FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1461.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 November, 1953 615 A NATIONAL MUSEUM of AIRCRAFT? The Prospects Examined By A. cdre. A. H. WHEELER, O.B.E. THE increasing interest now being shown in the possi bility of forming a national museum of aviation raises in one's mind the question as to why we have museums at all. There are various reasons why people go in for private collections, but there is really only one essential reason for a national collection, and that lies in its educational value. Apart from the sentiment attached to historic relics, and the prestige-value of perpetuating our greatest national achieve ments in the various fields of science, the greatest value in preserving them lies in the education of future generations. One suggestion put forward was that aviation and other means of transportation should all be kept together. This would certainly make a most useful exhibition from the educational point of view, since it would enable all forms of transportation to be grouped in chronological order. But for such a scheme a vast amount of covered space, a system of heating and a number of experienced maintenance staff would be required. Any attempt to house a collection of this kind without adequate protection against weather would merely result in the museum rapidly assuming the appearance of a scrap merchant's yard. Anyone who has tried to keep a piece of machinery for sentimental reasons, whether it be a car or a bicycle, a carriage or an aeroplane, knows only too well how quickly metal rusts, wood gets worm pi dry-rot, leather cracks and paint peels off everything indiscriminately. If all historical forms of land transportation—bicycles, carriages, cars, locomotives and aeroplanes—were to be included the provision of suitable accommodation would indeed be a major undertaking. There already exists the Science Museum, which houses the really epoch-making inventions. Smaller museums for each trans port category could, therefore, be more detailed in scope, to meet the needs of individuals who want to know much more about much less. Although there is a very good case for such museums —and there are many small collections of the individual forms already in existence—we are concerned here only with the forma tion of a national museum of aviation. This seems to be the most urgent single issue at present, and the idea has the advantage of being more moderate in its space requirements. The Problem of Selection But what should go into such a collection? With the ever- present premium on museum space, and the knowledge of why we form museums at all, we are given some direction as to what should be preserved and what can be omitted. Clearly we must preserve the various "milestones" in the evolution of aviation. Examples are the Wright biplane, the Bleriot monoplane and the Gloster-Whittle; but these are of such major importance that diey justify inclusion in the main Science Museum. We still have the lesser milestones (or "furlongstones," if one might coin an expression) such as famous military aeroplanes of the two world wars and small and large civil aircraft which for various reasons marked a major change either in design or in aeronautical thinking. One hesitates to mention names in this category, being too well aware of the many rival claims to fame which must arise. However selective and ruthless the exclusion of craft which seem to have no strong claim to immortality following the prin ciples set out above, we shall still be faced with an enormous storage problem. The Wellington has been mentioned recently by reason of its special call to fame; but it is a relatively small aero plane in comparison with some others we may want to preserve. There are many yet unbuilt which will have strong claims, and some of them are certain to dwarf the Wellington. This emphasizes another vital factor, that of finance. Someone will have to pay for all this, at least in the early stages. Though later on the museum might become self-supporting, or nearly so, at first a large amount of money will have to be staked without any guarantee that it will be recoverable. Information on the sort of income likely may be available in the various museums which exist at present. From this a decision might be made as to a suitable site, weighing-up the relative merits of an expensive site in or near London as against a site that would be cheaper yet not too remote. But someone will have to pay ! The Ministry of Education is clearly concerned, but they seem to be short of bricks and mortar already. The aircraft industry already pays a lot for education in various technical colleges. Perhaps all interested might get togeuier ? It would not be out of place here to mention plans which the Shuttleworth Trust have for extending the scope of that collection and making it available for public view at more frequent and NOBODY disputes the need for a move by some responsible organization to ensure that notable aircraft are preserved for posterity, or that the necessity is becoming increasingly urgent as time passes and more of them automatically come into the "historic" category, yet too often find their way to the scrap-heap. But how the problem might be tackled is another matter, especially as a number of com plicating factors—financial considerations among them—are involved. These aspects are discussed by the author; he is well qualified to do so by reason of his association with the Shuttleworth Collection, whose veteran aircraft he has demonstrated at displays. In "Flight" of July 20th, 1950, he wrote on display-flying the Sop with Pup. regular times than those at present offering on the occasions of aeronautical gatherings and aviation displays. From the financial point of view the Trust has roughly balanced the "veteran account" by charging for displays, by having a large amount of assistance freely given (particularly by pilots) and, not least, by generous assistance from some aircraft firms who appreciate the value of the work it does. The intention is to carry on and expand the activities to cover uie essential field of education, so far as is possible with the limited resources. Aeroplanes have frequently been offered, but the Trust have had to restrict the Collection firmly to such machines as have definite historical value; and in future plans it is intended to collect (or reconstruct if necessary) only aeroplanes within this category. The main emphasis has always been on aeroplanes which were built before 1918 and meticulous care has been taken to keep them exacdy as they were, however attractive a minor modification might be. There are others in the Collection which justified preservation and of which few, if any, are being preserved. In this category, for instance, come an early Moth and a Spitfire I. The Shutdeworui Collection is essentially intended to be one wherein every item is in working order and it is intended in the near future to stage displays during the summer months, when almost every exhibit will be flown or, if it came from a pre-flight era, at least working. These displays will be intended in die main for the younger generations so that they may not only see the various craft in full scale but will also be able to see them flown. Owing to the value of the exhibits it will be essential to restrict their flying, as has always been done in the past, within very safe limits. But nothing the ShutdeworJi Collection (or any other private venture, such as Mr. Nash's valuable collection) can do will fill the requirements for a comprehensive museum of aviation organized nationally. It is true, of course, that a national museum could hardly organize "live" displays, and much is inevitably lost by keeping exhibits static; a "runner" is always instructive and inspiring to the young mind. One difficulty in organizing a national museum will be the number of new items which come up every year for inclusion. It might be advisable, for the time being, to concentrate on aviation up to what one might call "the early monoplane era," ended at 1945. It is always easier to assess what is a genuine milestone when technical achievements are viewed in retrospect over at least ten years. As the perspective increases, so milestones merge into furlongstones and they in turn into (perhaps?) yard- stones. In this present century most of us know of only one major stage in the early development of steam locomotives— Stephenson's Rocket; but contemporaries of Stephenson could have listed many designs of that era and would have acclaimed each one as an epoch-making advance. So it will be with aviation, and however we may view the Gloster-Whitde or the Comet now, in five hundred years' time an academically minded curator, hard-pressed for museum space, may pass mem on to some provincial school building where small boys will scratch uieir names on the faded paint, since human nature changes slowly and fame is almost always dialled by time. It is always easier to enumerate the difficulties of a project rather than to indicate how it can be achieved. So far as one can see there is no clearly defined organization whose responsibility it is to start a national museum of aviation; but a combined effort by all interested, sponsored by die Royal Aero Club, might go a long way to launching this project. In the meantime the most pressing need is to collect—if possible, into one place—all the items which should go into such a museum. They could be listed as the property of a national museum when it is finally formed. Thus we shall at least have done what we can to ensure the preservation of materials for the museum and to start responsible people thinking out how the museum itself can be provided.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
