RE: Cockpits
Keep the kids away from the fire with that one for sure! Sorry Tony 🙂
Apologies for even more shameless pluggery, but the International Cockpit Club was set up by Derek Griffiths following last years Cockpitfest with the intention of providing a meeting point for cockpit restorers and collectors. The club’s website, at http://www.internationalcockpitclub.org.uk , has a photo review of the 2002 Cockpitfest event and gives an indication of the phenomenal amount of dedicated work that was represented at Newark this year.
There are aircraft types which now only exist in cockpit form and this, I feel, is one of the biggest justifications for cockpit restoration as these aeroplanes would be lost to current and future generations without them. Not that what I choose to do as a hobby and spend my money needs to be justified to anyone of course…apart from my wife of course!
I have loved aircraft for as long as I can remember and am absurdly enthusiastic about restoring my Hunter cockpit. Yes, it’s a cockpit only but there’s no way in a million years I would have the room to accomodate an entire airframe, let alone the cost etc. of restoring it.
Like you Tony, I’m quite happy to be called “sad” if need be – there are, after all, more hobbies than I care to mention which are inexplicably popular to me. Yes, to some extent, you lose the overall impression of the aeroplane but you’ve got the bit which, let’s be honest, people are most interested in seeing in detail and anyone can visualise the overall aircraft from accompanying photos and models.
Private restorers at events such as Cockpitfest just make these lovely old aeroplanes instantly accessible to anyone. Try turning up at the RAF Museum and asking to sit in the cockpits and waggle the stick and see how far you get!
Mark
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