Last Blackburn Beverly

[Adam Poultney]

Via a Blackburn Beverly Facebook group

[Adam Poultney]

1 minute ago, Beermonster1958 said:

Well, hasn't actually been "saved"as such,has it? As I understand it, the business man who has "saved " it needs to find money not only to move it but, to carry out necessary restoration/renovation?  It has also been suggested that an RAF Chinook might be needed to move the aircraft ( once dismantled) to a new home. That won't be free of charge either.

What happens if the needed funds are never realised? Firmly back in square 1 ?

John☹️

 

I believe there were other bidders from museums

[junglierating]

😐

Edited October 5, 2020 by junglierating
Controversial

[Truro Model Builder]

If he wanted to do something like that to an aircraft, fair enough. Let's face it, who hasn't had the occasional dream about living in a fully converted aircraft? But why he would want to do it to this particular aircraft, when there are plenty of airliners being scrapped and probably available at equivalent costs, is puzzling.

 

Still, as said, he's got to get it there first.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

2 hours ago, Beermonster1958 said:

degrading

No disgusting is more like it. Like @Truro Model Builder says plenty of 747’s with the two floor forward section to be scrapped. Why not turn one of those into a condo ? Why use a classic military aircraft to do this, Its just outright wrong. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Adam Poultney]

Via the same Facebook group as before

Quote

Offical FPBHS CIC Statement

 

In the last couple of days, the CIC learnt of Martin Wiseman’s plan to convert the Beverley into holiday accommodation via a news article. He did not contact or inform us of any information prior to the press release (an additional grievance to the hard work so many have committed). The Fort Paull Battery Heritage Site CIC does not support this decision in any manner, and we will not facilitate this to take place. 

 

Over the past months our team has been working exceptionally hard meticulously planning the movement, restoration and archival process of the Beverley and related artefacts. We had reached out to the media world and begun the planning stages of possible documentaries. Planned a 21st-Century exhibition which would bring people back year after year, having room to expand, allowing all of you to become part of the Beverley’s history in the flesh. As custodians of the heritage sector we cannot support the Air B n B approach and the creation of a glorified caravan degrading the Beverley’s history and its physical being to nothing more than an empty husk. We know our fellow heritage custodians and supporters feel the same way, and are just as hurt at this action, that transpired behind our backs without our knowledge. That single article has destroyed our ability to provide significant financial assistance as the project has now transferred into one of personal gain and not one for heritage protection.

 

The holiday accommodation model will fail repeated footfall, moisture, sweat and additional factors will see maintenance costs skyrocket, causing rapid deterioration of the craft and its artefacts. Around the world plane holiday accommodation does exist, yet it is within retired passenger aircraft which are built and designed to accommodate human contact for long-durations, and their conditions are not the same as the Beverley. We attempted to open dialogue to no avail. The CIC hopes Martyn Wiseman and Condor Aviation will divert from the decision. The CIC have opened discussions with Georg, who at present remains committed to ensuring the Beverley will not be scrapped. 

 

FPBHS CIC cannot assist as it fundamentally goes against our moral, ethical, and historical stance. Therefore, as of the 6th of October 2020 at 10.00am we, the FPBHS CIC, remove all our assistance, financial and otherwise from this now personal business venture.

 

The CIC is incredibly angry, frustrated, disappointed and exhausted with this state of affairs, months of our voluntary work, totally up hundreds of man-hours, now in vain and our success of saving the aircraft from the scrapyard has now become a bitter sweet memory. The CIC would like to thank everyone who joined us on this journey, but at the present time there is little more we can do, all current available options have been exhausted. The CIC is a not-for-profit organisation, in every sense of the term. We strongly believe that British History, our history, should be readily accessible to all the public with the freedom to educate, and explore the past for all age-young and old, civilian or veteran, rich or poor. We do not believe money and personal wealth should dictate who can access our collective history. 

 

We hope that our group members will support local museums. If we have convinced just ten of you to go then we have helped the sector in some form. 2020 has really shaped up to be a poor year indeed. The FB group will remain open to support local heritage sector venues, like the YAM. The CIC will keep a distant eye on Fort Paull & the Beverley, keeping in close contact with our industry partners such as Aviation Heritage & English Heritage. 

 

Yours faithfully,     

 FPBHS CIC

 

 

Personally I am utterly disgusted by what has happened. What I would very much like to say I will refrain from posting here in the interest of my continued membership of this forum. I doubt the moderators would take very kindly to that.

