It would be great to have more seaplanes operating in this country. Afterall, there’s plenty of places to land.

Well, there would be if local authorities viewed it as a benefit.

I have serious doubts about them getting approval to fly into the Lake District. To land on Windermere – the most likely option – would need approval of the Lake District National Park Authority who, in recent years, have become more extreme about restricting activities. They imposed the speed limit on the lake to control powerboats and, although they have the power, it would take a lot of expert lobbying to get them to grant an exception to allow aircraft back on the lake.

But imagine if they did – fly to the lakes, taxy to a halt by the hotel’s jetty and step ashore for afternoon tea. All without going near the M6!

I wish them well but there is a lot of work to do.

Interesting. I wonder why you feel there will be corrosion/deterioration. Surely keeping artefacts indoors in climate controlled conditions (and the conservation programme) aims to prevent – or a the very least – minimise deterioration?

But to consider first a bigger question: Why are we keeping these things? Are they for the entertainment/education of museum visitors, such as you and me? Are they a store of knowledge about the aircraft itself – how it was built, what materials, its precise dimensions etc.

The Halifax is an interesting example. A few years ago there were none in the UK. Now we have one damaged but unrestored at RAFM Hendon, and one recreation/replica at Elvington (lets not get into the semantics of what to call it)

What if in 50 years somebody wants to build another replica? Which of the two UK preserved Halifaxes would be the best source of information about that?

That is why I would always lean towards an approach which preserves as much originality as possible, without putting at risk the artefact/aircraft.

We’re not preserving aircraft in museum only for you and me to pop along and say how great they are. We also have to consider preserving them for many future generations and that means preserving them as unaltered as possible. I’m sure I recall reading about somebody wanting to prove a particular aircraft operated in a certain region – and he knew he could prove it if he could get pollen samples from a museum example. But the one he looked at had been steam cleaned so thoroughly that there was not a single pollen grain left. That’s what I mean about preserving knowledge as well as the airframe.

So I would say no to a “full service condition” restoration. Let the Elvington Halifax fill that role. Let the RAFM Halifax remain as original as possible. And, having seen them both, wreck display can be much more emotive anyway.

Lancaster KB976/KB994 is indeed in storage with Kermit weeks.

As Benyboy said, there is a very large piece of Lancaster fuselage at Aeroventure in Doncaster from KB976. How much of ‘976 is in Florida and, by combining with ‘944, does he have a whole one?

I’ve not yet made it to Cosford so I’ll reserve judgement on the interior layout but a couple of points:

First, failure to provide full access to all (particularly wheelchair users) is unacceptable in any new building. The Disability Discrimination Act has been in place for long enough.

A lot of “landmark” buildings have been built in Britain since the National Lottery funding came available – it is interesting that they fund striking architecture. Personally I think this is a good thing even though modern architecture is, by nature, unsettling, difficult and often met with opposition at first – just think of Price Charles’ “carbuncle” comment.

I saw some models for Cosford a while ago and I like the design concept. The new buildings at Cosford and Duxford (Airspace and American Air Museum) have also helped to bring a lot of aircraft in from outside. In that they should be praised – and support should be given to the whoever will come up with plans for some sort of “National airliners hall”.

Here I will declare an interest – I work in a “landmark” building funded largely by the lottery, unashamedly 21st Century design which does its job well and is being accepted as part of the landscape. However, the reason I’ll wait before I comment on Cosford is that good architecture should combine form and function: as well as looking good it should do what it was built for effortlessly. I’m nervous about seeing how Cosford’s new building is functioning.

Look’s to me like a Stirling control wheel

Hmm. I was wondering about another one from the same stable:

Cockpit view of the Fantasy of Flight Short Sunderland

Not sure though.

Allan

Amazing website – such a comprehensive collection of images. I was surprised to find they’d got details – and accurate – of all the early aircraft I’ve been looking into. Great stuff.

Motorbooks, St Martin’s Court. Smack in the middle of a bunch of sites, inc. Leicester Sq, Traf Sq, Oxford St etc.

And from there head round the corner to Henry Pordes 58-60 Charing Cross Road. http://www.henrypordesbooks.com
He has a small but interesting aviation/military history section which also includes more Jane’s books than I’ve seen anywhere else, mostly recent. He has examples on his website to give an idea of expected prices.

Allan