I’m curious as to what process an aircraft goes through to prepare it for for exhibition in a museum. Say an aircraft is flown in (like Newark’s Vulcan or the SR71 at Duxford) I suppose the first job is to drain the aircraft of fuel but what happens then? Is it stripped of useful parts for spares etc? What other procedures must be gone through until it is safe to be seen (and sometimes touched) by the public?
By: Creaking Door - 20th January 2007 at 09:51
It depends on how modern the aircraft is. The MOD would remove any ‘sensitive’ items such as avionics that were ‘classified’ and manufacturers may wish to protect their ‘intellectual property’.
For example the recently retired Sea Harriers had their radars removed.
I think there is a camera displayed with the SR71 at Duxford but I’m sure it’s older obsolete technology.
Of course any dangerous items should be removed – ejection seat pyrotechnics, canopy detonation cords, avionics demolition devices (where fitted) and cable cutters (on older aircraft).
WA$.
By: Fouga23 - 20th January 2007 at 08:52
drain fuel, preserve the engines, remove battery,…
By: TwinOtter23 - 19th January 2007 at 16:58
I came across this link a while back that details the delivery of Vulcan XM594 to Newark in 1983.
Despite their being a fuel bowser in one of the pictures there is no mention about the deactivation schedule, which I am told took about 4 days post-delivery to de-fuel and remove certain avionics. During a look round the Vulcan at an open day I was told that much of the gear that had been removed was later purchased from a local scrap-yard and replaced.
http://www.airsceneuk.org.uk/oldstuff/2005/newarkvulc/newark.htm
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January 19, 2007 at 4:37 pm