What should we preserve.
 

The RAF Sentinel aircraft will soon be decommissioned and quietly disposed off and possibly soon the 32 squadron 146s. Should we not preserve at least one of each in a museum. I haven't mentioned the Sentry's just for pure size.

That idea was first postulated over 50 years ago ie preservation of at least one example of each type used by the RAF.
Initially there was a vast collection at Colerne then these were dispersed, 3 or 4 at a time, to various RAF stations where there was room to store them eg at Topciffe in 1971, there were 2 x Avro 707s plus the sole Short SB5.
Unfortunately some types were sold off when the Colerne collection was dispersed and some scrapped instead.

A royal 146 should be preserved I have to agree.

Trouble is, should we preserve one of each type of vessel operated by the Navy? Sadly impossible and I suspect keeping a Sentry AND eventually an RC-135 will never happen - Cosford already scrapped the ex BA 707 and VC-10, though I think they do have a RAF VC-10 now? On the plus side, fewer aircraft types in the inventory means less types needing preservation...

One thing that is for certain, there will people on JetBlast saying "why didn't we preserve at least one x, y, or z :oh:

Who is going to pay for it? A tax on air-tickets? the general taxpayer ?? the defence budget??

I think it would be more relevant to say "what can we preserve?"

And therein lies the problem

The heritage sector, and certainly any forms that are transport related, is heavily reliant on the general public for revenue along with donations from enthusiasts with regard to their personal interests. The Gov't do offer subsidies of sorts, but, these have to be widely distributed so useful though they are, they aren't going to fill in any funding gaps .

There is also a real difference between preserving an aircraft in flying condition and having it static. While we all love to see them fly I sometimes think it would be better to use the money to preserve a wider range of aircraft

Static if fine by me as long as they still exist.

Space and money. Find the land to build a half-dozen full-size, air-conditioned hangars on the RAFM site at Cosford, and a lot could be preserved.

That would never happen. Some over-educated wallies would pipe up demanding something modern and forward looking or other ridiculous idea and we'd end up with another melted B&Q.
If you look at what Cosford planned, which was excellent, and then see what they got, there's no comparison.

The IWM collection at Wroughton is kept in air conditioned hangars.

I wonder when we can visit? No time soon I fear.

Do you mean "well ventilated"? :p

After the last year, how about a sense of humour??:}

RAFM Cosford is hoping to open on 17th May. Yes, there are air-conditioned hangars; just not enough of them. As I said, space and money.