Barksdale Air museum example is under threat!!!
Just seen this local paper report posted on another forum, not looking hopefull
Quote:
British bomber may soon be relic of the past
Historic Vulcan not on list to keep at base
By John Andrew Prime •
[email protected] • January 24, 2009 2:00 am
A bat-winged British Vulcan bomber, a rare display at the 8th Air Force
Museum at Barksdale Air Force Base, could be destroyed if efforts to improve
the museum fall short.
The bomber, a gift from Her Majesty's Government to the Air Force in 1983,
is not among those slated to be kept if the local museum, now in its 30th
year, fails to pass a pending review. The museum failed an initial
accreditation by the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, its parent body,
in 2007 and will face a repeat inspection, possibly later this year.
"We're not going to lose them," said Lt. Col. Bob Fournier, 2nd Bomb Wing
Director of Staff, who has attended 8th Air Force Museum Association
meetings, closely overseeing work to improve the facility. He noted
improvement to the building and airplanes at its air park. "They just get
better and better."
Col. Robert Wheeler, 2nd Bomb Wing commander, stressed the important lessons
the museum can convey.
"This part of history that 8th Air Force (Museum) provides is a huge piece
of what we teach our young folks, and our folks that are even older, to not
make the same mistakes of the past," he said. And, he added, it is "an
opportunity for those young kids ... to see through (veterans') eyes, to get
that twinkle going, for their dreams for the future,"
The British Mark II Vulcan bomber was one of a trio of "V Class" bombers
that ruled the skies over the United Kingdom for close to 30 years. With its
sibling airplanes the Valiant and the Victor, and with its U.S. cousins, the
B-47, B-52 and B-58 bombers, the Vulcan helped form a protective nuclear
shield throughout the Cold War.
In May 1982, several of the aircraft flew an epic 13,000-mile mission to
bomb the Port Stanley runway on the Falkland Islands, which had been
occupied by Argentina earlier that year. It was the longest aerial combat
mission in history until January 1991, when seven B-52s from Barksdale
opened Operation Desert Storm with a nonstop mission to and from the Middle
East, a mission now known as Operation SECRET SQUIRREL.
The plane at Barksdale was delivered by then Vice Air Marshal Michael Knight
and a select crew on June 9, 1982, just a few months after the Falklands
mission. Knight later became the British equivalent of the chief of staff of
the U.S. Air Force.
The gift to Barksdale marked the close association between the U.S. 8th Air
Force and the Royal Air Force, which dates back to World War II and
continues to this day with a British liaison officer resident at the local
base, which is home to 8th Air Force headquarters.
Fans of the James Bond movies may remember the Vulcan as the British bomber
that was hijacked in "Thunderball."
"I think it's a travesty and I think (the British) would consider it a
travesty," said local historian and military author Gary Joiner, an
Anglophile who received doctorates from Her Royal Highness Princess
Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, at St. Martin's College, Lancaster
University.
The Vulcan at the museum took part in several "Bomb Comp" events at
Barksdale and also flew in air shows.
"I was at the base when it flew in and did its aerial demonstration and made
every eye pop," Joiner said. Its wanton destruction "would be an affront to
the crown and the people of Great Britain."
That was echoed by a Briton, John D. Richards, 61.
"I personally think it is sad that the United Kingdom, having given the USA
a present of the Vulcan, that they ... are now planning to destroy it," he
wrote. "I personally feel this to be a slur on our country. The fact that,
of all the Vulcan B2s built, this one is the only one I never saw flying has
nothing to do with it. "
However, its destruction is not a given. The 2nd Bomb Wing must request the
review after it has had a chance to revamp the museum, and it is working
hard to do so. The museum's physical plant has been cleaned, a workshop has
been added, a fenced yard is now available for refurbishment of airplanes
and volunteers have been cleaning and restoring the Vulcan, B-52s and other
aircraft.
"Here at the Air Combat Command History Office, we still have hopes that the
Barksdale museum will be able to pull it together and give their static
display aircraft proper care," said David Bragg, staff curator with ACC
headquarters at Langley Air Force Base, Va. "I am not aware of any immediate
plans to take any of their aircraft away, although I can see it happening
unless the aircraft get proper care real soon. The National Museum will not
let the aircraft rot away when there is a better solution."
As for the fate of the Vulcan, he said, "the British Government probably
would not be consulted. When they gave the aircraft to the Barksdale museum,
in actuality they were giving an unconditional gift to the U.S. Air Force.
But again, if the aircraft is being properly cared for there will be no
justification for moving it."
Spokesmen for the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, also say the loss is not a given, although
the Vulcan is on their 2007 report as one of about half the display aircraft
at Barksdale to be deactivated.
That "was one recommendation but the final decisions will be made by the ACC
historian," wrote National Museum spokesman Rob Bardua.