Having seen a large number of aircraft returned from basket cases to pristine aircraft the question arises “Does anyone keep documentation (Manufacturing drawings, manufacturing processes, Bill of Materials etc) of the new parts that required manufacturing ?” The reason I ask this is that with the number of museums in the Uk alone, I can see a lot of reinventing the wheel going on if one is not careful. I appreciate that commercial operations such as Flugwerk (Germany) or Airframe Assemblies would not want their data available for free, but a central, free library/database could be set up for the museum/enthusiast fraternity.
Also, with certain airframes of which there are a large number extant, eg Canberra, JP, Hunter, are there standard type specific preservation techniques documented ? It is assumed that long term static outside storage is not covered by the in-service APs. I am aware that the BAPC has some documents available but is there/ should there be something more ?
By: Bruce - 27th December 2005 at 12:36
I am always more than happy to share advice on techniques, drawings, manuals and so on. Obviously, I have a DH bias, but I have quite a background in preservation and restoration.
Bruce
By: hunterxf382 - 27th December 2005 at 03:14
Having seen a large number of aircraft returned from basket cases to pristine aircraft the question arises “Does anyone keep documentation (Manufacturing drawings, manufacturing processes, Bill of Materials etc) of the new parts that required manufacturing ?”
It is assumed that long term static outside storage is not covered by the in-service APs. I am aware that the BAPC has some documents available but is there/ should there be something more ?
Essentially, you’re right about the BAPC being the central pool of information for Museums regarding the preservation of exhibits. Their knowledge has been sourced from well known restoration ‘experts’ in some of the big museums, etc.. They also have an established list of ‘core’ types worthy of preservation etc – something which a lot of Museums work to in establishing their collection policy etc. There are also some well known restorations carried out by individuals which is then very well documented on this web (I respectfully use the MAM Canberra as a very good example – with Les B’s amazing site portraying Malcolm’s hard work in words and pics….)
Some smaller projects / Museums may well be “going it alone” through lack of resources too. It would be a massive project to undertake a complete documentation of restoration techniques, especially on individual types…
There are folks who bemoan the BAPC, but to be fair, they are there as the ‘central body’ for ALL aviation preservation – and they can be damm useful at times…… OK they don’t always seem to have the finger on the pulse, but I don’t see any other organisation taking over their role do you?
Drawings of whole aircraft / parts – well if we’re talking ex- military – the RAF Museum archives haven’t got it, others seem to have from somewhere… Obviously that applies to UK aircraft.
Interesting idea though…….
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December 27, 2005 at 12:48 am