Generally, I don't support pirates in their endeavours, but in the case of our Pirate Lex, I'm certainly impressed by your achievements. But (you guessed that 'but' was coming, right?)
F3A-1 wrote:
I cannot support tyranny. The will of the people is for the U.S.Navy to relinquish ownership of the aircraft they have formally abandoned long ago.
Frankly the vast majority of people don't give a d@mn about old aircraft, however much the WIX hothouse of our interest might make us believe otherwise.
We must remember that the interest and support for warbirds is a minority one, and the operation of ex-military aircraft by civilians is unlikely to get supported in a plebiscite. I wouldn't invoke 'the will of the people' on this.
I certainly understand and agree you have been appallingly treated in the past on the recovery and ownership issue, and good for you for battling on and winning through. However the private ownership (for pleasure, amusement or commemoration) of warbirds is not vital to the conduct of good government or the development of civilisation in a society.
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Naval Aviation history is doomed to destruction due to federal bureaucracy.
I'm
sure I saw a large and impressive museum in Pensacola full of remarkable, rare and interesting aircraft. I certainly seem to recall access to a very impressive archive, and had a most interesting meeting with someone who was an official historian for the museum. Should a meteorite manage to take out that bit of Florida, there is a significant naval element in the Smithsonian's NASAM, not to mention a number of other locations around the world.
Let's not overstate our case; it just devalues the legitimate point at base.
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"We the people" should control the "government of the people, by the people", not the opposite.
You are my favourite pirate by far, but have you had a close look and listen to the rest of 'the people' lately? As the Duke of Wellington (roughly) said of his own soldiers, "I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me."
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I, for one, have known of this SB2C for many years. The U.S.Navy's position of ownership has done much to prevent sharing knowledge of this, and other crash sites.
And here we are today with a successful recovery, which I think we can all agree is A Good Thing'?
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CONGRATS to the recovery crew!
Seconded!
Respectfully, and sub-piratically.