Protect historic aircraft

Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation have written to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport calling for the creation of a dedicated organisation to support owners of historically important aircraft to ensure they are protected for future generations.

The letter was prompted by a report drafted by a panel of heritage aviation experts who sit on the APPG-GA’s dedicated Heritage Working Group.

In the report, the experts highlighted that heritage aircraft, both flying and non-flying, can be uniquely vulnerable due to their fragile construction, and subject to a wide range in the standard of stewardship. They conclude that not enough is currently being done to secure the future of these culturally important artefacts.

As a solution, the report recommended that Government should create a ‘national secretariat’, to be parented by the Science Museum or the Imperial War Museum, which would maintain a list of important aircraft and provide advice and leadership on the conservation of heritage aircraft.

Commenting on the report, Robert Courts MP, Parliamentary Chair of the APPG-GA’s Heritage Group said: “The Government already supports historic naval vessels through the National Historic Ships organisation. All we are asking for is that important heritage aircraft receive the same recognition.”

Lord Davies of Gower, Co-Chair of the APPG-GA added: “It’s important to point out that we are not trying to add to the regulatory burden of historic aircraft owners – they already have enough to contend with. What we do want is a system which can act as a fall back to make sure rare aircraft do not end up on a scrap heap.”

https://generalaviationappg.uk

Index/Home page
 

OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Andrew Sharp, Surbiton

The Mosquito Museum near St Albans is close to - and may actually be in - the Minister's constituency.