Aviation Archaeology
See also:
New book:
War Torn Skies -
Hertfordshire by Julian Evan-Hart.
Published by Red Kite.
Price: £14.95
The
second in a series of books detailing the air battles and
wartime activity over Britain focuses on Hertfordshire.
It is now 222 years since the Italian diplomat Vincenzo
Lunardi landed his balloon there, accompanied by his dog,
cat and a caged pigeon. One of the first fatal military
aircraft crashes happened in the county in 1912, and the
first German airship (a Schutte-Lanz SL-11) to fall in
Britain during World War 1 came down at Cuffley in 1916. The
famous DeHavilland family based their aircraft manufacturing
business at Hatfield, near to which is Salisbury Hall where
the prototype Mosquito was designed and built, during World
War 2 several Luftwaffe bombers were shot down in the county
and American bombers were stationed at its airfields; all
have contributed to the county's rich aviation heritage.
It is possible as in many counties to walk around unaware of many
historical events and happenings in Hertfordshire as so few
have attracted permanent memorials.
The aim of this work is to make the reader more aware of the
history on their door-step. By utilizing some of the
eye-witness accounts, no longer available first hand with
the passing of many witnesses, and wartime archives it hopes
to stimulate further personal research avenues to be
undertaken in the future; this can be immensely satisfying,
as one never quite knows where such an undertaking may lead
to.
Julian Evan-Hart is one of Britain's leading metal detector
users, and has spent much of his life researching the
history of his county, from the Iron Age to the Second World
War. Julian is a regular contributor to metal detecting and
treasure hunting journals and is co- author of the best
selling book ‘Beginner's Guide to Metal Detecting' he has
recently featured in BBC2's Time Watch and journeyed to
Jordan as part of a expedition to locate the sites where
Laurence of Arabia fought.
Aviation Archaeology
It is
possible as in many counties to walk around unaware of many
historical events and happenings in Hertfordshire as so few
have attracted permanent memorials. The aim of this work is
to make the reader more aware of the history on their
door-step. By utilizing some of the eye-witness accounts, no
longer available first hand with the passing of many
witnesses, and wartime archives it hopes to stimulate
further personal research avenues to
Aviation archaeology, also known as aerospace
archaeology, aircraft archaeology, crash hunting, wreck
chasing, or wreckology, is an activity practiced throughout
the world by both outdoor recreationists and academics in
pursuit of finding, documenting, recovering, and preserving
sites important in aviation history. For the most part,
these sites are aircraft wrecks and crash sites, but also
include structures and facilities related to aviation.
Above: Arguably the most sought after
aircraft in Aviation Archaeology - Amelia Earhart's Lockheed
L-10E Electra. (Photo courtesy of the US Air Force).
The activity dates to post-World War II Europe when,
after the conflict, numerous aircraft wrecks studded the
countryside. Many times, memorials to those involved in the
crashes were put together by individuals, families,
landholders, or communities.
As the activity grew in size and popularity, laws and
regulations were created in some areas to counter problems
created, such as trespassing and the disturbance of 'war
graves'. In the United Kingdom, regardless of nationality or
the date of crash, all military aircraft crash sites are
protected in the
Protection of Military Remains Act. Under
the act, passed into law in 1986 it is a criminal offence
for anyone without a license to tamper with, damage, move,
remove or unearth any part of a crashed military aircraft
[1][2].
In the United States, the activity remains relatively
unknown, and has little regulation. However, under the
recently-passed 'Sunken Military Craft Act', it is illegal
to disturb the wreck sites of U.S. Naval or any submerged
military aircraft[3]
and, under NTSB part 830, any aircraft whose accident cause
is under investigation
[4]. The U.S. Air Force has no policies against the
hobby, unless human remains are currently un-recovered at
the site.
Important!
Please read
The
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 page.
References
UK Aviation Archaeology and the Law
Text of the 'Protection of Military Remains Act 1986' (UK)
Text of the 'Sunken Military Craft Act' (US)]
NTSB 830 - U.S. Accident Preservation Regulations
(US)]
Additional reading
External links
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_archaeology
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