Some great shots on there, thanks for the pointer Bruce. 🙂

Noticed and much appreciated. 🙂

Thanks for the added info chaps, much appreciated.

Scotavia, do you happen to know what the provenance of the bomb doors is? Did they come from one aircraft?

Carpetbagger, thanks for the link. It could well be that example, although the wreck I remember seeing pictures of was much more like the section at Bovingdon. Can anyone clarify things further?

The relevant ORB for 233 sqn is definately held at Kew- details below:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=6&CATID=3200711

Just a few cases off the top of my head…

The section of Wellington fuselage on display at Brooklands was recovered from a garden where it had been covered in polythene and used as a greenhouse.

57Rescue recovered a number of Halifax bomb-doors from a convent where they were being used to line the flower beds!

Oh and not forgetting the Horsa fuselage that was the basis of on old lady’s bungalow at the bottom of her family’s garden. It was dismantled and the Horsa bits saved just a few years ago (within the last five years?)

Going back a bit further, didn’t a major museum (YAM?) recover a Hamilcar fuselage that had been in use as a garage? This would’ve been 20ish years ago now. What’s become of it since?

I’m going to buck the trend a bit here and say that if I had an unlimited supply of cash I wouldn’t immediately aim to own anything. Instead I’d prefer to support museums, projects, collections etc already on the go as a priority. There are so many good causes that could do with a few quid. Places like the DH Museum, NEAM, Brooklands etc could all do with ‘a few quid’ for new hangars and museum buildings, and all the while there are airframes begging to be saved and added to these already bulging collections.

As for the airworthy stuff, it would be great to purchase things on behalf of the major historic flights and collections. Wouldn’t it be great to finally bring a Balliol to Old Warden, or a Firefly and Seafire to the RNHF?

I’d be very happy just to make a lasting contribution to aviation heritage, nevermind just having something in the here and now.

Ofcourse, if I could find a bit of time and money aside from the above it would be nice to have a P38, or maybe a Gloster Mars…the agony of choice!

Just to add my two-pennorth, I feel there are enough sub-forums already and would not personally like to see yet another. My interests cover both civil and military (and there are quite a few aircraft that have “crossed the boundary”, e.g. Constellation) so I am against that idea.
It is true that many of the Forum members who were here a couple of years ago have decamped elsewhere, but I hope that newer members will eventually show their mettle. One thing that I am very glad to see disappear is the venom (and I don’t mean de Havilland’s) that used to occasionally pop up.

All of the above well and truly seconded.

Going back to the initial question, you have to bear in mind that alot of the threads on this forum relate to museums, projects and the like. I think it’s fair to say that most of what is kept in museums and private collections etc pertains to the military side of historic aviation, and that if this forum does lean towards the military side then it is perhaps more a reflection of that than of the views of forum members. Just a theory.