Pat Flyer
Pre-Flight
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2013
- Messages
- 64
- Location
- Puteaux, France
- Display Name
- Patrick
- Home Airfield
- Pontoise, LFPT
After a light accident a few months ago, I had the opportunity to have a fascinating discussion with a hand surgeon. He spoke to me about the fabulous complexity of this tool, more sophisticated than any existing robotics tool. It reminded me how it can be used.
Writing these lines is of way to use my hands. We have all heard the expression " books are the memory of tomorrow ". This sentence expresses the importance to leave a track of the human fulfillments of all orders.
Literature is not the only possible media. Around us, conservation of the heritage is omnipresent. The first example which comes to sight is hitorical buildings. France is extremely rich in this way. But it does not stop there. We also think, very quickly, of works of art of all kinds.
There is also another colossal pillar of the human genius which belongs to the collective memory and which emerges more and more in its necessity to be preserved. It is the industrial development. The collectors of vintage cars proved this a long time ago.
Nevertheless, other industrial domains, important witnesses of our History, often remain ignored. But it changes slowly.
Not that long ago the preservation of the aeronautical heritage was only the business of rich enthusiasts or big institutions, and the pieces that were protected were limited to the symbolic ones know to all: Spitfire, Mustang, B-17, Mirages, Concorde, etc. … Today, more and more, the domain opening and extending itself. General aviation and all the departments of aeronautics are concerned. Thanks to enthusiasts, foundations, sponsors, rare planes are now preserved while ten or fifteen years ago they would have been burnt or left in ruins on a forgotten patch.
At stone throw of Angers is the Regional Museum of the Air of Angers, in the airport zone of Angers Marcé. This museum possesses fabulous collection because of it’s rarity but also simply because they represent an important milestone of France’s aeronautical development. The A380s of today have ancestors that are Caravels and Mercures but also certain gliders and light passenger aircraft, because the fathers of first ones were often the fathers of second. These aircrafts deserve, as such, to be kept and presented to the public. But some go even even further.
In this museum, which I strongly recommend to you, on some days, you can meet a few persons in overalls sanding, painting, «tinkering» as we laymen might say. From afar it can look like tinkering. You would be very wrong. It's not the case. Under the supervision of recognized and certified experts, these groups of volunteers, because they really are, work on the restoration of rare planes. The skillful hands give us a future. It is not simply about restoring a plane to a good viewing condition so it could be put in a room as a visually attractive object. What I am writting about here is closer to a reconstruction than a restoration, as it could be done with a painting. The objective is not only to present these planes to the public but mostly to enable them to return to their natural environment., the air. This is a flying museum. The safety of pilots and passengers will depend on this work and that is why they are only content with perfection. Nothing less. That is why they are certified and possess all the necessary official accreditations.
But beyond this admirable work of silversmiths, all these persons who dedicate thousands of hours in this work are bequeathing us, in our lifetime, an inestimable inheritance. They are bringing back to life some extremely rare pieces and make sure the genius of a few talented engineers can continue to inspire the generations to come.
Because that is the very objective. Preservation just for the principle has no sense. This collective memory which is given to us is potentially going to feed the curiosity and the desire of the youngest. They might want to learn to fly or to study and become engineers and creators or the airplanes we will see navigating our skies in the future. All this thanks to the aircrafts which they will have seen in museums and in sky and which were the jewels of their time. The knowledge of the past and of its creations is essential to the future.
In the museum now, perfectly visible to all, is a plane in particular that even many enthusiasts do not know. It is a Moynet Jupiter and a few photos illustrate this article. I will tell you more in a future article.
In the meantime, let us thank one more time those who give us an inheritance now and who are the Hands of Our Memory of Tomorrow and inspirations of our children.
To the Hands of Memory I tip my hat !
P.S.: If you come to France and want a few tips about aeronautical sites, post me a message. I would be happy to help out if I can.
Writing these lines is of way to use my hands. We have all heard the expression " books are the memory of tomorrow ". This sentence expresses the importance to leave a track of the human fulfillments of all orders.
Literature is not the only possible media. Around us, conservation of the heritage is omnipresent. The first example which comes to sight is hitorical buildings. France is extremely rich in this way. But it does not stop there. We also think, very quickly, of works of art of all kinds.
There is also another colossal pillar of the human genius which belongs to the collective memory and which emerges more and more in its necessity to be preserved. It is the industrial development. The collectors of vintage cars proved this a long time ago.
Nevertheless, other industrial domains, important witnesses of our History, often remain ignored. But it changes slowly.
Not that long ago the preservation of the aeronautical heritage was only the business of rich enthusiasts or big institutions, and the pieces that were protected were limited to the symbolic ones know to all: Spitfire, Mustang, B-17, Mirages, Concorde, etc. … Today, more and more, the domain opening and extending itself. General aviation and all the departments of aeronautics are concerned. Thanks to enthusiasts, foundations, sponsors, rare planes are now preserved while ten or fifteen years ago they would have been burnt or left in ruins on a forgotten patch.
At stone throw of Angers is the Regional Museum of the Air of Angers, in the airport zone of Angers Marcé. This museum possesses fabulous collection because of it’s rarity but also simply because they represent an important milestone of France’s aeronautical development. The A380s of today have ancestors that are Caravels and Mercures but also certain gliders and light passenger aircraft, because the fathers of first ones were often the fathers of second. These aircrafts deserve, as such, to be kept and presented to the public. But some go even even further.
In this museum, which I strongly recommend to you, on some days, you can meet a few persons in overalls sanding, painting, «tinkering» as we laymen might say. From afar it can look like tinkering. You would be very wrong. It's not the case. Under the supervision of recognized and certified experts, these groups of volunteers, because they really are, work on the restoration of rare planes. The skillful hands give us a future. It is not simply about restoring a plane to a good viewing condition so it could be put in a room as a visually attractive object. What I am writting about here is closer to a reconstruction than a restoration, as it could be done with a painting. The objective is not only to present these planes to the public but mostly to enable them to return to their natural environment., the air. This is a flying museum. The safety of pilots and passengers will depend on this work and that is why they are only content with perfection. Nothing less. That is why they are certified and possess all the necessary official accreditations.
But beyond this admirable work of silversmiths, all these persons who dedicate thousands of hours in this work are bequeathing us, in our lifetime, an inestimable inheritance. They are bringing back to life some extremely rare pieces and make sure the genius of a few talented engineers can continue to inspire the generations to come.
Because that is the very objective. Preservation just for the principle has no sense. This collective memory which is given to us is potentially going to feed the curiosity and the desire of the youngest. They might want to learn to fly or to study and become engineers and creators or the airplanes we will see navigating our skies in the future. All this thanks to the aircrafts which they will have seen in museums and in sky and which were the jewels of their time. The knowledge of the past and of its creations is essential to the future.
In the museum now, perfectly visible to all, is a plane in particular that even many enthusiasts do not know. It is a Moynet Jupiter and a few photos illustrate this article. I will tell you more in a future article.
In the meantime, let us thank one more time those who give us an inheritance now and who are the Hands of Our Memory of Tomorrow and inspirations of our children.
To the Hands of Memory I tip my hat !
P.S.: If you come to France and want a few tips about aeronautical sites, post me a message. I would be happy to help out if I can.
)
