Duxford: Sale Now On!

[Hasel Checks]

Take your pick:

Duxford exhibits for sale (http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com/news/latest-news/418-duxford-exhibits-for-sale)

Which would you like to own if you could afford to, and why?

My choice would be the "Fiesler Storch" (Morane Saulnier MS.502 Criquet) so I could make trips from my back garden.

Is it wise for IWM to sell off these exhibits?

Or selling off the jewels?

[Sir George Cayley]

There's a £32m Lotto prize tonight so I'll buy the lot if I win.

That said the Ju52 is my choice.

SGC

[old-timer]

Unbelievable !! the volunteers who helped restore these a/c will be up in arms no doubt.

[Hasel Checks]

Agreed, but the situation may be recoverable.

I suggest a collective fund make a tender, and be sure to include film director, Peter Jackson.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to fly them to Blenheim, NZ, where they will be tenderly cared for and flown as Stars!

[Hasel Checks]

That said the Ju52 is my choice.

Handy choice, Sir George, if you plan on invading Poland or bombing Spain.

Certainly has cart-loads of charisma.

[SpringHeeledJack]

There is still at least one passenger version flying in Germany and looked after lovingly by Lufthansa Technik. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but weren't most of the JU-52's passenger planes ?



SHJ

[10W]

As an IWM spokesman said regarding another exhibit (related to the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing):

the museum’s remit is “to cover conflicts involving Britain, the Commonwealth and former Empire from 1914 to the present day, this includes acts of terrorism.”


It's mighty lucky that they are holding on to examples of the HS Trident, HP Herald, the Virgin Atlantic Flyer balloon gondola and other civil exhibits which have obviously played an obviously unpublicised and stealthy role in conflicts that Britain has been involved in. :ugh:

[Agaricus bisporus]

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but weren't most of the JU-52's passenger planes ?

True, but heavily loaded pax who disembarked half-way...

[Hasel Checks]

Yes, the Ju52 was a key component in several of Hitler's humanitarian interventions in Europe.

But they got a bit bogged down in Holland.

When Germany pawned the leftovers, several were snapped up to ferry "essentials" in and out of Andean Hilltribe villages, which became a surprisingly stable and lucrative trade right into the 70s.

[Hasel Checks]

Anyone fancy a De Havilland Sea Venom, and surely the Sea Vampire will tempt you?

[Groundloop]

It's mighty lucky that they are holding on to examples of the HS Trident, HP Herald,

They belong to the Duxford Aviation Society, not the IWM.

[terrain safe]

After talking to people at Duxford, they need the space and the money. If you knew what had to be turned away because of nowhere to put it, you would be shocked. I know I was. And most of them were free as well!

[Hasel Checks]

If you knew what had to be turned away because of nowhere to put it, you would be shocked. I know I was. And most of them were free as well!

I'm not asking you to betray a confidence, but at least give us a clue Old Horse.

Definitely pre 1945?

If not; airliner, turbo-prop, jet?

It need not be too alarming, they have plenty of space in NZ, and extremely competent support staff. (Which is not always the case in Blighty.)

[10W]

They belong to the Duxford Aviation Society, not the IWM.

Fair enough, but still failing to see the relevance of the civil Virgin Atlantic gondola and the Pilcher Hawk glider to the IWM's stated aims. According to their own list, they own those.

IWM Duxford Aircraft List (http://www.iwm.org.uk/sites/default/files/public-document/IWMDuxford_Aircraft_Vehicles_List.pdf)

[Nopax,thanx]

The trouble with the Ju52 is that it ain't one....it is an Amiot AAC.1, built post-war in France. The museum's policy back then was different to what it is now, and not being a genuine wartime artefact, it is unable to fit in with what is the new way of doing things. Since the aircraft has been here, the landing gear has been swapped with the set from the aircraft in South Africa, because the AAC.1 had DC-3 wheels and brakes to make it easier to build and operate; so it's not even an original Amiot anymore...

Same with the 'Storch', it's a Morane MS502, so it has to go - hopefully to someone who will be able to either display it as is without worrying about the provenance, or maybe even to be resurrected as a flyer. The 'Heinkel 111' is going to present the same issues. This has the potential to be a great opportunity for collectors or independent museums to add something interesting to their collections, and at the end of the day, joe public will look and say "there's a historic aeroplane, let's learn something about it" which surely is what museums are about, isn't it......?

