Re: CAF Heinkel destroyed

I have some mixed emotions regarding seeing them flying; I love seeing them but I know it's only a matter of time before they get bent or destroyed. Personally, I do not think it is worth the risk.

Rather than that, I think it is far preferable to build replicas and fly them such as the Champlin aircraft, the Me262's being built in Everett, and the Douglas World Cruiser being built in Renton. I am sure there are other efforts elsewhere to build replicas of these aircraft.

Although it's probably more expensive (is it?) to build one from the ground up rather than restoring one to flying condition, it is the cost of commitment to aviation. Augering in an antique is not the cost of commitment; it's simply throwing away a piece of history needlessly.

Records of preserved Axis aircraft at:

links to pics.

One at Cavanaugh, one at Dayton, one at Flying Heritage Collection, Washington, plus one that came from the UK tothe US but they didn't know where yet. Presumably the one that crashed was the CAF one in Midland.

And, there is a nose section attached to a tower near Toledo...

Tom

wasnt this a Spanish built example?So in other words,a true german built WW2 plane wasnt lost. But still a shame...

According to

it is Spanish built. According to it was the late General Franco's personal transport.

Tom

Wait until you find out what's planned for the last surviving Seafire Mk.47.

Lee

Correct. This was a Spanish Licensed/built aircraft.

It would be fitting to remember that the pilot did take his aircraft well away from a dense urban area before he put it down. Yes, it was too bad about the Heinkel, but it could have been far worse in terms of human loss. Mike IPMS

i think that's the one i saw, still being restored. i believe silver springs has a h-6 waiting for restoration.

Yes this was the one that General Franco rode in....nevertheless a real HE-111 and with that I will treasure being priveledged to have been able to tour though it with my kids and reflect on the pictures I kept when it visited Ottawa Canada with the B-17 Sentimental Journey. What a shame and a tragic loss of the loved ones perished doing a trip to share this piece of history.

...Tony

Agreed, I for one would love to see a B-58 take to the air again, not that it's ever likely to happen.

I'd agree with the comments expressed by this poster, while it is certainly a shame to lose this aircraft, and moreso those who died in this accident, the intentions of these men and others like them are noble, many people cannot travel across the country and indeed to other countries to view these aircraft, and in this respect they brought to many an opportunity to see something they might never have otherwise. Also an aircraft was never meant to sit motionless on the ground, I for one liken them to caged birds in that sense, they were meant to fly and to my mind their true beauty can only be appreciated when they can be viewed in their element, along with all the sights and sounds that they bring to that experience. Whist we can debate the virtues of flying such machines, we must not forget the joy that has been brought to many at having been able to view them as they were meant to be. More importantly now however I think we should take a moment to pay due respect and honour to a brave and gallant pilot who chose to sacrifice his own life to prevent a catastrophe that may have claimed many more innocent lives. Such men truly deserve to be honoured as heroes.

did the one at dm get junked. in 74 i used to drive around the fences to look at all the nam 52's.

in article cLJPa.200979$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.southeast.rr.com, Anthony Leger at snipped-for-privacy@nc.rr.com wrote on 07/11/03 8:45 PM:

It was indeed a terrible loss. I remember going through it in 1999 when it and three B-17s visited the CAF Airshow at San Marcos. The crew were very friendly and seemed to really enjoy fielding all the questions. I got several photos of the old bird on the ground and in the air. I had always hope to see it again.

MBell

Got to see an interesting sight while skydiving at Lake Elsinore - a B-17 and B-24 flew past in formation (I had heard they were doing a coastal tour of some sort)...somewhere they had also picked up an escort of a couple P-51's.

Was neat to see them together like that at about 4K over the DZ, just by chance. And what a sound...

That would be great!

It could be painted in VN camo. That would make a lot of people really happy and the "proof" would be there (as opposed to the total lack of proof re the original at this time).

Tom

Collings Foundation. They have warbird escorts quite often.

Tom

Yet there are currently projects going on at various sites doing just that. There are two sites in Washington state where replicas are being built and I'm sure there are more elsewhere.

I beg to differ; as soon as they take one of these artifacts up in the air, they are risking destroying it. To me, that shows a bit of a cavalier attitude towards their subjects. Whether that is due to heart attacks, pilot error (yes I got that), or whatever. The planes are safer on the ground.

--snippage--

While it's cool to see them flying, I don't think it's worth the risk. That B29 that burned on the ice in Greenland; I'd rather think that were still on the ice intact in Greenland and not have had them make the effort to fly it out (for example).

--more snippage---

Again, it does seem to be about dollars and cents (Yen, Euro's, whatever) to really try to preserve what aircraft out there that still are airworthy.

but until

And respectfully Matt, I know that I will not sway your opinions in this discussion. Similarly, I doubt very much that you will sway mine. It's still useful to discuss it; who knows if a middle ground will ever be found here. I sure hope so, and that begins with talking about what is happening to our aviation legacy.

So what *can* be done to introduce more safety to these artifacts?