setterRlangham
I guess that is one of my points, some of those aircraft are easy to miss and the view is very poor – in a better museum you would have access from a number of angles as with the building in Seattle which also has much better light distribution.
Regards
john p
setterMoggy
Very amusing – and certainly value adds to the discussion
Regards
John P
setterOz plane
The winning or not of awards is not of the slightest interest or relavence – awards are made by people for lots of reasons
I am not the only person who does not like the building – there is a lot of feeling about it. In any case It is there now and I am pretty sick of it and prattling on about it. It is dark in there and the view of the aircraft is restricted – If you want to see the difference have a look at the way it was done in the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
I am more interested about what happens there next and what plans are in place to enhance what is my number one destination in the world. You all seem to forget that I regularly put 3 or 4 thousand dollars and a 29 hour trip each way on the line to come and see Dux so I think I am one of it’s bigger fans.
Regards
John P
setterJames
We will just have to disagree
The Yank thing IS ugly, The light poor and the aircraft difficult to view properly, to say nothing of the crowding.
“Stockbroker Tudor” is a little emotive and judgemental – I would no more want that than you would – just better buildings is what i am saying and did say.
Hendon
Did not the White hanger get the movement treatment for comercial reasons ?
Never say never
Regards
John
setterMoggy
True but it hasn’t stopped others in the past from NOT wanting it to be.
Regards
John
setterHi Moggy
I respect your statements – I just don’t agree
I am talking about some better designed buildings not worse – and as for brave insert courageous as in the yes Minister context – Brave is for the central part of a city – a talking point – architecture that detracts from the central purpose of a museum by drawing attention to itself (self serving ) is in my view counter intuitave and thus poor in the context of the environment in which it is placed. If that was the purpose then why not put the London Eye there when it’s days are done soon. No the place and the exhibits are the stars of Duxford not ego driven architecture competing of itself for attention.
The RAFM will move at some time – it is prime real estate – developers being what they are will get it one way or another one day and it would be well if it went to Dux – I fully understand the “metro centric ” nature of London but the power of the pound is also a fierce force and I imagine there are property developers doing their sums right now.
My view only
Regards
john P
setterThere were some serious legal issues here with Intellectual property, Liability, technical support and I don’t think it was going to be worth the effort for aviation use – I am led to believe components are /were produced but not whole engines /
regards
john p
setterWell
I thought long and hard before I responded here – it is a topic I feel passionate about but a lot has been said and done on this and the WIX forum about Duxford and the way it looks and feels.
I agree with most of what you say James but not all of it as with the other posters..
I cannot agree that the AAM is attractive or even good functionally, the building is ugly, the aircraft are not displayed well and worst of all oil and other substances are falling on the lower aircraft. The building is not in keeping with the theme of the historic nature of the airfield nor is the Superhanger.
I can however live with what has been done and in each and every case I am sure that the motivation for the new addition was well intended realistically there is no going back nor would I want to.
What I think is a major flaw is that there does not seem to be a coherent vision or plan for what Dux is or should be into the future. Despite what has been said buildings need not be the original type to blend into the environment, they don’t have to be T2s or Bellmans or any other type or replica but a spec can be written for architects, the National trust or whatever you call it over ther can be involved and a way forward to construct an environment which is sympathetic to the history not just of the site but to the history of aviation.
Big modern buildings will be required to do the job of housing the displays of the future and protect the aircraft currently exposed and under threat but they can be good buildings – created to enhance the experience and ambience of Dux not destroy it. Sure they will need to be bigger than the historic hangers but why couldn’t this resemble what is already there and not jar with the architectural fashion of the time.
For a last gasp perhaps I could refloat a little controversy – Why not relocate Hendon to Dux – it could probably be funded from the land sale and would put the context of the collection back in a live flying environment – with the move could come a restyle of the relocated original Hendon hangers .
