By: CADman
- 3rd June 2016 at 10:38Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Excellent set of photos Jur. Just as they should be displayed. No clutter, no special effect lighting and no pointless "info" banners hanging from the roof.
By: Binbrook 01
- 3rd June 2016 at 13:18Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Tony C
Wittering is still an active RAF base, admittedly they only have Tutors flying from there now. Its also the transport and logistic hub.
Perhaps you meant RAF Lyneham or Cottesmore which have gone to the Army, which given the size of them means they can likely expand as opposed to whatever they were in before.
Lyneham airfield is now covered in solar panels. As is the now sold off RAF Coltishall.
And I don't think the cash strapped MoD would really want to stick the Hendon into a soon to close site they can make cash from for the government really (Mildenhall and Alconbury for example)
By: RogerN
- 3rd June 2016 at 13:28Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I agree with TonyC it would be great to join Hendon, Cosford and Stafford all on one site. It would also be good if that site was home to the BBMF and possibly the Reds as well, an active airfield if only on limited scale is a bigger draw than as others have said a collection of statics no matter what there significance. Just my opinion.
By: Tony C
- 3rd June 2016 at 13:53Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I agree with TonyC it would be great to join Hendon, Cosford and Stafford all on one site. It would also be good if that site was home to the BBMF and possibly the Reds as well, an active airfield if only on limited scale is a bigger draw than as others have said a collection of statics no matter what there significance. Just my opinion
Thanks Roger and I agree about basing the BBMF and the Red Arrows at the same site, it think that would add to the attraction, certainly during the Airshow season!
By: SADSACK
- 3rd June 2016 at 15:15Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Going to the Raf museum in the early 80s is one of my earliest childhood memories :-) Years later when I got a paper round I used to get the coach down to London as often as possible... What we need is a government that values our people and its heritage which stops giving billions to party donors while axing defence budgets and closing museums.
By: Meddle
- 3rd June 2016 at 15:25Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Years later when I got a paper round I used to get the coach down to London as often as possible...
Out of sheer curiosity, what kept you going back? For me, museums are about discovery. Hendon doesn't seem so big that you cannot visit it all in one day. Did you simply enjoy seeing the same aircraft in the flesh?
By: mmitch
- 3rd June 2016 at 15:33Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Reading that 'plan' through, there is constant reference to 'digital technologies'. When I visited last September, there were broken displays with bits of paper stuck over them 'out of order.' The ATC display was screened off too. This is a problem with any video or sound display. The BofB Memorial at Capel en Ferne is impressive to see while still new but if it isn't maintained it will soon look drab.
mmitch.
By: Beermat
- 3rd June 2016 at 16:25Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Digital technologies.. As someone who works around the application of new software this is so often the nonsense we hear spouted by people who think just throwing in something vaguely 'computerish' will suddenly make an object 'interpretable', or an unexciting museum suddenly appealing to 'yoof'.
So many misconceptions by highly-paid people, its hard to know where to start.
The interactive thing? It'll always look pants - in fact, be a rubbish experience - next to the highly developed and tested games that the intended audience probably played in the back of the car on the way there.
Software is an odd world. If it was a car, or even a toaster, that stopped working as frequently one would take it back. So if you think you can leave a bunch of interactive displays out there and running, based on the same rushed-to-market, flabby, overblown jack-of-all-trades OS's out there that we use at home (and they do), then you will get a lot of blue screens before you have had time to pay the first installment to Microsoft.
But still they do it. Why? Why is a screen different from a noticeboard? It might have had some novelty in 1986, but the old people who think its going to impress kids now are painfully misguided.
OK, if you spent a LOT of money developing something bespoke to attain the 'wow' factor (rather than focusing on being an aircraft museum) it might be worth it. But getting the student intern to download something he/she found in the App store that works on Windows 10 is going to end in the handwritten note taped to the screen.
To be fair to the 2014 strategy document, there is an emphasis (I think) on using software for collections management - I think that's what they are getting at. That has to be a more appropriate application of 'digital technologies'.
