Owner?
Would it not be worth contacting the seller to ask if he has legal title to this item? or at least a bit of research before posting here, virtually accusing the man of theft, I have no conection at all with the item ,although I did see it on ebay ;it appears to be only a small section of outer skin.I am not absolutely sure that only the permit holder can be the owner, as the land owner will also have a say in the matter.
Hi Stuart – I am not accusing anyone of anything – I posted the thread to increase awareness – I have been involved in Aviation Archaeology for over 25 years & I do have strong feelings on selling ANY items from crash sites, but that is my personal feeling – i also have strong views on removing items from shipwrecks where they are war graves too – But it happens! 🙁 The landowner has NO legal title over aircraft remains – they remain the property of the Crown, as the MOD goes to great pains to point out. When a permit is applied for it HAS to be to a named individual who is then legally responsible that any recovery is carried out in accordance with MOD guidelines. Once the recovery is completed all recovered items have to be declared to the MOD and then legal title is transferred to that individual – unless required by a National collection, of course.
The Landowner is required to have given consent for the recovery operation to take place, as it is disturbing his/her land after all and they have every right not to do this – the MOD are therfore keen to ensure that this has genuinely been given. Once title is transferred the new owner (permit holder), it seems that they have the right to do as they see fit with the recovered remains – even sell them on eBay – they are by then their own property after all.
However I was pointing out that this recovery was done in the name of a highly respected organisation – namely the FAA Museum – to obtain parts for a specific restoration project. Although the part in question is only a piece of skinning, as you say, that may not be of use for this project, I think most readers on here would have spotted that it does have significant historical interest in that it bears the aircraft’s serial Number!
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