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Replica DH Moth arriving at NELSAM
Replica DH Moth arriving at NELSAM
Replica DH Moth arriving at NELSAM Photos courtesy of David Thomson


Wreath laying at NELSAM

Sunday 7th August saw NELSAM welcome a wide variety of classic and vintage vehicles on site, some from as early as the 1930s, with the good weather ensuring an estimated turnout of over a thousand four the day. With everything from a classic Rolls Royce to a Clan Crusader, built at the factor next to the museum in the 1960s, there was something for everyone, and NELSAM hope to make this a regular event. You can read more in the Sunderland Echo Write-up.
Classic Cars at NELSAM Classic Cars at NELSAM Classic Cars at NELSAM
Photos courtesy of Daniel Lines

Credit: Sunderland Echo Full Article here.

Last Tuesday Ian McLaren signed the Armed Forces Covent on the Museum's behalf.

The Armed Forces Covenant is a formal agreement by organisations that those who serve or have served in Britain's armed forces and their families will be treated with fairness and respect. They should not be disadvantaged or prevented from access to services or products because of their service.

Examples of discrimination might include access to education and healthcare, financial help and job opportunities.

It was a real pleasure to sign the Covenant on behalf of NELSAM at a small ceremony last Tuesday. Other organisations were in attendance including the North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll, and representatives of the Army and Royal Navy. A real honour for me which I was pleased to undertake on the Museums behalf. - Ian Mclaren, NELSAM volunteer

Tornado F3 ZE204 arriving at NELSAM
Tornado F3 ZE204 being presented to NELSAM
Tornado F3 ZE204

Lightning inside Hangar 3
Pucara with wings on
Exhibits rearranged in the Hangar and floor painted

We've launched a crowd funding campaign to help preserve our iconic Avro Vulcan B.2. XL319, which flew into the then Sunderland Airport in January 1983.
This airframe started service in October 1961, seeing service with the famous 617 (A.K.A. Dambusters) Squadron, and then Sqns 44 an 83 at Waddington and Scampton.
2019 saw most of the airframe repainted, and one of the engines started for the first time for 36 years. The volunteers here at the museum open the cockpit for the public as much as possible, however we want to give a greater number of visitors the chance to learn about XL319 and its history by establishing an information centre next to the aircraft to explain not only XL319s story, but the history of the V-Bomber force as well.
Our crowd funding campaign is looking to raise £5,000, all of which will go towards preserving the aircraft and the creation of this new information centre and display.

Our campaign is live on Crowdfunder now, and runs until the 26th July - any donation towards the cause will be put to good use and greatly appreciated!

The Shorts being moved by the new Tug
Exhibits rearranged in the Hangar
Exhibits rearranged in the Hangar
Exhibits rearranged in the Hangar

New aircraft Tug

  • The Anson will be moving back in before the end of February. To position it at the far end of the hangar will see the F84, Hunter, Meteor, Sycamore and Jetstream being moved out of the way. Once the Anson is in place the Shorts SD3-30 and Comet will move to the far end of the building to establish the Civil Aviation display
  • At the end of March the Post War Jets will be positioned and subject to weather the Lightning will move inside the main hangar
  • End of April will see the positioning of the Morane and Spitfire in the space currently occupied by the Shorts
Keep checking for updates and the opportunity to see some exhibits making a rare appearance outside.

Exhibit being prepared for departure
Exhibit being prepared for departure

After reviewing our operating structure, we will be changing our opening from Daily, to Tuesday - Sunday only - i.e. no longer opening Mondays. This takes effect from week commencing the 9th September - with the 2nd September being the last Monday we are open for some time. We will open on bank holiday Mondays as well as during the summer period. Opening hours will be 10:00 until 16:00
We will also be changing our pricing as follows:

  • Adults (16 to 59yrs): £6.50
  • Children (5 to 15yrs): £3.50
  • Concessions (60+ yrs): £3.50
  • Carers & Under 5s: £0.50
  • Family (2 Adults + 2 Children): £18:00
We believe this still offers great value, and will allow us to continue with our future plans.

Thanks to Interlink Scaffolding Ltd. , the past two days has seen the rear of the Vulcan decked out for the forthcoming paint job to the tail, rudder and elevons of XL319. Won’t be too long before it’s complete up top then the underside to follow. Two of the crew from ISL at work in blistering heat, well done guys!

Scaffolding goes on the rear of the Vulcan

The Bluebird restoration team have been hard at work in the good weather, completing a range of tasks from painting the remaining external surfaces to completing the turning over of an engine using compressed air, potentially allowing for an engine run at some point in the future.
See the images below for comparisons of the before/after paint job.

Before and after shot of the painting
Before and after shot of the painting
Before and after shot of the painting

With the museum’s grass mower out of action at the moment, this weekend we had some help from local company Elders Plant Hire and Garden Services . The company came along and cut all of the main areas of grass at the museum, including that outside the Trident. NELSAM are incredibly grateful to Elders for this sponsorship and the help they gave in making the site presentable to visitors. Thank you! Elders are based in Washington, near the museum. Check out their website or give them a call if you have any garden, landscaping or tree surgeon needs!

