Philip,

when working on the Save Point Cook campaign I was put in touch by Duxford IWM staff with a David? Peter? Don? Francis who had researched/written books on RAF Airfield building heritage?? he may well know of any UK groups with hands on experience, our own National Trust here in Australia has become very active in Airfield heritage in the last 5 years but actually been registering and protecting sites such as Point Cook since @1980, but not hands on in terms of preservation/restoration and maintenance management of asbestos etc, but those issues are being assessed directly by Dept of Defence and other direct owners, and I am aware the UK Dept of Defence have listed buildings for preservation within active RAF stations so I assume the RAF/AM? must have its own internal expertise to develop conservation and management plans for those buildings.

The biggest problem appears in wooden frame structures aging or failing due to water damage/rot, or added problems of weight as asbestos cladding becomes porous and absorbs tons of water into the cladding when it rains (cause of a WW2 Hangar failure at Werribee associated with the Australian B24 project).

Obviously asbestos is a problem in its own right in terms of flaking sheets causing passer by and tenant health and safety problems and incurring very high costs to remove/replace resulting in Dept Defence attitudes of demolishing being the best way to “bury” such maintenance problems.

(I once found the UK AM list of RAF buildings to be preserved on line but I didnt save the link in favourites)

regards

Mark Pilkington

regards

Mark Pilkington

Hello Mark

The chap you mentioned is Paul Francis and the list of UK AM list of buildings to be preserved probably came from my website (http://www.driffieldaerodrome.co.uk).

Amasing to think that your more progressive in aerodrome preservation than we are in the UK. We normally pull everything down and name any nearby road after famous a aircraft – Spitfire Way, etc.

Phil

I doubt it. Both are hugely successful PR tools for the Royal Air Force, and therefore have more intrinsic value in that area than, say, a large backroom logistics organisation which is largely invisible to the public.

Add to that the fact that the BBMF quite rightly act as a memorial to those who gave their lives for our freedom, and the Red Arrows are also a hugely valuable falg-waving tool for UK PLC, I would imagine there would be national outcrys if either were to be binned.

True, but remember we live in a country run by vogons (civil servants), who “are one of the most unpleasant races in the Galaxy – not actually evil, but bad tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous. They wouldn’t even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters.”

My point being expect the unexpected and remember, we may have less solders, sailor and airmen, but we haven’t lost as many paper-pushers – who’d do anything to keep their jobs – the term: “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” not being in their vocabulary. I just don’t want to see what we believe in being lost on the back of some glossy PR spin.

Phillip – what are you on, and where can I get some? 😀

Pepsi Max – usually four or five cans a day. My question was prompted by curiosity. Both The Red Arrows and the BBMF are paid for by Government and as everyone knows, they’re always looking at ways to cut costs. I just thought it would be interesting to see which was the most popular.