Restoration Outlook for 2024 at Newark Air Museum

PRESS RELEASE

During 2023 volunteers at Newark Air Museum (NAM) logged in excess of 18,300 hours of working on a host of projects around the museum’s 16-acre site in north eastern Nottinghamshire in the UK. In 2024 the museum trustees hope to harness similar levels of dedication and support to continue with similar restoration work and associated repainting projects.

High on the priority list will be continued work on the NAM’s Avro Shackleton MR.3 WR977, carrying on from the work on the aircraft’s nose section that was completed in autumn 2023 (as reported by Vintage Aviation News). Some preparatory work had already taken place on the upper fuselage surfaces in the mid and rear sections of the aircraft.

On the sister Avro airframe, Vulcan B.2 XM594, some additional structural repairs and maintenance repairs will continue, with the aim of keeping the airframe in a good overall condition both externally and internally. As the better weather arrives work will recommence on repainting Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23ML Flogger 024003607, whilst structural repairs will continue on the nose section of Boeing HC.1 Chinook ZA717, and progress will continue with the rebuild of the Auster AOP.9 XS238 (which was previously covered by VAN).

A number of new repainting projects are also scheduled to start, including a major change of paint scheme to Hawker Hunter T.7 XL605. Currently is marked as XX467, this Hunter served with 92 Squadron and was part of the Blue Diamonds display team and will again wear these markings. NAM’s SEPECAT Jaguar T.2 XX829 will be repainted in a gray/green camouflage scheme, which the airframe wore during its early service with 54 Sqn, replacing the current all-over gray markings. Both airframes have recently been cleaned in preparation for their repainting.

For more information on the Newark Air Museum and these projects visit their website at http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/