Lincs Aviation Museum website ready for take off

The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre is a privately owned and run Museum and was set up by two farming brothers, Fred and Harold Panton. It has been built up as a memorial to Bomber Command and primarily as a tribute to their eldest brother Christopher Panton; who was shot down and killed on a bombing raid over Nuremberg on 30/31 March 1944. Situated on the original site of RAF East Kirkby the museum recaptures the sites and sounds associated with a World War II Bomber Command airbase.  Featuring the original control tower, T2 aircraft hanger and numerous exhibits and vehicles, the centrepiece of the museum is their Avro Lancaster 'Just Jane', one of only two Lancasters in the UK today.

Requirements

Lincs Aviation previous website had been online for many years, but had become difficult to update and difficult for the visitor to navigate. TJS's remit was to make the site easily navigable, easy to update and expand as well as take advantage of Ecommerce facilities to increase revenue streams. To add to this, a planned Phase II will shortly see the integration of a dedicated Members' Area from which paying enthusiasts can interact and keep in touch with all the latest developments to both the Lancaster and the museum itself.

Solution

The site takes advantage of a number of key technologies to help make the site more dynamic and visually appealing to returning visitors. The use of sIFR (Scalable Inman Flash Replacement) enables us to use no standard web fonts in the design and implementation of the site, thus greatly adding to the look and feel of the site whilst still being search engine friendly. The subtle use of JQuery programming provides the visitor with clear and seamless image transitions and enables Lincs Aviation staff to add new details and images with ease using our bespoke Content Management System. Video and Gallery image integration form an effective method of engaging the visitor with the content, sights and sounds around the museum. All images and videos can easily be embedded into the website using our Content Management System (CMS). Online orders can now be taken thanks to our bespoke Ecommerce area. Products can be easily categorised and added using the CMS. As show tickets and Lancaster Taxy rides are in limited supply, the site takes advantage of a stock control system ensuring that the events are never over-subscribed. Payments are taken securely via our integration with SagePay. Full reporting of orders is available through via our CMS. Search Engine Optimisation is covered throughout the website thanks to the ability to change Page Titles, Meta Keywords and Descriptions throughout. Dynamically created URLs also aid search engine placement.