[acmech1954]

When I was on my Mechs course at St Athan, mid to late 72, I remember seeing a Heinkel 111 stored in one of the old hangars, I think it, and some others, were rolled out for their B of B days, and such like. Is this the same one now at Duxford, if it isn't does anyone know what happened to it ?

[VictorGolf]

The "He 111" at Duxford is one of the ex-Spanish aircraft and was originally delivered by USAF helicopter (!) to Ray Hanna's company, the Old Flying Machine Company. I believe the intention was to restore it to flying condition but that fell through and the IWM took it over.

[Mike51]

It was actually a Luftwaffe CH-53 which delivered the Casa/Heinkel.

I must admit I fail to see why they are keeping it and disposing of the already-restored Amiot/Ju-52 and Criquet/Storch.

I'm sure future generations will look back on Caravan Club Man's tenure at Duxford with dismay. :(

[Hasel Checks]

Perhaps it has something to do with Spring cleaning to make room for restoring a fleet of Spifires?

Considering David Cameron's involvement with the Burmese Treasure, perhaps epistles to your MP and Number 10 will rattle a cage or two?

PS. For those of us not so close to the hallowed ground, could you please elaborate on the Caravan Club's part in this Summer Sale?

[Mechta]

Try doing an internet search for Duxford and Caravan Club. It reveals the current IWM Director was formerly the CC's commercial director.

[Treble one]

Richard Ashton, the Director at IWM Duxford, use to be involved with the CC.

Regarding aircraft that IWM Duxford were offered in the past, they were certainly offered an F-14 and turned it down in the past. More recently, they were offered a Nimrod R1, but had nowhere to put it.

[Nopax,thanx]

The CASA that is here now, acmech1954, was delivered to Duxford in the 1990's so the one that you saw would have been a leftover from the B of B film in 1968. It's admittedly in a poor condition, having been stored outside in Spain for a long time, and I believe the IWM have surveyed it and declared it to be unsuitable for restoration at the present time due to extensive corrosion.

So, it will no doubt be disposed of as well, again hopefully to a museum who can 'tart it up' (and I do mean that in a serious and sympathetic way) either by making some dummy Daimler-Benz shaped engine cowls from fibreglass and painting it as a Heinkel, or doing it as a CASA with the Merlins. Either way it would be better than what it's undergoing now.

[Proplinerman]

Is this "Heinkel 111" at the superb Heremeskeil museum in Germany a real one, or a Spanish licence built one, does anyone know?

ScanImage32 581 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48975048@N06/5188338588/)

[Nopax,thanx]

That's a CASA, the intakes are the giveaway...so it's good enough for them to portray it as a Heinkel then ;)

[Hasel Checks]

Regarding aircraft that IWM Duxford were offered in the past, they were certainly offered an F-14 and turned it down in the past. More recently, they were offered a Nimrod R1, but had nowhere to put it.

I wouldn't quarrel with those decisions, but I suspect the previous poster was hinting at juicier fare being spurned. I'm sure we're all very curious to know.

Fast jets and jet airliners are problematic to maintain in an airworthy state, and they don't really have the charisma of propeller-engined aircraft.

I wonder if the IWM is missing a niche where it could market its goodies for use in more films. Even half-baked aircraft like the CASA Heinkels would be useful for static shots and ground runs in films.
CGI is all very well, but even they need a real database to work from.

It could be a lucrative source of funds for them to build another hangar.

[Nopax,thanx]

To be fair, the IWM have filmed ads and stuff at Duxford; the BA advert was done there, and more recently a promo film for Fujitsu (I think) was done, using some RAF ground equipment; but having said that, they are awful at publicity. When they get a new exhibit it's usually the jungle drums on the day that let us know what's going on, and the items are squirreled away without fanfare. Sometimes they have a press day, but it's usually well after the event.

Sadly these days it's the corporate events that are filling the coffers (not that they are filling up very fast), and the original aims of what the museum was about are at risk of being lost. If it is to educate the public, it can do it using whatever historical items it can lay its hands on. Plenty of museums have replicas and lookalikes on display, the message can still be put across. If they continue with current policy then more artefacts look set to depart, and how then do you convince punters to stump up what is quite a steep admission price to look at a reduced collection of exhibits?