RE: Duxford American Air Museum Moves

A couple of points:

1) Surely it is better to have an A-10 on display albeit suspended from the ceiling than not to have one on display at all…

2) Generally it is preferred that people do not touch the aircraft on display…they are there to be admired, to inspire and educate…and to be respected…

3) Isn’t one of the purposes of a museum to preserve and maintain objects of historical interest? Is this not what Duxford and Hendon try their best to do? Maybe things are a bit cramped “and out of reach” sometimes…but at least they are there…they have been saved for future generations…a unique testimony to the men and women who designed them,flew them, serviced them, and preserved them…

4) While I wouldn’t claim to the the AAM’s biggest fan, I do think it makes an impressive memorial to thousands of Americans who served with the USAAF and the RAF during WWII…

Ashley, your Duxford correspondent 🙂

RE: Doesn’t Upset Me

David…in response to your remark…”I also feel that the people who have taken part in numerous operations since and died for their country are just as worthy of interest”…I never said they were not as worthy of interest…I was merely trying to explain WHY I think that the veterans and victims of post-war conflicts are not given the same recognition…

RE: Doesn’t Upset Me

Like you said David…it’s very much a matter of scale…I certainly do not remember saying that no young lives were lost in the Falklands War or that freedom and civil liberties were not at stake…but it was a war on an entirely different scale…in 1940 the freedom of the world was at stake…it was freedom on a much smaller scale…you said it yourself that both sides were fighting for what they perceived as the liberation of the Falkland Islands from the “other side”…in 1940 the battle was waged against a tyrant hell bent on domination and destruction on a mass scale…

Yes you are right that it is a sad fact of life that post-war conflicts such as Korea are not given the same recognition as the events of the Second World War and this is extremely regrettable…but maybe this is because the Second World War affected more lives then any other conflict in the 20th century?

And as for those few months in 1940? Well I truly believe that had it not been for the fighter pilots and even more so, Britain’s fledgling radar system…the war may, just may have taken a different direction…

RE: Doesn’t Upset Me

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 20-02-02 AT 05:12 PM (GMT)]And one more thing…going back to Sadsack’s post: “Yeah, but think of 1945 and the number of airframes that were not thought of as special”

Well in 1945, I would have thought that the priority of most people lay with rebuilding their lives after 6 long years of war in which so many lost their lives and others lost loved ones, their homes, their possessions…

RE: Doesn’t Upset Me

Hmmmm…I can see Moggy’s point…yes it is sad when an aircraft is scrapped, but it is worth remembering that there are other examples of the type on display in museums…

While the Puccara was a significant player in the Falklands War, I certainly do not see it as the “modern equivalent” of the Me109 or other Luftwaffe aircraft…to me, the symbolism is different…the Me109 to me represents a war where young men, aged 18, 19, from two different nations faced each other the skies over the south of England, fighting for two very different ideals…with freedom and democracy at stake…the Puccara served in a different war entirely…

At least there are still some examples of the Puccara on display…I can think of a few aircraft we no longer have the luxury of seeing…the Stirling being the first to mind…I’m sure the rest of you can come up with a few more…

Please do not take the above views as an attack on your views and interest in the aircraft Tony…much respect to you in your efforts to salvage part of the aircraft…I can’t help being a girl stuck in the summer of 1940…it must have something to do with working at Duxford 🙂

RE: Fun time -Caption competition

Hey Steve…I thought I’d better point out to you that I am most definitely female 😉