However, as for 'The Museum will invest to create a digital and an entrepreneurial culture within its staff and volunteers' I have no idea - unless they mean staff will be encouraged to illegally download and sell stuff?
..and speaking of misconceptions, I wish them luck making museum staff both voluntary and entrepreneurial.
So, when it comes to the public face of the museum, don't spend the money on 'Digital Technologies' - you're not impressing anyone. Spend it on lighting the objects, keeping them clean, keeping them conserved, paying decent writers - try Copywriters - to write boards that are concise, snappy, but convey a lot of interesting information (not that the Mark V weighed 123lbs more than the Mark II, while you are looking at a Mark XIV), and please not a picture of the exact (to the uninitiated) object you are looking at. And put the museum next to some working examples, or at least in context - not on a dual carriageway in a suburb.
New
By: Anonymous
- 3rd June 2016 at 18:01Permalink- Edited 15th February 2020 at 18:37
I think many museum management teams, not just Hendon, would benefit from a visit to the Beamish Open Air Museum in the North East of England. It tells the story of life in Northern England from the 1800's up to the 1940's, and shortly a 1950's town will be added. Staff are all in period dress, vintage trams take you around the town, pit village, mine, manor, farm and various other sites.
Two steam railways operate on site from different perids, giving free rides, all included in the entrance cost. There's period food establishments serve the visitors, and often housewives ( staff ) cooking biscuits on a cast iron range in some of the cottages. I don't believe any of the period buildings have any digital technology. The entrance cost is a valid ticket to return for free entry within a year, basically a yearly pass, as they know people will return and spend in the cafe's or shop if they can get back in free. Thousands of people visit and re-visit every year, so they must be doing something right.
By: SADSACK
- 3rd June 2016 at 19:24Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Tbh, I enjoyed going and had pretty much the same routine... I often went every time something new was announced in Flypast, then a trip to Hannants, tea in Hendon central then home... costing me 2 weeks paper round.Happy days, no bills or responsibility!
I loved exploring the Graham White Hangar and Control Tower before they were moved...neither were locked. Just wish I had taken pictures of the messages from servicemen in there, some were fascinating.
By: Kuno
- 4th June 2016 at 06:12Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
So, when it comes to the public face of the museum, don't spend the money on 'Digital Technologies' - you're not impressing anyone. Spend it on lighting the objects, keeping them clean, keeping them conserved, paying decent writers - try Copywriters - to write boards that are concise, snappy, but convey a lot of interesting information (not that the Mark V weighed 123lbs more than the Mark II, while you are looking at a Mark XIV), and please not a picture of the exact (to the uninitiated) object you are looking at. And put the museum next to some working examples, or at least in context - not on a dual carriageway in a suburb.
Thank you for that, Beermat.
I have visited the Battle of Briatain Hall twice - and I did not like it for the same reasons as stated already above by others: Lighting and not enough space to walk around the aircraft. However; I am still happy if sich aircraft a preserved and accessible for visitors - I do not really mind if it is in a dedicated BoB hall or if I could see them somewhere else... Digital displays can be fine but normally they are not. If it is just to attract children, then there are probably better options. One has been taken in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, Switzerland. They built up a huge playgroud for children between the museum's buildings. A pond with boats, a construction site etc.. Children can play whilst adults visit the museum. The bad thing on that particular example: A rare Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer has been disposed off to gain space...
Posts: 405
By: Jur - 3rd June 2016 at 09:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
RAF Museum Hendon 1980
This is how the BoB Hall looked like in 1980
Posts: 173
By: Zidante - 3rd June 2016 at 10:14 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Personally, I'd rather see the He 163 relocate to Cosford than the Ju 88 if airframes are being shuffled.
Nice pictures...
Posts: 674
By: CADman - 3rd June 2016 at 10:38 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Excellent set of photos Jur. Just as they should be displayed. No clutter, no special effect lighting and no pointless "info" banners hanging from the roof.
