WIX Archives

Beware of parts consolidation

Posted by john parker on Mon Nov 12, 2001 08:00:12 PM

I really enjoy this site as with the old WWW site and I read it regularly (dialy)

This post is to spark discussion no more so think of it in that way and attach no more to it than a debate. I do not try to attach my views to anybody else.

That said

There is to me a disturbung trend at present for restorers of STATIC aircraft , particularly the better resourced ones to collect a number of "wrecks" of a particular type and "use" these to reconstruct one machine from the many.

I have no problem where the machine is constructed from a diversity of parts but the issue stems from airframe swapping where parts are swapped from one airframe to another as they are the best of those available. This process can result in a number of dubious outcomes

1) The provinance of the original aircraft is destroyed it is no longer XY 123 but a montage of many and historically destroyed as a result

2) In the process of dismantling several airframes they ALL lose their identity

3) The "leftover parts never seem to carry over to be used to restore another example - they get broken up into components and traded on either as souveniers or once near complete airframes are broken up to act as christmas trees for other hybrids.

Does all of this matter ?

I think it does - from the historical perspective it would be nice to look at an aircraft and think that as much as possible of the original aircraft is there...........

What does everyone else think................Just my thoughts

John Parker

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