Warbird Information Exchange

So, this isn't going to apply to aircraft that have a civilian type certificate? What's the logic there? I would think that whether an aircraft is type certified for civilian use or not would be of little interest to anyone trying to "hoard heritage" if they were to deem it an historical property.

Good news for the world's C-47/R4D/C-45/C-46/C-54/C-118 fleet operators if that's the case - they're off the hook. The sounds a little out of whack to me. A legitimate Bill of Sale for the aircraft I can see - especially one from a government agency like the RFC - but immunity due to eligibility under a Type Certificate?

If the U.S. government sold one of its airplanes to a civilian for flight purposes there is no problem with title issues, as is the case of the individual RFC/WAA/GSA/DOD sales. There were many cases, though, of aircraft being lent to schools or towns for war memorials, and many of those airplanes were later "sold," only for the new owners to find out that the U.S govt actually held the title to the airplanes. Any time an individual purchases an airplane with questionable paperwork he is leaving himself open to later title disputes, and this includes airplanes sold by the govt as scrap, or released by the govt with scrapping provisions (i.e. Military Assistance Programs).

I would imagine the rush has started to find long gone Navy warbirds (destroyed in crashes) that have good clean paperwork which can be purchased with clear title chains. These airplanes may be miraculously resurrected, while some of those airplanes with questionable titles may be tragically lost in hangar fires.

A few years ago clean paperwork was sold on a long-gone but still civil-registered B-17 that may yet be borne again.

Interesting. It would seem that the historians and serial number freaks (I count myself as one) will be every more challenged in the future to keep things straight!

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
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Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
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I spoke with the General Counsel (or is it council) for the House Armed Services Committee today. Aside from the fact that he said he handled the legislation in the FY05 Defense Authorization Bill concerning the submerged aircraft, then sort of back peddled and claimed it was a lot of lawyers. Aside from him changing his reason why the act was drafted: first it was because of the Buffalo from the swamp, then it was that they wanted to protect grave sites (he mocked me when I told him for the Lake Michigan planes were not), then it was because Congress did not want anyone messing with the airplanes. When I told him (he knew nothing about it) that in 1989 Congress changed the law to provide the funding avenue to recover lost airplanes, thereby showing him that Congress intended different in 1989, he ended the conversation at that time, with a, “we changed our minds” snap at me.

Beside that fact that I practiced my award winning win friends and influence people skills, he did not seem to enjoy my pointed criticisms of what I see as bad piece of Congressional Legislation. A side conversation that stood out in the conversation for me, was that when I mentioned the EAA objections to the legislation, he seemed honestly to never have heard them. Those professional lobbyists we heard about must be doing a fine job, at something. Does anyone know what that is?

Taras

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