The latest addition to the collection arrived this month, a mock-up of a Virgin Trains 390 - more commonly known as the Pendolino.
These trains were made in Birminham, and later Italy, and are mostly thought of as running on the west coast mainline, however on the 12th March 2012 Virgin ran a brand new Pendolino unit (390055) on the East Coast line for trials, most notably stopping at Newcastle Central Station on a night run down from Edinburgh (some photos of the trial run. ) This is a great addition to the museum and has inside set out the same as the real driver's cab, seats and all, this will ultimately be displayed in the tram shed

The museum's WW1 Morane fighter replica on display at the Washington Galleries to commentate Armistice day on Sunday.

Last weekend, 7th October, a new exhibit arrived at the museum - Our new 15/19 Hussars Scorpion tank has been delivered and is now safely in position in the military Romney. It was a great team effort moving vehicles about, thanks to all involved in the day.

Some of the team set up at the Sunderland International Airshow with the Morane Saulnier Type N "Bullet" adjacent to Wing Commander Ridley's childhood home. Despite the thunder and heavy rain, they are in high spirits and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

Work has been undertaken to put down hard standing and a new footpath down the side is some of the buildings. It's all looking good now, thanks to all the hard work of all those involved! The Hard standing area will be used for the F100 once it is moved out of Hangar 1, allowing for a re-structure of the exhibits and workshop areas.

Another new exhibit has now arrived on site! This is an Abbot self propelled gun, and is a significant addition to our collection, as it was manufactured up the road at the Vickers plant in Elswick, Newcastle.

A new exhibit arrived late this month - a replica Hawker Hurricane which we hope to finish off as an ongoing project for the museum


Filmed on our very own Trident "Aircrew Interview" speak to Chelsey Filby about her life as a cabin crew member, discussing a day in a life scenario, training, passengers and the type of aircraft she works on.

YouTube full video.

NORTH EAST LAND SEA AND AIR MUSEUM TO RECEIVE SKEETER HELCOPTER FROM RAF MUSEUM

After careful consideration by its Collections Review and Disposals Recipient Selection Committees, the RAF Museum is pleased to announce the transfer of Saro Skeeter AOP.12 XM555 to North East Land Sea and Air Museum (NELSAM)..

The Skeeter is a two-seat training and scout helicopter which was produced by Saunders-Roe ("Saro") of Cowes and Southampton. It has the distinction of being the first helicopter to be used by the British Army Air Corps (AAC) and several Skeeter AOP.12s were operated by the Central Flying School of the Royal Air Force. This particular example was ordered in 1957 and its service history was primarily with the AAC. After being declared non-effective in the late 1960’s it was allocated to various RAF stations across the country for training or display purposes before finding a home in the early 1980’s at the Aerospace Museum RAF Cosford – now RAF Museum Cosford. In 2003 it was transported to the Museum’s London site for display before entering storage in 2010.

Ian Thirsk, Head of Collections RAF Museum: "We are delighted to have found such a worthy home for the Skeeter in NELSAM and look forward to building our relationship with them. The Museum’s disposal policy reflects our on-going commitment to carry out disposals in a responsible and ethical manner and after due consideration on a variety of bids we deemed NELSAM to be well suited. We wish them the very best of luck and look forward to seeing the Skeeter on public display soon."

Dr Hugh Newell Chairman NELSAM: "The recent expansion of the museum is designed to explain the extreme changes in the armed forces and the general population during the 20th Century by presenting as complete a range of artifacts both civil and military as we can display. The Saro Skeeter represents the introduction of the helicopter into the air observation role of the British Army and the acquisition of the helicopter greatly enhances our ability to describe the fusion of land and aviation assets to our visitors. We are extremely grateful to the RAF Museum for this gift to enhance our displays."

3rd December - Work is well underway on the latest museum extension, our tram shed. The tracks have already been set successfully with the steel framework structure going up very quickly indeed



©Kevin Betts


©Kevin Betts

On 9th November, a fitting weekend saw 15 Veterans from 607 (County of Durham) Squadron turn out to witness the official opening of the museum’s display room dedicated to their Squadron. They mounted a guard of honour while the Mayor and Mayoress of the City of Sunderland and local MP Sharon Hodgson cut the ribbon. An ex-RAF Bulldog courtesy of Steve Warren made a number of impressive flypasts, the squadron association Chairman, Dr John Arris presented the museum with a squadron trophy.



©Dave Gregg


©Brian Dixon

May 11th was another significant milestone in the project to save Trident G-ARPO.
After arriving at the museum in the summer of 2011, the aircraft has sat in the car park whilst we awaited a space to put the aircraft on display. This was fine, as we were able to get on with interior restoration work. However, today we arranged to have the aircraft moved to its new position. Starting early, our team gathered and MSD Cranes came along to begin the procedure of lifting the aircraft.
Since there was a telephone wire running across the car park, it took three lifts from MSD’s two cranes to inch G-ARPO along and clear of obstruction. Then it was a final lift to position it in clear view inside the museum’s entrance, alongside their other key exhibits – the Lightning and Vulcan. The move takes us a step closer to allowing the public on board the aircraft once we have completed the interior. We will also begin to focus on the exterior as we aim to rub down, prepare, and paint the fuselage (volunteers needed!)


