill every available space between the aircraft with display cabinets, engines, and sign boards can be resisted. It looks like a small space, but it should still be possible to see the aircraft.
By: - 24th December 2015 at 13:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The current group of runners will be housed in taller section of the building by the main doors so they can be pulled straight out. Some aircraft may require others to be moved to be taken out, though this is a price we are willing to pay to have finally managed to get them undercover.
The size and design of the building was heavily dictated to us by what the local authorities would actually approve planning for but we are very focused on making it work for us.
We are still very committed to be a running museum and hope once we are settled in to complete the rest of the preparation work and finally fire up the lightnings engines for the first time.
Long term there are a couple of the runners that will need some in depth work that they have been in need of and we hope to bring some of the other airframes not previously live back to a runnable condition. After all it was Peters main promoting point that many of the aircraft were capable of being run, something we very much agree with. From an education and training point of view this is very important too.
It will take the team time to get settled in, unpack and see how best to have exhibits laid out to show them to there full potential and when we open it will be very much a work in progress but we will get there in time, after all Peters fight for a building spanned many decades a few more months to get things right aren't bad.
By: - 25th December 2015 at 18:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Will the Shackleton fit in the new hangar?
By: - 26th December 2015 at 04:37 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
You could always ramp them, put the nose on a platform and give them a dramatic pose, thus dropping the tail, we actually had a ramp constructed out of concrete to allow the Tornado tails to drop under the door lip so you could get them in, once past the door the tail would come back up..
By: - 26th December 2015 at 09:42 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Sadly the Shackleton will not fit, but this is just the start! As mentioned above, the building is constructed in three heights, we were given a maximum volume that the council would accept and it was that figure that we had to work around. As you may imagine we calculated the clearances as close as possible to maximise the available volume. The low end fit in the Sea Hawk, Meteor, Venom and the Vixen. The next section is slightly higher to fit in the fins of the Hunter and the T7 and finally the highest section fit the tails of the Buccaneer and the Lightning. It's likely that the Bucc will go in with wings off as we see the huge opportunity to do a complete refurbishment on this airframe. The Canberra is supposed to be going to Germany and is due to be dismantled and moved in January, heading back to Laarbruch where she served. There are a great many artefacts to go back in not just the airframes. We are very conscious of not putting stuff into just for the sake of it. We will attempt to keep the airframe area relatively clear and will probably change some displays on a regular cycle with items normally in store. This is common practice in big national museums and keeps the displays dynamic and not staid and static.
By: - 26th December 2015 at 11:43 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The 'volume condition' is interesting; and one that I've not heard applied to the aviation sector before - as posted above, "well done and great progress!!" :applause:
By: - 27th December 2015 at 10:00 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thankyou for the explanation Peter. Always sad to see aircraft entombed within buildings with no hangar doors, but understandable. I am professionally involved in planning and design so can see the reasons for the design restrictions. Very sad it allows no room for future expansion without further costly planning applications.
Would it be possible to post a link to the approved planning consent documents so we can all see the proposed layout, expect materials and landscaping have been a pain as well ? Such planning condition can add £1000's to the overall cost.
Congratulations to all concerned.
Paul
By: - 27th December 2015 at 12:48 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Paul I don't think anything is being "entombed" there. There are doors and airframes can be wheeled in and out as required - subject to some shuffling as goes on at Duxford etc.
Rob
Posts: 211
By: Peter Mills - 22nd December 2015 at 14:05 - Edited 2nd October 2019 at 11:40
A couple of pictures of airframes moved into the new museum building.
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Inside now are the Seahawk, Meteor T7, Venom, Vixen and Hunter T7. More to follow!
http://gatwick-aviation-museum.co.uk