21 May 2010

Fleet Air Arm Museum leads the way at International Conference

The Fleet Air Arm Museum's Director and Curator of Aircraft have recently returned from an international conference held at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Washington.

The conference entitled ' Mutual Concerns of Air and Space Museums' focused on the needs of the air and space museum community, covering history, conservation, exhibit design, fundraising, and marketing. Over 100 international museums and related organisations were present to learn from each other and share best practice.

Leading two of the discussions were Graham Mottram, Director, and Dave Morris, Curator of Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton

Last year was the Centenary of Naval Aviation in Britain, and in 2011 it will be the centenary for the US Navy. Against this background Graham Mottram delivered the conference's Keynote Address, entitled '100 years of Naval Aviation', to an audience of around 250, which included the officer responsible for organising the US Navy's celebrations.

Dave Morris gave a presentation entitled " Is Your Aircraft Trying to Tell You Something?" The presentation detailed the Fleet Air Arm Museum's groundbreaking and internationally acclaimed

restoration of their rare Corsair KD431 which painstakingly removed layers of post war paint to reveal the original paint and markings from 1944/45. The process revealed considerable hidden detail about the aircraft, its manufacturer, and even the Royal Navy's preparations to go to the Far East.

Says Dave Morris "Our work has been like a fine archeological dig. It has gradually uncovered details of the aircraft's past life from scratches on the propeller caused by a particularly heavy landing to revealing an unexpected yellow gas patch on the wing, visible to the pilot during flight and which would change colour if poison gas was detected."

A book written by Dave Morris on the restoration of the Corsair entitled 'The Time Capsule Fighter Corsair KD431' has acted as inspiration for similar restoration projects around the world and has even been translated into Japanese.

Photo Caption: Graham Mottram presenting '100 years of naval aviation' at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Washington.

For more information go to: www.fleetairarm.com