JDK….If the authorities had time and resources then they could find evidence and prosecute those responsible for removing parts without permission. But they are not interested and quite rightly have much higher priority problems to deal with. The two individuals I knew about were prosecuted about twenty years ago although in both cases the actual charges related to thefts from museums and the parts from crashed aircraft were not considered proven as stolen.

All….My idea of a business was only an idea and the inspiration came from those who recover wrecks in other countries.

Calm down Garry, I do not have any intention of taking this idea any further forward. I am fully aware of all the arguments about sites being memorials and being historical in context. I do not agree with that view unless a real memorial is funded and put on site.

Sorry to give the impression that this recovery idea relates to a secret location. I had in mind a properly organised business to finally clear up the visible wrecks which are mostly on high ground. Although some people regard the remaining wrecks as of no use in restorations this is far from the truth.And what could not be used would be sold as scrap.Doing it properly would ensure all parts are recovered then evaluated. Very little at the moment stops the scrapman from taking items directly from the crash site.

There have been several well organised recoveries as part of projects to restore missing types or very rare types. What is missing is a concerted effort to survey then recover parts before it is to late.Sadly the restrictions on resale make a commercial operation a financial non starter. So good luck to the small number of dedicated museum recovery teams,surely though it could all be done quicker with better finance?

Those who remove parts without permission will in my view never be prosecuted ,its easy to pass off old parts as war souvenirs or salvage yard finds.

Thanks for that reply,I see no point in paying money for a recovery then have the MOD claim what they want.Sad as it is the wreck will continue to be robbed by those who have no interest in following the rules.

C47 at Lossie

The local connection is that Edward Brothers aviation is now based about 30 miles from RAF Lossiemouth,and they have been maintaining this important survivor.Lossiemouth is their nearest active airfield.

What surprised me during a trawl of the FAA database was many of the USA registered population of C47 and DC3 are registered….624. A fair number in Florida on mosquito control.