Glenn,
I guess I don't have comments or questions exactly, just a few wishes to express.
First, I wish your granddad all the best. I stumbled upon him and his airplane when poking around the airport in 1996 and found him a fine gentleman who took quite a lot of his time to show me around 1034 and impart a lot of information about it and the Bolingbrokes and other aircraft he has had a hand in preserving. At one point he suggested I hop in, an invitation I normally decline, but with this machine I was so excited that I darn near jumped over the wing rather than onto it. I never felt like that in any other warbird cockpit, seeing everything where it was supposed to be and looking neither pristine nor neglected, but just nicely broken in. A true time capsule. I treasured the experience and am glad to hear George is still around and hope he is doing great.
Second, I wish that no attempt will be made to fly it. As original as this airplane is, I would consider even the minimal IRAN necessary to make it safely airworthy to be a desecration.
Finally, I wish that it will not join a museum, at least for a while. Museums are great, but I would like to know that there are a few places around the world where someone who likes to nose around the general aviation ramps of sleepy airports might come across a genuine piece of the past and a guy who treats it like the treasure that it is. A classic airplane, like a fine wine or a great painting or photographic print, takes at least a half-hour to begin to appreciate properly, and an hour with a plane like 1034 and a man who knows it well is often a richer experience than seeing 50 such planes in a 3-hour museum visit.
So best wishes and thanks for continuing to let folks experience this amazing artifact.
August
George Maude
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