"I started in July 2007, so about a year ago. I work on Saturdays normally all day and there a few open days on Sundays each month. I have clocked up about 290 hours worth of work. The Gatwick Aviation Museum is located in Charlwood; it is a charity and has a dedicated owner and fantastic group of volunteers. It has a variety of vintage British aircraft about 20 in all.
"The experiences which I have had have been challenging and exciting. Where to begin? Well I have learnt a great deal on the general systems on the aircraft such as hydraulic systems and engines. Then there have been maintenance jobs like patching holes, treating corrosion (which is a main problem as all of the aircraft are exposed to the elements.) A highlight has been restoring the Avro Shackleton engines so they are able to run. This involved cleaning a lot of spark plugs, about 48 in total. Also changing the radiators in the engines. Recently the RAF celebrated their 90th anniversary and at the museum we opened up cockpits and gave the Shackleton a full engine run; several newspapers attended which was good publicity for the museum. My most recent project has been the Hawker Hunter T7A, I have rubbed down all of the screw-heads and treated them with rust protector and then started the base coat of paint. This is a summary of the main things which I have done over the past year."
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