Author: vortek

It’s been all go the last few weeks.  I managed to get my day in London to take my photos there, but not sure I’ll use them though as they joined the other unnamed museum who want stupid money for three photos I needed and basically I can manage without them!  But I had a nice 6Km walk through London, as it was sunny, so I made the most of it.   I’ve also done my Southern tour, so to all intents, photography for the book is complete, but I’m not holding my breath and it would not surprise me one bit that some jobsworth tells me I have to go back, pay £X and take new photos.  But for the minute, I’m waiting to  hear what they’re going to charge me for what I already have, as their reserve store is so full, because they’re re-gigging the main museum, that there’s insufficient space to walk round and take photos.  That it’s taken them 2 months or so to realise this or for someone to tell someone in another office that this is the case is another matter; all I can do is sit and wait.

Another little trip this week was to the publishers and a couple of hours spent sifting through the archive photos they’ve pulled out for me, so I can get some period shots of things that were either scrapped, crashed or basically won’t be flying again.  Consequently, I’ve a selection of B&W images that I’ve certainly not seen in any book, though one or two have, simply because they’re the only ones that exist.

The publishers also have a job big enough to keep me gainfully employed for years and one that I’d love to do; digitise the image library!  Some have already been done, but being a combination of photographer and aeroplane buff, I stand a better chance than most of knowing what I’m looking at.  Sadly, I doubt moving house to Stamford for the job would be popular.

Finally and in typical fashion, after getting rid of all the 35mm SLR kit, mainly because the lenses had started growing fungus in them (you wouldn’t believe that’s possible, but it is) I had the urge to use film and shoot with a manual focus camera, so after a bit of the usual eBay shenanigans, deft use of Go Gone and a wooden chisel to remove disintegrating light seals and replacement with nice new stuff, I now have… I’ll show all next time.  I also got round to having a pair of 35mm films developed that had been in a drawer for years, only to find they’d never been used, but that’s another story…..

 

On my way to London and what should have been the last photography needed to put Volume 1 to bed.  I said should, because until yesterday it would have been.  That’s when I had an email back from a museum which shall remain nameless, regarding publishing photos of their exhibits.  I’m one bloke with a camera and I want to come and wander round like your average tourist and take a few photos.  Yes I would like access to your reserve collection, you used to do tours on a regular basis.  I asked nicely, what did I get back?

£50 admin fee and £150 per hour! You cannot be serious! I only needed about 5-6 photos, mainly in the reserve collection.  But because I asked, I now can’t use all the ones I already have and that means doing about 30 photos across two places at the same site. That I would have happily paid maybe half that just to get access to the reserve collection again is immaterial, nor is the fact that the new photos will look better using the new camera, mainly because the lighting in the place is crap, especially the reserve collection.

So now, publishing is back at least a month, I’ve an urgent trip to sort out to take the photos needed for Vol 1, again.  Needless to say I’ve also emailed all the other places to make sure they wouldn’t like a cut of money I’m not even guaranteed to get back in book sales and give them free publicity in the process. Because it would still be cheaper than a writ afterwards.  Trouble is I emailed a few months ago, even direct off their webpage forms for that very purpose and have I had a reply? Na.

Not happy?  Damn right.

So 2023 has arrived and I’m now looking at publishing deadlines, things are definitely getting very real!

Volume 1 has been edited yet again and is now in the format needed to send off for copy editing, tagged up to include where to put photos, separate document with the photo captions and all the photos have been renamed accordingly so they go in the right places (he hopes).

I’m now awaiting the archive shots supplied by Key Publishing that will accompany my photos, these mainly inflight shots and aircraft that are mentioned but none remain. I’ve contacted the relevant places about publishing images of their aircraft etc to stop getting nasty letter later, though,  luckily most museums were happy for me to simply include the details of their museum in the book, whilst the RAF Museum openly says on their website you can use photos taken there for publication.  The old adage any publicity is good publicity seems to hold true in this case, but I thank all the people I’ve spoken to at the museums for their encouragement and help.

I also have to thank my friend and former work colleague,  now wondrous wedding cake baker Babs Whelan for taking time out from her kitchen to take a few photos of an aircraft I couldn’t get to in Northern Ireland. Thanks Babs  https://www.wedcakes.co.uk/index.htm.

More thanks too once he’s waded his way though it, to my mate, aero-modeller extraordinaire and another former RAF electrician John Nicholls for “volunteering” to sanity check my magnum opus.  Doubtless this may cost me beer, but better that than be told by some be-anoraked person once its published, that I’m talking utter bollocks.

I’m still at the mercy of train strikes to get to London and I’m awaiting the announcement of when the next batch will be before I book a ticket for an away day to the Science Museum. The train is still the best way to get to London as it gives me a few hours peace (don’t you love noise cancelling headphones…)  to edit things on the way back.

All being well, I’m three weeks away from sending everything in for Volume 1 and then its on to Volume 2 and a few days away in the South West to fill in the blanks regarding mainly helicopter photos.

Meanwhile, I’m also hoping for some assistance from work with a few jobs to do for them in the right places, because I need a photo or two of this:

 

Stuck on a pole outside the Folland Sports and Social Club, which naturally enough used to be part of Folland Aircraft.  This I discovered is the last prototype Gnat a matter of week after I’d been close enough to divert past to take a photo…GRRRRR.

 

Managed to get a photo shoot in courtesy a work trip and paid a visit to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum.  Hidden away in the middle of East Anglia, this is a great little museum with a lot packed in and as every with most of the smaller museums, friendly talkative staff. Better still, the sun shone, we had blue skies and hence good light!

My main reason to visit was their Lightning F1 which as well as being part of the early development batch also acted as a chase aircraft during TSR2 development.  They also have a Jet Provost in an unusual colour scheme, one of only two Vickers Valetta still around and for anyone with an interest in the electronics fitted to aircraft over the years, a goodly assortment to demonstrate how much this has progressed in the last 50+ years.

One oddity we weren’t expecting is in the photo.  The shape of the fuselage frame gives it away straight off, it’s part of a TSR2 and is the locating frame for both the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. The thickness of the bearers onto which the moving surfaces mount just shows how large the forces acting on the control surfaces would be when at low level and high speed.