Update 10 - December 2023
As always it has been a busy few months at the BHT with a lot going on and new avenues opening up. What we need most of all right now is more volunteers to get involved to cover an ever increasing workload. There are different areas to work in – engineering, the shop, events, fundraising, social media, community engagement or historic research. There is no minimum commitment at all and we have inclusivity at the heart of everything we do. If you are interested in finding out more, please do get in touch either via the form on our website under ‘Volunteer’ or by emailing us. We look forward to hearing from you.
A number of us attended the Aviation Heritage UK (AHUK) meeting at Old Sarum on 21st October and it was an absolute honour (and a total surprise) to be awarded their ‘Group of the Year’. Trustees Pat Marchant and Phil Johns accepted the trophy on behalf of everyone involved in the BHT. It does not matter what level of support you have given either through volunteer hours or financially, it has all added up to the position we are in now. Another surprise followed on the Monday afterwards when Chairman Peter Brown was awarded the AHUK ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Sir Gerald Howarth, President of the Historic Aircraft Association and Aldershot MP 1997-2007. Peter Brown has been a lifelong passionate supporter of Blackbushe. He worked at the airfield alongside legendary Air Vice Marshall Don Bennett, has organised many airshows and the more recent Air Days, has run the popular forum for many years and took the helm as our Chairman at the Trust’s formation. A very well deserved award, many congratulations to Peter.
Peter Brown is awarded the Aviation Heritage UK ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Sir Gerald Howarth on 23rd October. Photo - Pat Marchant
As the BHT evolves and naturally becomes more complex we have put in place a management style structure. As Trustees we look after the governance of the Trust but as five of us work full time we are keen to delegate, where able, our responsibility for organising day to day activities. Ten Lead positions have been created to work alongside Trustees and so far eight have been filled. The idea is that we will be able to streamline the organisation by encouraging people to communicate with the relevant Leads and Trustees. We will also shortly publish a Code of Conduct which all active volunteers will need to read and sign. Most charities have such a document in place and it will cover areas such as equal opportunities, health and safety, safe guarding and standard procedures.
Many of our dedicated group of volunteers have been very busy of late and as always it is impossible to mention everyone. The Engineering team have been making excellent progress, helped by the generous offer of free of charge scaffolding from Vision Scaffolding in Wokingham. The aircraft was raised and placed on more purpose built trestles, courtesy of Paul Nichols. It has been cocooned for a number of weeks whilst paint stripping has been carried out at an impressive pace, sometimes in temperatures of minus 6°C. Other tasks carried out of late include duckboards constructed, baggage doors removed and the installation of a grab pole and strut on the aft frame.
The engineering team have taken full advantage of the scaffolding generously provided by Vision Scaffolding in Wokingham. Here members of the team are paint stripping, revealing the Austrian Airlines livery from Vagabond’s time as a gate guardian at Vienna International Airport. Photo - Phil Stonard
Pete Vickery has done a superb job equipping our new shop and history hub building ready for books and memorabilia to be transferred in shortly. Those of you who are familiar with the History Hub boards that were created by Rob Belcher and Peter Brown will see they have been relocated to this new multi use space. We hope to ‘crew’ the shop on a regular basis, perhaps one day a week, but this depends on attracting more willing volunteers to get involved. Once again please consider getting involved if you are not already.
Dave Payne and Mark Griffiths gave an informative presentation on 29th November at the British Airways Heritage Centre outlining the recovery of Vagabond this year. The audience included both staff on their lunch break and visitors from the general public. We met some interesting people with their own recollections of the Viking. One lady used to work in crew operations at British European Airways and knew the names of all the Captains on the Flight Bulletins which we showed.
A week later we were back at the BA headquarters for the Sustainability Fayre. We certainly made our presence heard as British European Airways PA announcements were broadcast throughout the day from an excellent audio system that Phil Johns knocked together in his workshop. As Senior Managers were brought up to date with our progress they were treated to the sound of two Bristol Hercules engines increasing from idle to maximum RPM on take off!
BHT was privileged to be invited back to the British Airways Sustainability Fayre on 6th December. The highlight for many was reminiscing as we played British European Airways onboard announcements and soundtracks of a Viking taking off! Photo - David Payne
The Transport Trust has installed one of their iconic Red Wheel plaques at Blackbushe. The Trust is the only national body which promotes and encourages the preservation and restoration of Britain’s vast transport heritage in all its forms – road, rail, wings and water. Our Wheel is one of the first to feature a QR code for a direct link to their website. Staying with the subject of plaques, we were very grateful to Phil Stonard for refurbishing the older plaques on the control tower in time for Remembrance Sunday when a service was held and Peter Brown laid a BHT wreath.
National Transport Trust Red Wheel after installation on the Terminal Building. Photo - Mark Griffiths
Pathfinder evening events continue to be popular. Regular Quiz nights are organised by the airport with profits going towards BHT, the last one for the year is this Thursday 14th December and there are still places available. If you’ve missed out there will be more in 2024. Our evening talks programme has continued well, Blackbushe Historian Rob Belcher carried on where he left off last year on 19th October and Bob Wealthy from the Britten Norman Aircraft Preservation Society gave an informative overview of the restoration of Islander G-AVCN, recovered from Puerto Rico in 2000. Our next Pathfinder event takes place on 21st December with an informal get together featuring an update from Trustees and tea/coffee plus a cold buffet. All for a suggested donation of £5 on the door (cash or card). We will look forward to seeing you there. Our Christmas Raffle will also be drawn then so please make sure you have bought your tickets. These are available at the Pathfinder or through our online store, where recent additions are our 2024 Calendar and BHT Watches.
Reflecting on 2023, it sure has been an incredible year for us. Once again a massive thank you, we have come a long way all because of the support you give. Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2024, Peter, Phil, Dave, Pat, Chris, Becky and Mark Trustees.
Photo - David Payne
