If you own any land on which is buried an aircraft lost whilst on military service then, legally, it is necessary to obtain a licence under the PMR Act to recover it. The MOD “claim” that they own the wreckage, but that has never been legally tested and I doubt the MOD would get very far in a court of law, frankly. Equally, I doubt the MOD would seriously consider prosecuting a landowner who decided to dig a big hole on his own land and recover a wreck. Legally, they could. But I doubt they would. I think there was a case where they threatened – but then backed down. Their claim, also, to title is seriously flawed in many respects. It is something that I have spent many many hours studying. I have actually written an article/paper; “Who Owns Them Anyway?”. I rather suspect it would set the cat amongst the pigeons somewhat if ever published – both with the MOD, warbird owners/restorers, museums and collectors/dealers. An interesting minefield!
An interesting question would be, could they claim ownership to a aircraft that was not struck off charge however in ownership by another party? Maybe the raf own more than they think!
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