1st October 2010
Within the last few days the trustees of the Newark Air Museum have notified the RAF’s Nimrod Disposal Team that they no longer wish to pursue the purchase of a Nimrod R1 airframe.
This difficult decision has been reached after a careful and considered evaluation of a diverse range of factors which has been underway since June 2009 and initially included the possible airborne delivery of an airframe to Winthorpe.
One of the main factors influencing this decision was that it has not been possible to solve the unique engineering problem of removing and then re-fitting the wings, without creating major structural integrity issues with the airframe. The museum also recently become aware that spares recovery of significant airframe parts from the nominally allocated Nimrod R1 airframe would be likely; thereby leading to an incomplete airframe being available for disposal.
The museum trustees felt that the workload and expense that would be incurred in dismantling, transporting and reassembling the airframe could no longer be justified for an incomplete airframe. This point was reinforced by the realisation that the likelihood of securing the missing items from other sources would be minimal.
The trustees of the Newark Air Museum would like to place on record their thanks to everyone involved in this evaluation process for their patience and support during the last 15 months. In particular to: the Nimrod Disposal Team at RAF Kinloss; 51 Squadron at RAF Waddington; the 51 Squadron Association and its members; the RAF Museum at Cosford; its own museum staff and members; the various contractors and transport companies that have offered their advice and expertise; and finally to the wider aviation community for all of their offers of support and encouragement.
The funds within the museum’s budget that were earmarked for the proposed Nimrod R1 acquisition will now be reallocated to other potential airframe acquisitions; to the repainting of several existing large airframe at Newark; and towards the development costs associated with the new Southfield Site Visitor Centre project.
Finally the trustees would like to send their best wishes to those groups that have already successfully acquired examples of the Nimrod – the ‘Mighty Hunter’.