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Re: Who owns them anyway??

Posted by Richard Woods on Sat Jul 06, 2002 10:25:43 AM

In reply top Who owns them anyway?? posted by andy saunders on Sat Jul 06, 2002 03:49:24 AM

Hi all,

I guess with this debate and all, I ought to tell what I've done with NF920 in Sweden.

When reading through the Guidance Notes sent to me by the Ministry of Defence/RAF it said all wrecks are crown property, as Andy pointed out, so I wrote to them for permission.

Then I thought about the fact it is in Sweden, and that the very same Guidance Notes claim ownership of any crashed foriegn military wrecks in the UK. So surely the Swedish authorities would claim things the same way? After all Sweden was neutral so they could claim the aircraft was interned/impounded, in much the same way as the several B-17s and B-24s that ended up there. So I wrote to them too.

Then I thought about the landowner. The fact it was in a heavily forested area. All these people got letters, and thankfully for me they all consented. All of them claim ownership, and if one of them had said "No." then Elsie would stay where she is. Sure, the people living in the nearby town will be a little miffed, but I can't ask all of them, and if they feel so strong about her they should have preserved her years ago.

By getting permission from all the diiferent people who claim her as their own, I can happily get on with what I'm doing, knowing that when she is safe in the UK, no-one is going to come up and say "Hey, that's mine, you took it and you didn't ask me." and then start legal proceedings against me.

There is at least one Lancaster in the UK in good condition, and a Manchester if you know where to look, I could have gone for either of those, and just dealt with the MOD. But I took a chance that everyone would give me a green light, 'cause I think that Elsie is worth the hassle.

Besides, causing lots of hassle for people is a student's job!!!

Cheers
Richard

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