Mosquito Model question

[Gordon Pike]

I am starting a search for a 1/10 scale wind tunnel model of a DH Mosquito which I loaned to the (now defunct) Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown in Sydney. I have the documentation to prove this was on loan and I could recover it at any time.  I now believe that when the museum closed, many items were sent to auction and I have heard that my model probably ended up in New Zealand.

 

I am not necessarily trying to recover the model - but am very keen to know where it ended up. I spent a lot of time and effort restoring this model in 2010 and am keen to know it found a good home.  A  display caption I prepared then is attached. I am particularly concerned that the museum board disposed of the model without even the courtesy of notifying me or seeking to transfer ownership !

 

Gordon Pike  ([email protected])

History of model.doc

[skippydiesel]

You may not want it back  but if you did it would appear you have a strong claim - the Australian Aviation Museum Bankstown had a responsibility to return the model on loan to you or ask that you allow them to sell.

 

By selling without your permission/knowledge they have, in effect, stolen the model.

 

The ball is in your court.

[Gordon Pike]

Skippy,

 

I realize all this - but I would love to get it back. However I am more concerned about where the model is now and if the current custodians understand the historical importance of it.  Apparently DH in the UK had several wind tunnels made and when production started in Australia sent at least two to here for testing purposes in case modifications were needed. "My" model would have to be one of them.

 

Gordon

[skippydiesel]

Can you contact the Museum, their lawyers, accounts ??

[Tasmag]

You will probably find that you dont have a claim of ownership anyway.

 

Whilst I know you are not interested in reclaiming the model it might be of some interest to have a look at the doctrine of 'Market Overt'

 

Mike

[skippydiesel]

1 hour ago, Tasmag said:

You will probably find that you dont have a claim of ownership anyway.

 

Whilst I know you are not interested in reclaiming the model it might be of some interest to have a look at the doctrine of 'Market Overt'

 

Mike

 

Edited February 16, 2021 by skippydiesel

[old man emu]

C'mon Skippy, get the correct local legislation.

 

Sale of Goods Act. No 1, 1923 (NSW)

Part 3, Paragraph 26

26   Sale by person not the owner

(1)  Subject to the provisions of this Act, where goods are sold by a person who is not the owner thereof and who does not sell them under the authority or with the consent of the owner, the buyer acquires no better title to the goods than the seller had, unless the owner of the goods is by the owner’s conduct precluded from denying the seller’s authority to sell.

(2)  Nothing in this Act shall affect:

(a)  the provisions of the Factors (Mercantile Agents) Act 1923 or of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 of the Commonwealth,

(b)  the validity of any contract of sale under any special common law or statutory power of sale, or under the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

 

 

 

[skippydiesel]

Technology!! Do'nt know what happened above.

 

"Market Overt" would seem to be an obsolete, in Au,  hang over from British Law 

 

The parra that starts "Subject to the provisions of this Act....." would seem to saying you can not sell what is not yours and the purchaser can not own the item sold ("......buyer acquires no better title to the goods....)"

[skippydiesel]

OME we have crossed again !

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, skippydiesel said:

OME we have crossed again !

We need to cross check every time we post😁

[facthunter]

That Market Overt is a license to commit fraud and steal things. It doesn't have "Clear Title" if others have an existing claim to it..   "Adverse Possession" has a period applying but is also questionable ethically or is that concept out of date in the "modern" world  where lying  and deception makes you rich. Nev

[Tasmag]

What's your interpretation of 4(2) in that same act?

 

Mike

[onetrack]

Gordon - What makes you think there was an auction of museum items? If there had been, I would normally be able to find a record of that auction - but I can't.

Nearly all auction houses keep good records for 7 years at least, and many are still kept available online, years after the auction has finished. I bought a used Hilux in 2014, the online sale record is still there, complete with all photos.

 

The Museum was reportedly out of a home by 2015 - but Old Man Emu visited in 2018, and museum equipment was still scattered around the site. It appears a lot of their exhibits were simply "donated" to other museums/clubs, etc.

I presume you purchased the wind tunnel model from DH? - or was it just "donated" to you for restoration? When it comes time to offer up proof of ownership, purchase receipts are quite important.

 

https://www.recreationalflying.com/topic/31094-demise-of-the-australian-aviation-museum-bankstown/

 

I have done a major Google search using as many search terms as possible, and there is no record anywhere, either on websites, forums, or blogs, of any purchase of a wind tunnel model of a DH Mosquito - and neither does an image search bring up anything like it. There's a few Mosquito models that I have found, but they are wooden models on plinths, toy models, and even a couple of WW2 models cast in brass and aluminium, made from what was likely to have been scrap metal. But I found nothing that even faintly resembles a wind tunnel model of a DH Mosquito. Perhaps your model is just languishing in a dusty attic, storeroom, or warehouse somewhere, unrecognised or forgotten?

 

[spacesailor]

I believe a lot of the museum,s parts were transported west, and some were " given " as payment for that haulage bill.

Was there a "Reg Ansett " DC aircraft in the museum bits, as l saw one off the Mitchell hyway, in a haulage yard,

spacesailor

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, Tasmag said:

What's your interpretation of 4(2) in that same act?

 

Mike

Under 'marché ouvert' (market overt in England), if goods were openly sold in designated markets between sunrise and sunset, provenance could not be questioned and effective title of ownership was obtained. The law originated centuries ago when people did not travel much; if the victim of a theft did not bother to look in his local market on market day—the only place where the goods were likely to be—he was not being suitably diligent.

 

The New South Wales Act specifically declared that there shall not be deemed to be or have been any market overt in that State. https://www.lrc.justice.wa.gov.au/_files/P89-R.pdf

[planedriver]

I donated a nice framed print of a Britten Norman Islander geo survey plane. Makes me wonder what ever happened to that, but won't loose any sleep over it.

[NT5224]

Four years back I gave my old Dad a  hand carved wooden model of a mosquito on his 90th birthday. I picked it up from a outfitters store in Darwin which imports them from Malaysia.

 

Dad served on Mossies 

(among other types) and was absolutely rapt to receive that model. It sits on his mantelpiece and he plays with it and cleans it everyday. He pointed out some minor inaccuracies in the model and wanted to write to the manufacturers to correct the design. Its his main talking piece now and whenever I speak with him he tells me about the mossie model and that leads into service reminiscences.

 

He loves that model, and yet the gift was purchased almost accidentally

 

Alan

[old man emu]

For the sake of us all, would you mind recording your Dad's stories? We must take all steps we can to record for posterity the history of the Common Man, no matter what they did. We are living in a world where there exist photographic records of every part of peoples' lives. We can't make pictures of what happened in the past, but we can at least record memories.

[NT5224]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

For the sake of us all, would you mind recording your Dad's stories? We must take all steps we can to record for posterity the history of the Common Man, no matter what they did. We are living in a world where there exist photographic records of every part of peoples' lives. We can't make pictures of what happened in the past, but we can at least record memories.

OME, absolutely. 

 

As a rule my dad doesn't clutter himself with material possessions, but he loves that Mosquito model. I hoped it would serve as a link to his memories as a 20 year old boy in the mid forties. My dad has been a life long and active pacifist (at great personal cost), he has some good memories of the last year of the war. He was young,  enjoyed comraderie,  teamwork, problem-solving and developed a life long admiration for German engineering. His recollections are tinged with sadness too, but he mainly remembers the good.

 

Even though he went on to an extraordinary life of achievement, his face has always lit up everytime he sees a DH Mosquito on TV or  at an airshow. I guess those were special times for him. And now, that wooden model brings him more joy than I could have ever imagined...

 

Alan