Newsletter Issue 1 – May 2012 H I E V E RYO N E and welcome to our first Newsletter, which I’ll try to keep short and sweet. By the time you read this XV244 will be on Bay 61 at Kinloss, which will make her very visible from the Findhorn Road. We’ve leased the bay though the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, whilst we develop the project further. The lease is subject to a number of understandable constraints eg. no public access for the time being and any routine husbandry activity needs to be arranged through RAF Kinloss. The front 35ft of XV240 is at Spey Bay Salvage Ltd with the intention of using it to promote Morayvia at local shows, subject to transport, insurance and access being resolved. Husbandry will be required for the two exhibits and that will be covered in the engineering section. The People Morayvia is a registered Scottish Charity run by a board of five directors. Mark Mair is an ex-Buckie fishing skipper, who also runs the Search and Rescue Trust Fund, and has a day job that takes him overseas often at short-notice and for protracted periods. Bob Pountney is a retired SAR winchman and is well-known following a number of dramatic SAR incidents. pLeft to Right - Stan Barber, Shuggie Hughes, Don Mackenzie, Terry Barber, Gill Barber, Stephen Barber, Gonzo Gosling, Chris Herbert, Bob Pountney, Justin Morris Our website is being managed by Steve Smith another former ‘wetman’ but self-confessed computer geek, and also Tim Dickinson a dry man.Visit www.morayvia.org.uk Sean McCourt is a retired RAF engineer who has been heavily involved with Nimrod maintenance over his long and distinguished career. On the aircraft husbandry side Sean is overseeing a team headed up by Chris Herbert and Iain (Gonzo) Gosling and a growing team of volunteers. On the media (magazine) side we have Tom Docherty who has been ensuring that articles are provided to a number of aviation magazines. Another unsung hero is Calum Mackenzie our architect. It was Calum’s work on the Concept and beyond that really captured people’s imagination of what could be achieved. Calum’s continuing his work to flesh out a feasibility study from a design and build perspective. Finally, we acknowledge Terry Smith’s efforts to keep XV244 at Kinloss as it was his idea to secure this aircraft as an exhibit. Marc Macrae is a former Boeing 777 training captain, presently working as parliamentary assistant to Richard Lochhead MSP in the Elgin office, and I think you all know enough about me - Stan Barber. Other key personnel are Jim Simpson, a retired Nimrod crew chief, consultant, photographer, golfer and aviation fanatic, who is our membership secretary. Jim is assisted by the irrepressible Justin Morris, a former Nimrod acoustics expert (wet man). p XV244 on Bay 61 Of course the list of personnel is growing as are the jobs that need doing so if you want to join in then just let me know [email protected] From The Chairman I just wanted to say as few words as possible as I can’t write to… well you know how the saying goes! I do want to thank all of you as well as our sponsors and supporters as without all the hard work put in to date none of what we’ve achieved would have been possible. I know it’s early days but saving XV244 and getting it set up on Bay 61 has been no mean feat, for which you should all be justifiably proud. Engineering Hi everyone it’s Chris Herbert here with a few words on the engineering front. I’ve produced a husbandry plan for XV244 and have already signed up a number of volunteers with relevant competencies. If you’re not on the list yet and wish to join in then email me [email protected] We’ve started our monthly checks with the first one completed on 11th April, and though the husbandry team has a wealth of experience there’s always room for more. XV240 at Spey Bay needs work to prepare it for display and a joiner has measured it up for a door at the back, which will also protect it from the environment. However, we will need a team to clean it up and prepare it for display, as well as to do basic husbandry on it. We also have a number of boxes of bits from XV244 at Spey Bay that will need to be inventoried and I’ll be looking for help with this in the weeks to come.All volunteers will be gratefully received. save Moray’s aerospace heritage? We do plan for anyone who’s donated £100 or more, which includes the membership subscription, to have their name placed on the inside of the bomb door of XV244. Steve is also looking at a ‘Members Only’ area on the website. I’ve produced some initial membership cards, which Stan has been helping to distribute and we may move to something more substantial later. For now if you want to get hold of me then I’m at [email protected] My parting shot is for us all to ‘get recruiting’. Membership Though many might switch off at the mention of finance, the project cannot succeed without it. This is even more important during the early stages when there appears to be little help around to get started.Thus far we’ve been privileged to receive support from BAE Systems, Ultra Electronics, Rolls-Royce and Thales to help purchase XV244, with the remainder provided by grants from the Maritime Trust Fund and the SAR Trust Fund as well as some individual donations. Membership subscriptions Hi everyone, it’s Jim Simpson here with a short bit on membership. We’ve had a few say that it’s wrong for volunteers to pay but the majority accept that it’s going to take more than good wishes to take the project forward. Indeed, we’ve had our first overseas application from an enthusiast (Diego Jiminez) in Spain, as well as some nearer to home. Looking at members’ benefits this will take time to develop but what could be better than helping to Finance also helped bridge the gap between receiving funds and paying for the aircraft. However, for the time being our only income stream is membership fees and donations. We plan to attend a number of events with the front section of XV240, subject to obtaining necessary insurance, transport and access requirements. We are looking for a treasurer to look after the day-to-day running of the finances so if there’s anyone willing or with experience can they please come forward? Sponsorship and Support As well as the companies and trusts mentioned above, we’ve also had ‘benefits in kind’ and support from Spey Bay Salvage Ltd, Johnston Carmichael, Blackadders Solicitors LLP Dundee, Visit Scotland, Billy Miller Ltd, Signcrafts, and Iolaire. This support has been instrumental in taking the project forward, particularly as funds were between limited and non-existent. cost, so it is something that will be pursued further. Turning to the main project a working group, comprising representatives from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Moray Economic Partnership, Moray Chamber of Commerce, the Lossiemouth Business Association (LBA) and Morayvia, has been working towards a common aerospace vision for Moray. The aim was to seek funding to commission a feasibility study to determine what Moray could support in terms of aerospace heritage and space tourism. Though the LBA has advised that is has withdrawn to pursue a community buyout of Lossiemouth Lighthouse, the group’s work will continue and I’ll keep you posted on developments. Morayvia at Local Events Saturday 12th May – Moray Heritage Connections Open Day Elgin Library Open to Public 10.30am -3.30pm. We’ll have a couple of tables and will be promoting Morayvia as well as having a few displays. Sunday 3rd June – Elgin Rotary Club ‘Motorfun’ - Cooper Park Elgin – TBC.We’re planning to take XV240’s section plus other displays subject to insurance, transport, access, suitable site, permissions etc. Saturday 21st July - Elgin BID Events – Summer Family Fun Day on the Plainstones – TBC. Again the plan is to take XV240 out subject to the usual constraints. Next Steps Now that XV244 has been saved from the scrap-man the focus has changed. Key tasks are now husbandry, procurement of additional items as well as developing options for a temporary centre, not forgetting progression of the main project, which is to establish an aerospace heritage centre to record and display Moray’s rich aviation heritage. You’ll have realised that the mountain is still ahead of us and the best we can do is to start planning some base camps along the way. As husbandry’s been covered I’ll stick to a few words on the other elements starting with the temporary centre. We had hoped to utilise a building outside the wire at Kinloss as a temporary centre to preserve and display some heritage items currently in storage and also as a focal point for the project. It will come as no surprise that there are few, if any, suitable buildings available, and a search further afield has also drawn a blank at this stage. That said a temporary centre is an important step along the way, if it can be achieved at minimal Caption Competition I couldn’t resist a quick caption competition challenge for those with a sense of humour and even for those without! Please send suitable (printable!) captions to me and I’ll produce the best one in the next newsletter. Any comments or suggestions about this newsletter should be directed to me. Onwards and Upwards! Stan Barber Newsletter by Iolaire (Tez Watson ex-NLS/NST) www.iolaire.co.uk ( 01667 456126 Registered Charity: SC042895 Registered Office: Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers Commerce House, South Street, Elgin, Moray IV30 1JE
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