Amen to your last. What about the way a couple of enterprising gentlemen who
recovered WW2 navy aircraft from the depths have had them confiscated by the
U.S. Navy, who couldn't care less about the private money spent, or the lost
dedication and resulting bad publicity these actions generated?
MV-related content relevant to the thread: speaking of bureaucracy, in Canada,
there are NO controls over private ownership of tank cannon or the like, I
suppose because it's acknowledged that no ammunition can by nature and time
exist in private hands. So far so good. HOWEVER, if you wish to bring one in to
the country, ANOTHER bureaucracy will demand formal deactivation by cutting and
welding, even though the item in question is legal WITHIN the country.
So, take this as an example. Even though Canada manufactured 1,948 Ram and 1,420
Valentine tanks in WW2, not one running example exists in this country (for that
matter, I know of no running Rams and only a handful of running BRITISH
Valentines, anywhere). OK, I find a Canadian Ram or Valentine, someplace. It may
be complete, but not running. Who cares, it's intact and original! What a find,
an amazing piece of Canadian war history! I will pay a lot because of what it
is, right off the bat, never mind whether it runs or not. Then I pay more to put
it on a ship to bring back here. When I get here, in company with something
priceless to the perpetuation of our history, this one department of our gummint
will CONFISCATE it unless I have it butchered via the welder's torch - EVEN
THOUGH IT'S LEGAL TO OWN COMPLETELY OPERATIONAL ONCE INSIDE THE COUNTRY.
You Yanks especially, don't feel too sorry for yourselves re the Form 6 issue -
this same nonsense exists everywhere. All you can do is pound on the politicians
- but realize that they only RENT their offices... the bureaucrats OWN them. We
have an uphill battle ahead of us, fellows...
Bureaucrats, whether in uniform or not, are a blight on our societies. T'is the
nature of the beast within....
-- Regards,Geoff Winnington-Ball MAPLE LEAF UP! ==> Zephyr, Ontario, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maple Leaf Up - The Canadian Army Overseas in WW2 http://www.mapleleafup.org <sunray@mapleleafup.org> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment http://www.1cacr.org <info@1cacr.org> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Barber wrote:
> About as sad as the story for the Shoo-Shoo Baby now out at the > Air Force Museum .. In short she was a real combat vet.. One of > the TIGR people from Smithsonian found her hulk in an airfield > in Denmark (i believe)How it got there and the story of the orignal > pilot is another set of tails themselves. Contacted the original > pilot and he went to great lengths to get the plane brought back to > the US. > > The plane was totally restored by volunteers back to flyable > condition at an east coast Air Force base. Part of the deal > was that the still living original crew was to get a flight in > the plane as reward for helping getting it restored.. And don't > you know the Air Farce reneges on the promise and has the plane > flown to Ohio with minimum crew.. > > The good news is they have an actual combat vet B-17 on display. > The bad news was the CS way they delt with the people who put > the time and energy into making it happen.. > > Bottom line is too much politics involved where it belongs least.
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