WIX Archives

Re: Was: Beware parts consolidation

Posted by Paul Stewart on Tue Nov 20, 2001 09:56:00 AM

In reply top Was: Beware parts consolidation posted by Paul on Tue Nov 20, 2001 06:13:32 AM

The centre section/data plate thing is an artificial "value" created by the collectors and restorers market, rather than making any historical sense. In historical terms the propeller, gear, whatever from an old aeroplane is just as "relevant" an artifact as the centre fuselage section.

It's not just a historical nonsense - we already have a precedent in UK law with the two classic car owners who battled in the courts about who actually owned a certain car - one had built from the chassis (the vintage auto equivalent of the data plate) the other had built from substantial parts. Both claimed ownership of the original vehicle. The court ruled that neither restoration was more original than the other, in effect both cars had the same status in law.

The data plate idea is essentially a marketing gimmick, constructed to add a sense of uniqueness to a restoration, an attempt to claim an authenticity for the whole airfeame.

Essentially any given airplane is what it is, and I believe what we need to encourage is fair representation of the facts.



: Just noted a very interesting piece many postings ago rega
: rding provenance and identities and John Parkers' comments
: (which I think were well made) about identities.
:
: Sorry if I sound like a stuck record, but imho (and many
: others for that matter) the identity of an aircraft should
: always be the centre fuselage section - the bit that carr
: ies the data plate. Anything else hung off this centre sec
: tion is really almost irrelevant. This is certainl how Mus
: tangs are categorised in my experience and researching.
:
: Interested to know other's opinions on this
:
: regards
:
: Paul Coggan

Follow Ups: