unfortunately in the uk, there doesn’t seem to be much regard for our engineering heritage in general. it not just aircraft, but motoring, ships, trains, and steam.
i think one draw back is that to get just about anything in working condition from the categories above, takes a lot of money, and skilled labour, most of them need fairly special facilities to be stored, or operated from, which add greatly to the overheads. all of them will deteriorate if left outside, so need large buildings, again, taking money away from money needed to preserve them.
and just like everything, there are the more desirable things , that will bring the punters in. your average jo bloggs wants a spitfire/sr71/harrier/lancaster/concorde to show his kids, they are the type of exhibit that brings the punters in. you might have a really important aircraft, but if no one has heard of it, it wont be the reason people (apart from enthusiasts) will visit a museum.
it would be nice if there was a national body like english heritage, but solely for engineering. at least then you could have someone to lobby if you thought a particularly important object was at risk.
one thing i find quite odd, as a newcomer to these forums, and as an outsider to the aircraft preservation world, is how easily some people on hear turn on each other, and say things like “that aircraft shouldn’t be preserved, the money is wasted, and should be spent on something else”… it just comes accross as petty jealousy!
Sign In
