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Backpacker finds rare WWI bomber


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From the UK Telegraph

 

Backpacker finds rare WWI bomber

By Stephanie Condron

Last Updated: 1:37am BST 20/04/2007

 

A rare First World War bomber which was discovered in an elephant stable by a backpacker in India is to go on display at the Imperial War Museum today.

 

The two-seat bomber, the de Havilland DH 9, is the only one of its kind in Britain and has undergone a £500,000 restoration.

 

And it might still be gathering dust in the elephant house at a former maharajah’s palace in Rajasthan had the back-packer not rescued it for the nation.

 

Guy Black, the director of Aero Vintage, a specialist restoration company, described how he went to bring the plane home.

 

“We went on a discreet holiday to India and went to the fort and we asked about the wreckage,” he said.

 

“They showed me to an elephant stable which was like a dog’s kennel but 100 times bigger. “There among the saddles and other paraphernalia were piles of WWI wings and tails and other things. I could not believe my eyes.”

 

Angus Buchanan, of Retrotec, which helped with the rescue and restoration mission, said: “People asked why are you going to the trouble to take the thing home, but it’s a prize to us.”

 

Some 2,000 DH9s were made but it is thought that there are just six left in the world.

 

They were designed to carry out long-distance raids deep into enemy territory.

 

This one had been transferred to India as part of the Imperial Gift Scheme and subsequently to the State of Bikaner with at least two other DH-9s.

 

They first came to the attention of enthusiasts in the early 1970s when the Imperial Fort and Royal Palace of Bikaner opened to the public as a museum and hotel.

 

But attempts by western museums and collectors to acquire them were unsuccessful.

 

By the time Mr Black arrived, the aircraft - made of wood, canvas and metal - was suffering termite and sun damage and the engines were missing.

 

But most of the craft’s flying surfaces were still covered in their original British military fabric.

 

It has taken two years to restore the plane and it is to go on show at the museum’s Duxford site, in Cambridgeshire.

 

Mr Black said: “It has been a challenging and remarkable venture and I am delighted that this incredible rare aircraft will be on display at Duxford.”

 

“The Imperial War Museum does not have a First World War bomber in its collection” said Richard Ashton, Director of Duxford, “so this aircraft is not just an important acquisition for the IWM - it is a very significant addition to Britain’s national aircraft collections.”

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500 British Pound Sterling is about US$1 million, a lot of money to restore an old aereoplane, thought they could get unpaid volunteers to chip in time and effirt? With that much money they could have built a few replicas, wouldn't you think so? Sarge Booker of Tujunga, California

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500 British Pound Sterling is about US$1 million, a lot of money to restore an old aereoplane, thought they could get unpaid volunteers to chip in time and effirt? With that much money they could have built a few replicas, wouldn't you think so? Sarge Booker of Tujunga, California

 

I think that comes down to the old question of having an original versus repro. Is it better to display a WWII 101st paratrooper using an original helmet or a repro? Also, should a piece of history be allowed to deteriorate when means are avaialble to preserve it?

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People have replicated quite a few aircraft that have mostly gone to museums as representative of the type. The aircraft flown at Kitty Hawk by the Wrights is on display at the Smithsonian Institution. A full size replica provides a great deal more information than photos can because we can see the replica full size and in three dimension.

 

The money spent restoring the DeHaviland was probably mostly spent on acquisition of parts, having unavailable equipment and parts built and the restoration of the salvageable portions of the original aircraft. One of the most labor intensive and expensive aspects of restoring or recreating thus type aircraft is the wood wing and fuselage framework and the application of the fabric. This of course is a skill that is not in great demand and there are few craftsmen that do the work shaping the frames and doping the fabric.

 

The plans for such a vintage aircraft tell a great deal about the construction. It is often the case that the detail of the actual construction tells a great deal of how the workers accomplished the building of the aircraft that the blueprints do not.

 

So both originals and replicas have their place in studying and understanding the history of mankind, the history of the War and the people that lived the event. But wouldn't you rather see and maybe even sit in the seat of an aircraft flown by one of the great pilots of the war. It would be as imaginative of aerial combat as Snoopy and the Red Baron. (For those of you that are not familiar with the comic strip "Peanuts" there was a dog character name Snoopy that sat on top of his Sopwith Camel doghouse and fought the Flying Circus in his imagination.)

 

Looking at a replica would be interesting but would just not quite stir the imagery of the pilot returning from a mission, engine coughing and trailing smoke, wings and fuselage with bullet damage, the pilot smeared with castor oil, rolling to a stop and shutting down the engine. Our hero of the air sits reflectively in the cockpit a moment and then steps out and jumps to the ground. "They got Archie, half dozen Huns jumped us and did a good job, nearly had me but I got one of 'em and got some hits on a couple others, I dived and came back low over our lines. They must have been low on petrol or ammunition because they turned away to their aerodrome. Poor Archie he was a flamer, never had a chance."

 

I would be rather bored with the long detailed restoration of that DeHaviland but the adventure of stepping into that elephant barn and beholding a vintage aircraft even in the condition described would be a huge thrill.

 

Yeah, alot of money that would probably useful elsewhere. But that DeHaviland as well as your collectibles are an investment that the future learn the lessons of the past. When one conciders the remarkable progress in aviation in a century it is good to be able to trace the developments. Aviation historians point to the wars as the events and the pioneers that created this incredible story.

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River Patrol

Hopefully they also paid the local fellow who originally found it (since they had all that money to throw at the restoration/rebuild)!

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If you read the article it says that the DH9 was known about since the 1970's. I remember when a friend of mine saw the parts in the early 80's and he had asked if he could buy the parts, of course the answer was no. How many times do we find a wrecked vehicle tat the current owner won't part with because he is "someday" going to restore it. Only to see the thing rot away in some field!!!

 

Gary

Hopefully they also paid the local fellow who originally found it (since they had all that money to throw at the restoration/rebuild)!
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:blink:

If you read the article it says that the DH9 was known about since the 1970's. I remember when a friend of mine saw the parts in the early 80's and he had asked if he could buy the parts, of course the answer was no. How many times do we find a wrecked vehicle tat the current owner won't part with because he is "someday" going to restore it. Only to see the thing rot away in some field!!!

 

Gary

 

One can see lots of classic and antique automobiles and early trucks on the desert of the U.S. Southwest where some farmer is asked by passer-bys or come further west to southern California and you see a yard full of disabled cars where those owners too say they plan to restore them and just never get around to it. Jay Leno buys and rebuilts them as well as the first motorcycles made. Leno would probably rebuild a vintage aircraft too if he found one. I guess rotting or rusting in a field comes down to the same thing? We had a man and his son shot to death by a crazy land-owner who saw them in his field looking at a rusted out Model-T Ford. crying.gif

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