Over a year after it departed Blackpool for a new life in preservation and having been stored in the interim in temporary outside accommodation, Balloon 721 has now made a further journey to the site of its permanent home in Sunderland.
Owned by the North East Electric Traction Trust, 721 is one of several trams destined, ultimately, to be displayed in a brand new museum created on the same site as the North East Aircraft Museum. With finance having been secured for the construction of a depot and materials, such as track, now acquired ready for construction to begin, the work of bringing the collection, currently housed in several locations, together in one place has now begun. 721 has been stored in a secure warehouse yard in Scotch Corner since leaving Blackpool but, on the morning of May 7th, it was loaded by the hauliers who own the yard and made the relatively short journey north to Sunderland.
After an uneventful journey it was safely unloaded and placed on the site of the new depot, which will now be constructed around it, finally providing undercover accommodation for the tram. The tram will then be repainted, losing its current faded black and gold Pleasure Beach advert, which will disappear under a coat of red and white, applied in the Routemaster style carried in Blackpool by sister car 701 between 1991 and 1993.
Of the four major preservation groups which currently have a selection of former Blackpool trams stored outside, the North East Electric Traction Trust are the first group to make tangible progress towards creating a permanent and secure home for their valuable assets, a credible achievement for a relatively new organisation. The remainder of the trams owned by the group, Centenary Car 647, Twin Set 674+684, Budapest 2576 and 2577 and Graz 210 are likely to remain in their current locations for a few more months but, once the depot is completed, a task expected to be completed by the end of the summer, they too will join 721 in Sunderland. Negotiations are also continuing with other preservation groups, which could see the collection expanded as well as the possibility remaining that 721 could run at Heaton Park when work on its transformation is completed.
After suffering several delays in their plans, the North East Electric Traction Trust are now firmly back on track and the move of 721 is the most tangible piece of evidence that their ambitions will shortly reach fruition and a valuable new tourist attraction will be created, providing a safe haven for some important trams and allowing them to be appreciated to the public once more.

The museum recently welcomed two new vehicles into their collection. The first a a 1942 Austin K2 Heavy Pump unit ex Stockton Fire Service. The K2 was chosen as a standard type appliance for the new National Fire Service as a result of the problems caused by the different fittings used by local authority brigades. After a little effort the engine was made to run.

The second is a unique Dennis F12 based fire tender made by special order for Middlesbrough Fire Service to cope with the low bridges around the docks. Originally built with an open top it was modified by fitting a removable fibreglass top a few year later, this was removable by four firemen and at a low bridge it was removed left under guard whilst the engine proceeded to the fire!

We are grateful to the 124 REME TA for the transportation

The museum has embarked on a very ambitious project to document as many biographies as possible in honour of those airmen and women from the North East of England who served their country during the two World Wars, many of them making the ultimate sacrifice.

An index of over 2,000 names has already been uploaded to our research pages. The individual history will be added as information becomes available & would certainly appreciate any information you may have to help complete their story.

To advertize the upcoming Sunderland airshow as well as NELSAM, the museum sent their Flying Flea for display at The Bridge's Shopping Centre, Sunderland. The Flea will be joined by large scale Mosquito and Spitfire models


©Kevin Betts

Over the weekend of 16th/17th June the museum was transformed into a Roswell style crash site. See our events page to read how those for all ages enjoyed this 'out of this world' experience.


©Kevin Betts

To mark the 30-year anniversary of the Falklands conflict the museum held a ceremonial weekend over the weekend of 2nd-3rd June. More photos can be found on our events page


©Paul Hughes

To celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 86th birthday the museum planned a 21-gun salute in her honour. Although the weather wasn’t favourable and prevented the firing of all 21 rounds, fifteen shots were fired from our 25 pounder gun. Overall the day was a big success with a good number of visitors turning out for our first event of the year.
Big Bang! (©Kevin Betts)

Our walk through display to portrait a street scene during World War Two is nearing completion. The blitz-era display which taken over 14 months to complete is aimed at giving visitors an insight into what life was like during this period. Included is a general store and wreckage from a real Luftwaffe Heinkel He111 bomber which crashed in the area.


©Kevin Betts

The first three vehicles for the relocated Military Vehicle Museum have arrived at their new home. The museum wishes to acknowledge and thank 124[TEE] Recovery Company and 102 Battalion REME [V] for their generous assistance with the move


On Sunday 31st July 2011 the big day finally arrived when Trident 1C G-ARPO 'touched down' at the museum. After a huge effort including significant fund raising, the 'Save the Trident' group reached a major milestone in their quest to save and preserve the airframe when it was delivered to the museum from Durham Tees-Valley airport. Although the airframe has been saved the hard work isn't over and a major task to re-assemble and preserve to display conditions will need to be resourced and paid for. If you can help in anyway, please contact the 'Save the Trident' group


©Neil Lomax