“What’s mine is mine”

[QUOTE=Dave Homewood]”My musing is based on a perfect world”

Personally I think the whole idea is a little daft. But if such a ‘perfect world’ were to exist, my ‘perfect world’ would have the Sunderland return to New Zealand, where it served it’s military career, not the UK where it was apparently unwanted. Along with that we’d also take back Kermit’s 486 (NZ) Sqn Tempest, and 485 (NZ) Sqn’s Spitfires ML407 and MK432…..and….

Oh well, at least NZ has recently had it’s Corsair and P40 returned. 🙂

As for non-flying museum pieces, I think that it is a credit to museums that have taken the trouble to preserve aircraft even if they are not from their own country. In many cases it is pure luck that such aircraft have survived to this day. A case in point is the Zero in Auckland Museum. It could so eaily have been destroyed along with the RNZAF’s Bf109 and Albatross, which were sadly burned after WWII. The Zero was certainly under threat.

I think such museums that have saved aircraft from destruction like this deserve the right to own it, and not have it taken off them and sent ‘home’ to Japan. That aircraft spent very little time in Japan but has had nearly 60 years in NZ – so it is ours – no-one else’s. Many museums in many countries will no doubt feel the same.
QUOTE]

Dave it sounds like you’re saying “What’s mine is mine!”
If NZ had an aircraft industry during WWII, and the sole remaining example of the “Kiwi Mk 12” or whatever were in a museum in the US or UK, I’m sure you’d be saying something different.
The purpose of the discussion is to get us to think about where planes would bae best appreciated. I’m glad the NZ warbird community is thriving, but I’m even happier that the planes you are desperate to hold onto are common enough that you’re not keeping something from other places that have an equal (or greater) claim to them.

Where they belong….

There are other American
types which played an important part in the ETO which could have quite happily been substituted for a B-24 – a Marauder readily springs to mind.

I agree it would be nice to have a B-26 there…too bad the U.S. scrapped virtually all of them, the USAF Museum example came from France (an Air France training airframe) to the USAFM where it certainly belongs.
Of course let significant airframes stay where they served…the question I posed is more about one of a kind or extremly rare airframes, in other words if only one Lancaster survived, I’d say it belongs at Hendon rather than Paris, Sydney or Canada.
And please don’t think I’m against Kermit Week’s huge collection…the quote is not from me and I don’t think the author meanty it as a slam…but it got me thinking about the issue. Anyone like Kermit who puts millions into saving historic planes deserves all of our thanks.

In a perfect world…

So it would have nothing to do with money, then?

Flood.™

My musing is based on a perfect world…and to generate discussion.
As historic aviation fans, I believe we need to be make sure rare airplanes are seen by the people who need to see them.
I was in favor of moving the B-24 from Lackland to Duxford, few people appreciuated it there, and the glassfibre model serves its purpose. (Though I still wonder why the Liberator Cosford wasn’t moved).

That may mean a Lincoln leaving Argentina and heading to the UK, or a Rufe or Tony leaving the U.S. and going to Japan.