[junglierating]

Wow...disgusted eh ....🤔think that is a bit over the top.So lets think about this...its been sat in a salt water environment for a long time and im pretty sure embarked ADM let alone NDT of wing spars etc....not to mention i dont think the Beverley was supposed to sit outside for tens of years in said environment.

It costs lots of money to bring clapped out airframes to a state worth consideraton by the public who lets face it 99% probably more have never heard of a Beverley....Spitfire Lancaster and maybe Dakota yes probably thats your lot.

So the RAF museums arent interested i believe they scraped one years ago ....because it was falling apart.

So if these guy can make a go of turning it in to a special B and B then why not its got more chance of success then anything else ive seen .I appreciate that those who worked on the a/c or ex airborne it may be bad news but it comes down to money and realism.

However bigger picture small porthole as they say....theres always another story....

 

ADM ...anti deterioration maintenance 

Edited October 6, 2020 by junglierating
ADM

[fatfingers]

Short piece from Forces TV.

 

 

Regards,

 

Steve 

[Jonners]

On 10/4/2020 at 8:02 PM, Adam Poultney said:

was it even with saving at all if this is what will happen to it????

 

On 10/5/2020 at 1:13 AM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Id buy the dang thing just to save it from this fate. 

What will happen to it (it's 'fate') is that the Beverley is likely to be preserved in a way that lets people appreciate it in a novel manner - including those who otherwise would have no interest in it - while it earns its own preservation funding as no other museum-based static historic aircraft could. Assuming that the dismantling and relocation plan comes to fruition, rescuing it from external display at Fort Paull has effectively released the airframe from a slow, lingering death sentence. It's an unusual plan that may well be the saving of other near-extinct aircraft in the future. G&Ts on the flight deck? Dinner in the cargo hold? It's an unconventional way to preserve an aircraft, but it's also not the only paradigm that has been challenged recently. I really hope that the venture works.*

Jon

 

 

*Other opinions are available

Edited October 6, 2020 by Jonners

[EwenS]

What I find annoying in all of this is the claim that this is somehow a commercial venture. Thus far it has cost Wiseman and his Swiss partner £34k, out of £56k they have put in the pot. Now they expect Joe Public to stump up another £100k via crowdfunding to move and rebuild the aircraft. No mention of who is to bear the conversion cost to the wonderful new B&B. And at the end of the day only two people will benefit financially from the commercial letting of it. I can see how, on an annual basis, it can make money. But just how accessible will the new site be to sightseers? Or will they have to pay for that?

 

And what if they can’t raise the £100k? It is a lofty target for such a relatively unknown aircraft in the public’s eyes.

 

Sadly we simply can’t preserve everything from our past. If we did we would all still be living in caves. While I understand the nostalgic feelings some have for this aircraft, it needs to be put in context. Only 49 built. This was only one type that served in the RAF in relatively few numbers amongst its peers of the time. It served for only 12 years in the history of aviation in the U.K. Unfortunately I see little point in beginning, at this stage, to try to preserve something unless there is the financial endowment to see it through in perpetuity.

[Kushan_Farsight]

This to me is a real catch-22 situation. As it stands with the uk tourism scene and museum funding being what it is, there are few institutions that could accommodate such a vehicle. Due to the extensive time its spent at fort paull and non-standard paintjobs etc, there would be significant work to get it back to a state of authenticity, being huge also causes many a logistical headache getting it to a new home in the first place.

 

Turning it into an AirBnB (or some derivative of) does cause a bit of a shudder of revulsion at first, but has some merits. Through social media, travel blogs etc, the Beverley as an individual site may get more attention and recognition than if it was just one of many famous aircraft side by side at a museum.  If the owner put out some public 'conservation scheme' where they used 30-50% of proceeds exclusively towards maintenance and restoration of the plane, that could be good too. Even the AirBnB conversions, as long as they dont start getting the gas torches out and cutting panoramic windows into the hull, could almost be 'palletized' and designed for easy removal in the future.

 

The arrangement with the swiss banker seems a bit odd. Seems like martyn will give him some free weekends to stay when he wants plus teach him to fly.  I wonder if this was the end goal this donor always had in mind?

 

I would have liked to see some side by side financial estimates by Condor Aviation, looking at it as a public display vs AirBnB. The reality is that as a standalone aircraft exhibit of one, it probably would not have been cost effective.  It is a pity we do not have some excessively wealthy millionaires with vast large hangar spaces. 

[Work In Progress]

An awful lot of people seem to think they can sell things and then dictate what the new owner does with them.