Posts: 2,245
By: Fouga23 - 3rd June 2016 at 11:02 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I quite like the 1980's display :)
Posts: 405
By: Jur - 3rd June 2016 at 11:52 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Just my feeling CADman; I never was a fan of the gloomy display with effect spotlights.
Posts: 3,778
By: Trolly Aux - 3rd June 2016 at 12:04 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I like the 1980s look but no good and not exciting enough for todays armchair kids, it needs to have a screen.
I remember it like that
Posts: 597
By: Binbrook 01 - 3rd June 2016 at 13:18 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Tony C
Wittering is still an active RAF base, admittedly they only have Tutors flying from there now. Its also the transport and logistic hub.
Perhaps you meant RAF Lyneham or Cottesmore which have gone to the Army, which given the size of them means they can likely expand as opposed to whatever they were in before.
Lyneham airfield is now covered in solar panels. As is the now sold off RAF Coltishall.
And I don't think the cash strapped MoD would really want to stick the Hendon into a soon to close site they can make cash from for the government really (Mildenhall and Alconbury for example)
Tim
Posts: 169
By: RogerN - 3rd June 2016 at 13:28 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I agree with TonyC it would be great to join Hendon, Cosford and Stafford all on one site. It would also be good if that site was home to the BBMF and possibly the Reds as well, an active airfield if only on limited scale is a bigger draw than as others have said a collection of statics no matter what there significance. Just my opinion.
Roger
Posts: 378
By: Tony C - 3rd June 2016 at 13:47 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thanks for the correction Tim, my only excuse is that being of a certain age, my memory is not ....
What was I saying!
Well, you get the idea ;)
Posts: 378
By: Tony C - 3rd June 2016 at 13:53 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thanks Roger and I agree about basing the BBMF and the Red Arrows at the same site, it think that would add to the attraction, certainly during the Airshow season!
Posts: 597
By: Binbrook 01 - 3rd June 2016 at 14:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
No Problem Tony
In an ideal world Scampton would be a good choice. But there are other things apart from aircraft there.
And an airshow to squeeze in too
Tim
Posts: 525
By: xtangomike - 3rd June 2016 at 14:41 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Original pics taken outside the 'new' Hendon building circ 1970's ?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]246310[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]246311[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]246312[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]246313[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]246314[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]246315[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]246316[/ATTACH]
Posts: 3,415
By: SADSACK - 3rd June 2016 at 15:15 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Going to the Raf museum in the early 80s is one of my earliest childhood memories :-) Years later when I got a paper round I used to get the coach down to London as often as possible... What we need is a government that values our people and its heritage which stops giving billions to party donors while axing defence budgets and closing museums.
Posts: 1,613
By: Meddle - 3rd June 2016 at 15:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Out of sheer curiosity, what kept you going back? For me, museums are about discovery. Hendon doesn't seem so big that you cannot visit it all in one day. Did you simply enjoy seeing the same aircraft in the flesh?
Posts: 1,746
By: mmitch - 3rd June 2016 at 15:33 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Reading that 'plan' through, there is constant reference to 'digital technologies'. When I visited last September, there were broken displays with bits of paper stuck over them 'out of order.' The ATC display was screened off too. This is a problem with any video or sound display. The BofB Memorial at Capel en Ferne is impressive to see while still new but if it isn't maintained it will soon look drab.
mmitch.
Posts: 2,172
By: CeBro - 3rd June 2016 at 15:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Any pics of W1048 stored in the carpark by any chance?
Cees
Posts: 3,447
By: Beermat - 3rd June 2016 at 16:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Digital technologies.. As someone who works around the application of new software this is so often the nonsense we hear spouted by people who think just throwing in something vaguely 'computerish' will suddenly make an object 'interpretable', or an unexciting museum suddenly appealing to 'yoof'.
So many misconceptions by highly-paid people, its hard to know where to start.