Anyway thanks James for a good thread but not everyone will agree on all of this – I would just like to see a better approach from the sites custodians as to a vision and strategy for the site as a whole such as a 50 year plan with appropriate guidelines and methodologies as one would expect in such a large venture. At present it appears that each project is taken as a separate entity and that is why it is developing in the current haphazard way.
Kindest regards
John P
setterBugger
Sussed out hey!!
Well OD is away at present – a cover has him flying around looking at his new A26 but I suppose we better come clean.
Oscar and I thought we needed some more modern high performance aircraft so he is as we speak in various parts of the world buying up a squadron of discarded Supersonic Transports – AKA Concordes – we have devised a devilish plot to convert the Concordes to high speed bombers. In order to do this we have aquired the services of Jock “Chainsaw” McNab from near East Fortune – apparently he is a dab hand with a Friction cutter and has had a lot of practice on a Concored there in recent times as well as a group of elderly ladies from the East Fortune crochet and Spot welding club who will be given the task of tidying up Jocks work.
Jock will be using his skills to whack a “hole” under the Concordes for the ordinance to go in – we don’t actually have any ordinance yet but we will be taking up a collection at the raffle night at the Gold Coast RSL on friday night if anybody would like to come along . You could win a meat tray and fund a bomb or sidewinder for a good cause – John Howard has agreed that our not for profit organisation will be subject to a tax free holiday so all of your dosh goes to the project rather than funding the further destruction of the RAAF through Tax.
OD will be tasked with the job of flying the machines home – he went strangely pale when he saw the East Fortune and Brooklands machines – something about “Patchwork quilts” or “bloody meccano sets”. True trooper that he is he will come through in the end and bring the birds home. Home yes well there is a bit of an issue there. Strangely there is after much discussion to be a new Formula 1 track constructed at Archerfield – We had a long chat with that Mr Mosely and that nice Mr Eccesltone and there will be the new Aus F1 track in place before the end of the year. It will mean demolishing a couple of suburbs but hey thats life. Funnily enough the new track will feature a 12,000 ft main straight with a hardened underground pit area big enough to house Michael Schumachers ego!! (love dealing with those F1 guys we said we were going to start up the F111 if they didn’t help and they thought it was a rival series)
More of this plan at a later time I need to take my medication now
Regards
John p
setterWoops Mike
Quite right too
Bit like forgetting a long lost aunt!!
Sorry I forgot it because I never see it – did see the french one but i don’t connect that with the UK
Yes be over soon for a jaunt round and will catch up then
Regards
John P
setterHi
Pity the Blenhiem couldn’t be there for it – especially if it is done in fighter form
Regards
John P
setterHi Dave
Well as you know there has never been a better time to buy one as there are lots for sale at very reasonable prices. Oscar Duck will tell you they are expensive to operate but reliable and roomy and in NZ where the distances are less than here the costs of getting from one place to another are not as great so it becomes quite viable for you Kiwis to get one I would have thought. With 3 and potentially 5 in Queensland there has been quite a population explosion here.
It is curious to me that after Oscars machine left the UK all those years ago another hasn’t come on the UK scene as they are great airshow performers and the wings folding/unfolding ceats interest.
Regards
John P
setterBattler was great
He once joined the RAAF over PNG and shot down a S444444d of Zeros and Oscars in a Boomerang – something the RAAF never managed
Regards
John P
setterHi
I am in awe of you and all veterans – might I suggest however in these times of PC parinoia that discussions of this sort of activity as related to a specific flight may have consequences for the crew that you certainly did not intend. I am not trying to be a spoiler here it’s just I have seen this go wrong unintentionally on occasion
Kindest regards
John P
setterGuys
PNG is by no means dead – lots of stuff is coming out of there all the time – it’s just how it’s done and who gets it and do you hear about it – The good thing is that now a lot of the recovered stuff is being collected rather than scrapped.
Here is a recent P40 as an example and some pics of the P38s all of this is recent and will form the basis of real projects – not stored away in some barn for 20 years hence.
Regards
John P
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