La protection des aéronefs au titre des monuments historiques

Amongst the different domains of the technical and transport heritage, the field of aviation heritage is the one which has shown the most difficult and chaotic growth where its statutory protection is concerned. The Ministry of Culture, responsible for statutory protection, does not have adequate in-house understanding of this sector and the owners of historic aircraft are often dubious as to the usefulness of official measures of protection. Consequently, the French aviation heritage, where its movable objects are concerned, has a record of inadequate and piecemeal protection. Prototypes and significant aircraft have been lost because of the lack of awareness on the part both of the French air force and the French aeronautical industry. This explains why, from 1984 up to 2009, the protection of the French aviation heritage was an empirical affair, consecrating incidental discoveries and depending on the agreement of the owners of the aeroplanes concerned. In 2009, however, the Ministry signed an agreement with the Aeroclub de France aiming to develop aviation heritage and provide a more reasoned approach to statutory protection. Today, a total of 21 aeroplanes are protected under the terms of French historic monuments legislation. Most of the aircraft concerned are the products of French industry and celebrated firms such as Blériot, Morane-Saulnier or Potez. But some of the protected aircraft are from other countries but which, at a given moment, flew in French skies. The main issue today, as in other domains of the technical heritage, is striking the proper balance between the notion of authenticity and the present-day technical constraints necessary to make a historic aeroplane airworthy