Quote:
Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II
I'm sorry, but that is a very narrow minded idea of preservation, and a dangerous one.
A plane is preserved in a museum not only to be "stared at", but also as research material and tangible evidence of specific technologies. A plane in pristine original conditions is an infinite resource of information, and, being the real thing, is accurate. Putting such information to risk by flying it regularly, changing components and risking to crash it anyway, is an irresponsible attitude.
You want to fly a P-51 mustang or a Spitire? Fine, there's hundreds of them, both flying and in museums. You want to recover a long lost Pacific wreck and take it back to the sky? Great effort, carry on! You'll recover a wreck with history and take it back to its best standards.
But altering a unique, genuine ww2 airframe in such remarkable conditions for the sake of flying it, I'm sorry, but it is madness.
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Now that is what I am talking about "fetishizing". An aircraft, even one as old as this one, is not some magic artifact from the past like for example the antique computer found in a greek ship wreck in the mediterrianian. The blueprints are all available, there are still a few engines left over and some airframes still exist. There is nothing in there not put to paper and preserved for future generations in it's original timeframe and long after. It's simple mechanics, no "historical" secrets attached. In fact, given the money available, it would be no problem rebuilding this and other aircraft. Also, replacing parts simply is routine for "every" active aircraft out there. That simply is part of an aircrafts service life, old or new. Added to that, there is nothing stopping you from taking these old parts and storing them for future reference or putting them into the aircraft again should it ever lose airworthyness again for wahtever reason.
It comes down to this, there is a huge, huge difference in perception and impression between a plane sitting around and one flying around. I dare say future generations will get a better appreciation for these machines seeing them in action instead in a corner of a room. It's the difference between being alive and dead. How much attention does an airframe get sitting around in a museum compared to one in the air, recored and spread on youtube around the world? What is the diffeence you think in interest generated and thus ultimately, funding and preservation potential?
Now if you prepfer to just let it sit and rot around like what is done with the Do335 or the Ho229 in the US, feel free to do so, but we will have to agree to disagree here. What defines madness here obviously is a matter of perspective.