The interactive thing? It'll always look pants - in fact, be a rubbish experience - next to the highly developed and tested games that the intended audience probably played in the back of the car on the way there.
Software is an odd world. If it was a car, or even a toaster, that stopped working as frequently one would take it back. So if you think you can leave a bunch of interactive displays out there and running, based on the same rushed-to-market, flabby, overblown jack-of-all-trades OS's out there that we use at home (and they do), then you will get a lot of blue screens before you have had time to pay the first installment to Microsoft.
But still they do it. Why? Why is a screen different from a noticeboard? It might have had some novelty in 1986, but the old people who think its going to impress kids now are painfully misguided.
OK, if you spent a LOT of money developing something bespoke to attain the 'wow' factor (rather than focusing on being an aircraft museum) it might be worth it. But getting the student intern to download something he/she found in the App store that works on Windows 10 is going to end in the handwritten note taped to the screen.
To be fair to the 2014 strategy document, there is an emphasis (I think) on using software for collections management - I think that's what they are getting at. That has to be a more appropriate application of 'digital technologies'.
However, as for 'The Museum will invest to create a digital and an entrepreneurial culture within its staff and volunteers' I have no idea - unless they mean staff will be encouraged to illegally download and sell stuff?
..and speaking of misconceptions, I wish them luck making museum staff both voluntary and entrepreneurial.
So, when it comes to the public face of the museum, don't spend the money on 'Digital Technologies' - you're not impressing anyone. Spend it on lighting the objects, keeping them clean, keeping them conserved, paying decent writers - try Copywriters - to write boards that are concise, snappy, but convey a lot of interesting information (not that the Mark V weighed 123lbs more than the Mark II, while you are looking at a Mark XIV), and please not a picture of the exact (to the uninitiated) object you are looking at. And put the museum next to some working examples, or at least in context - not on a dual carriageway in a suburb.
By: Anonymous - 3rd June 2016 at 18:01 Permalink - Edited 15th February 2020 at 18:37
I think many museum management teams, not just Hendon, would benefit from a visit to the Beamish Open Air Museum in the North East of England. It tells the story of life in Northern England from the 1800's up to the 1940's, and shortly a 1950's town will be added. Staff are all in period dress, vintage trams take you around the town, pit village, mine, manor, farm and various other sites.
Two steam railways operate on site from different perids, giving free rides, all included in the entrance cost. There's period food establishments serve the visitors, and often housewives ( staff ) cooking biscuits on a cast iron range in some of the cottages. I don't believe any of the period buildings have any digital technology. The entrance cost is a valid ticket to return for free entry within a year, basically a yearly pass, as they know people will return and spend in the cafe's or shop if they can get back in free. Thousands of people visit and re-visit every year, so they must be doing something right.
http://www.beamish.org.uk/
Posts: 3,415
By: SADSACK - 3rd June 2016 at 19:24 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Tbh, I enjoyed going and had pretty much the same routine... I often went every time something new was announced in Flypast, then a trip to Hannants, tea in Hendon central then home... costing me 2 weeks paper round.Happy days, no bills or responsibility!
I loved exploring the Graham White Hangar and Control Tower before they were moved...neither were locked. Just wish I had taken pictures of the messages from servicemen in there, some were fascinating.
Posts: 55
By: Kuno - 4th June 2016 at 06:12 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thank you for that, Beermat.
I have visited the Battle of Briatain Hall twice - and I did not like it for the same reasons as stated already above by others: Lighting and not enough space to walk around the aircraft. However; I am still happy if sich aircraft a preserved and accessible for visitors - I do not really mind if it is in a dedicated BoB hall or if I could see them somewhere else... Digital displays can be fine but normally they are not. If it is just to attract children, then there are probably better options. One has been taken in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, Switzerland. They built up a huge playgroud for children between the museum's buildings. A pond with boats, a construction site etc.. Children can play whilst adults visit the museum. The bad thing on that particular example: A rare Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer has been disposed off to gain space...