Profile: Howard Heeley
A museum trustee and aviation enthusiast whose talents are best employed at ground level
Howard Heeley is a trustee
at Newark Air Museum, an Accredited aviation heritage centre situated on part of a former second world war airfield in Nottinghamshire. It is trying to raise £500,000 for an education space, toilet and cafe.
How long have you been involved?
I began at Newark Air Museum as a volunteer when I was 13, so it is now more than 40 years since I first got involved. I became the museum’s director/trustee in 1978.
People like tinkering with old planes. Our shop manager categorises a group of customers as “men let out alone”.
How did you become interested in aviation?
We had an aviation society at school in Newark. My late father was evacuated here from Sheffield and I grew up with stories from the local RAF station.
I did look into joining up but mum and dad persuaded me not to do it. It wouldn’t have been for me: if someone asks me to do something and I don’t think it’s right, I would question it.
So it wasn’t that you were scared of flying?
Flying no, but I don’t particularly like heights and I don’t enjoy working off a ladder. I really enjoy the people part of the work here.
At the end of the day, an aeroplane is designed by somebody, built by somebody, flown by somebody, serviced by somebody and it’s connecting those personal stories that is an important part of what we do.
How’s the fundraising going?
W e were turned down for an Arts Council England resilience grant but we aren’t giving up. It can be frustrating dealing with all of the paperwork but we love a challenge.
You can run into problems, though; a few years ago, we had to repay £5,000 in a Gift Aid rebate because we had over-claimed in error. The nuances of Gift Aid, of what you can and can’t claim, can be tricky.
We weren’t setting out to do it incorrectly but the rules are so complicated you can easily fall into that situation.
On the other hand, we had a £25,000 Gift Aid payment from last year and will be looking to allocate some of that to the project. Gift Aid is important but you have to ensure you do it correctly.
What’s your favourite object in the collection?
The Saab Viggen aircraft, which is on loan from the Royal Swedish Air Force. It’s the most complicated aircraft we’ve had to take to pieces, move by road then reassemble and the few instructions we had were all in Swedish.
Every Thursday afternoon the restoration manager went to his local library to speak Swedish to the librarian. He used to take notes of 10 words at a time and try to work out what the instructions said.
How long have you been involved?
I began at Newark Air Museum as a volunteer when I was 13, so it is now more than 40 years since I first got involved. I became the museum’s director/trustee in 1978.
People like tinkering with old planes. Our shop manager categorises a group of customers as “men let out alone”.
How did you become interested in aviation?
We had an aviation society at school in Newark. My late father was evacuated here from Sheffield and I grew up with stories from the local RAF station.
I did look into joining up but mum and dad persuaded me not to do it. It wouldn’t have been for me: if someone asks me to do something and I don’t think it’s right, I would question it.
So it wasn’t that you were scared of flying?
Flying no, but I don’t particularly like heights and I don’t enjoy working off a ladder. I really enjoy the people part of the work here.
At the end of the day, an aeroplane is designed by somebody, built by somebody, flown by somebody, serviced by somebody and it’s connecting those personal stories that is an important part of what we do.
How’s the fundraising going?
W e were turned down for an Arts Council England resilience grant but we aren’t giving up. It can be frustrating dealing with all of the paperwork but we love a challenge.
You can run into problems, though; a few years ago, we had to repay £5,000 in a Gift Aid rebate because we had over-claimed in error. The nuances of Gift Aid, of what you can and can’t claim, can be tricky.
We weren’t setting out to do it incorrectly but the rules are so complicated you can easily fall into that situation.
On the other hand, we had a £25,000 Gift Aid payment from last year and will be looking to allocate some of that to the project. Gift Aid is important but you have to ensure you do it correctly.
What’s your favourite object in the collection?
The Saab Viggen aircraft, which is on loan from the Royal Swedish Air Force. It’s the most complicated aircraft we’ve had to take to pieces, move by road then reassemble and the few instructions we had were all in Swedish.
Every Thursday afternoon the restoration manager went to his local library to speak Swedish to the librarian. He used to take notes of 10 words at a time and try to work out what the instructions said.