WIX Archives
Re: Is this what you read, Rob?
Posted by Steve T on Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:22:10 PM
In reply top Is this what you read, Rob? posted by Dan K on Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:46:01 AM
Dan, Rob, et al--
What this statement advocates, apparently, is the "pickling" of combat aircraft immediately they taxi back to the ramp after ops. Of course the opportunity to do that in a war situation is nil; it most certainly did exist, in spades, circa fall 1945 all over the planet...but was not generally acted upon, sadly enough.
I think what the writer of the TIGHAR piece would rather see is only "newbuild" Warbirds flown. Which ain't happening any time soon (well unless the politicians cause it...)! It does bother me that, in the course of some fine restoration work, original (for instance) skinning is discarded as scrap. That, in my opinion, oughtn't happen; but restoration usually should!
S.
: From the TIGHAR website...
:
: "A flying P-51 Mustang is wonderful and inspiring to behol
: d --- but it is not preserved. It has been returned to ser
: vice in order to demonstrate its power and grace rather th
: an being set aside as a historic property to document exac
: tly how a WWII Mustang was constructed and equipped. We ne
: ed both the flying Mustang and the real wartime Mustang. T
: oday there are literally hundreds of flying Mustangs but t
: here survives not one --- not one --- preserved original e
: xample of a frontline P-51. Even the Smithsonian's Mustang
: (shown above) is a stateside trainer modified and repaint
: ed to represent a combat veteran. The problem runs through
: out the historic aviation community and is rooted in wides
: pread confusion about the meaning of basic terminology. Wh
: olesale rebuilding (often erroneously termed "restoration"
: ) is not preservation. It is, in fact, the antithesis of p
: reservation. "Original" does not mean "just like original.
: " It means the actual material which was present at a part
: icular moment in history."
:
: Now I've never personally been a big fan of TIGHAR, but th
: is quote seems to suggest something a little different (th
: an what Rob paraphrased): that no combat veteran P-51 is c
: urrently displayed in its 100% original form.
:
: So now, WIXers; is THIS statement accurate?