The Furies in Iraq are part of Iraq’s history not that of the UK and they should stay in Iraq. If they can be gathered together for there own protection, OK. But it should be up to the new Iraqi to decide they future. Be it scrapped or sold to a ‘collector’.

The aircraft (and armour) of Saddam’s modern airforce are part of the UK history. For what ever reason our country went to war (twice) and as such future generations should be allowed to see what we were fighting against. Maybe the RAF did not shoot down a Mig-25, but I see no reason why we should not have an example recovered from Iraq as a ‘war prize’. Displayed with dignity as a reminded to those, of both sides, who were lost.

DOUGHNUT

Andrewman – Which harrier do you think is in the USA ?

the application of a civil reg does not mean that the aircraft is intended for flight, it may just be another form of identity to allow an export liecence
ie
Customs officer “whats in the box ?”
Aircraft owner “civil reg aeroplane” or “military jet fighter”

I would agree that not enough Harrier GR3 survive in private musuem collections. For an important British design it is a great shame that Newark and Coventry do not have an example. Is this due to H&S problems? I was once told on a visit to SoTT Cosford that the three GR3 that were allocated to the school were not being used due the excessive amounts of magensium alloy parts, which were considerd to be a health risk if handled to often.

DOUGHNUT

By 2040 all private flying will have been stopped due to the increase in commercial aviation. Duxford will have two 10,000 concrete runways, dealing with large passenger jets departing from Stansted Airport. The Millennium Dome, that was moved from its London site ten years is open having been renamed the “Doughnut Dome”. It contains fully restored and taxiable examples of most aircraft operated by the RAF, USAF and NATO over the last 130 years.

At the monthly engine running day’s aircraft are drawn from the collection and displayed to the public as follows

9.00am ‘Role Out’ – selected aircraft are removed from the Dome
10.00 – 11.30 Static photos of single aircraft with clear background.
11.30 – 1.00 Static photos of aircraft with period vehicles, ground equipment and personnel.
1.00 – 2.00 Aircraft prepared for ground running.
2.00 – 4.00 Engine start-up and taxiing demo’s.
5.00 Aircraft defuelled and returned to the Dome.

New for the 2040 season are the first exhibits from the recently purchased ‘Monino’ collection, this collection of 150+ Soviet aircraft has been acquired from a guy in East London with a dodgy Russian accent.

All civil aviation exhibits are housed in the “Willow Annex” and are also included in the ground running days. Duxford’s unique location accent to Stansted Airport allows the sight and sound of ‘Doughnut Regional Airways’ fleet of 30 newbuild Concorde’s to be seen departing on their regular flights to Cambridge and other regional destinations. Since the banning of private cars in the 2030’s the M11 is now one of the UK’s busiest cycle paths. It is hoped that by the end of the year the newbuild DH Comet’s will also return to service with ‘Doughnut International Airways’.

DOUGHNUT

dazdaman wrote

“Like I keep telling my manager at work (when referring to movies), you can NEVER have enough explosions! “

If you want fireworks wait until November 5th, the big pyrotechnic shows put on in the US and those that used to be at North Weald are, in my opinion, a distraction that only leads to the appearance of danger. It is not necessary to improve the quality of a flying display.

Regards Aero’s in Warbirds

The Breitlingers do fly too close, Ok I know they are some of the best pilots around but it does not add anymore than seeing four solo’s or maybe a pairs display as sometimes flown be two Spitfires or P-51. With only two aircraft the leader can concentrate on avoiding the ground and the wingman can play ‘follow me leader’, if either aircraft has a problem a simple “break break” over the R/T would end the display.

I sometimes wonder about ‘tail chase’ displays surely as the leader turns to complete his wingover to return to the airfield display line he and his wingmen must loose sight of each other, with more aircraft in the circuit the chances of reducing the safe separation between aircraft, or passing though each others wake turbulence is increased. I remember thinking that at last years Legends show the second from last Spit seemed to always take a slightly different line through the wingover, thus was slowing becoming separated from the rest of the formation, this appeared to be having a detrimental affect on the last Spit as he ‘jinked’ to avoid get too close.

As has been said earlier, when is an Aero not an Aero ? Straight and level, followed by a climb and a wingover or bumbell turn, entering into a max power flat 360″ turn, someone even suggested a barrel role would be OK. As a non pilot what is required is a safe height at which a recovery to level flight and hopefully an emergency landing.

DOUGHNUT

CAS wrote “the IWM security team is also the fire cover at duxford”

Maybe the wording ‘security team’ is misleading, it implies someone who walks around the hangars at night with a guard dog and a touch, or perhaps someone who reads a newspaper while watching a CCTV monitor.

Surely Duxford Airfield firecrews are not permanently stationed at the top of a greasy pole ready to react to an aircraft emergency 24/7/365 as stated by Ashley. If so could the money spent on such an ‘over the top’ service be diverted to the maintenance of the exhibits within the museum.

DOUGHNUT

Very interested to hear that the W4050 will be repainted to a camo / yellow finish.

What is the time scale for this ?(sorry if this has been asked already)

Will she be returned to the same building as today ? It would be nice if she could share the main hangar with the B35.

DOUGHNUT

Here goes with my ten penith,

1) In order to fly the aircraft must meet modern safety requirements, this means that a 1940’s structure must be tested and proven, this may actually cost more than to produce a new component. Thus the ‘new build’ Spitfires and Hurricanes should be accepted as such and not given false provenace by including c/n or makers plates from long lost crash sites.

2) Though neglect or bad planning some aircraft no longer exist in a form that can be appreicated, I will use the Short Stirling as an example. In order that people be reminded what a large four engined WW2 bomber looked like a replica could be produced, This would cost lots of money, far more money then the finished product would actually be worth, even assuming that original designs and plans were avialable. The finished product must also have the same internal features as the original, otherwise you are simply making a 1/1 scale model as would be used in a film.

Neither of the above options can claim to be the ‘real thing’ but nor should they be igorned or critised.

When trying to recreat a lost type a good starting point may be a crash site, once again cost will be the deciding factor as to how far the recovery and reconstruction can go. I belive that the RAFM Haxifax could be rebuilt to display condition using 90% of her original parts. Points have been raised about missing parts, so long as the public are informed as to why half of the wing is missing I see no problem. Some parts, such as undercarriage may have to be made from ‘new’ but that should not detract from the project.

With hindsight many things which were done in the past to ‘preserve’ aviation can be said to have been incorrect. A question was raised some time ago about what made a particluar aircraft significant, my answer to that would take into account its originality.

Disregrading the structural condition of an aircraft how many times are airframes repainted ?, I may be wrong but the RAFM Fw190 and Me262 have been displayed in so many different colours as to make them ‘not original’. I am not critising the RAFM for this as is was seen at the time the best thing to do. The IWM Me109 has already been mentioned as a good example of how original material can be maintained and displayed.

The only true original is something that was removed from service shortly after use and given the care and attention as required, only the Science Museum can offer this oppertunity. I think I am right in saying that aircraft such as the Avro Triplane, DH60, Vimy and S6B have never been restored, so in my opinion are some of the most treasued aviation exhibits.

DOUGHNUT

sorry for ranting on, just feeling bored today.