With the F-15 now inside the restoration hangar, I think that all the Duxford-based IWM aircraft (not including those out on loan elsewhere) are now under cover (as long as there’s not a quilt fair or hairdressers’ convention taking place). That would not have been possible withouit hanging some of them.

Having said that, in order to achieve this statistic they have given away (or sold off for peanuts) quite a number, and chopped some up for scrap.

I think people need to understand what the CAA do.

To be fair Bruce, the comprehension deficit seems only to exist with Mr Chox, or WH904, or whatever identity he is posting under this week, rather than with ‘people’ in general.

No, we have the fact that they’re totally unsuitable for operation by a civilian operator to ‘blame’ for that, as the smoking hole in South Africa only went on to prove.

Hopefully one of the four at Cosford will find its way into the RAF Museum collection in due course, but I’m not holding my breath as they seem to be heading down the route of rationalisation of the collection.

The reality is, even though there are probably, what, getting on for 30 of the things flying in the UK now, is that a Spitfire is the thing to get if you want to attract bookings. Everything from a garden fete, through the myriad of Proms concerts, to major international airshows, want to put ‘Spitfire’ near the top of their list of attractions. Nothing, but nothing, else will be guaranteed to put numbers on the gate in the same way, and that goes for this season, next season, and any other season after that.

The way the lottery seems to be drying up…

Seriously? £3.1m for the Lincs Bomber Command Centre. £1.5m for Stow Maries last year. Major funding for the RAF Museum’s new World War One in the Air exhibition and the Dornier 17 recovery. I’d hardly call that ‘drying up’.