Work starts to conserve last surviving Dornier at RAF Cosford museum
A meticulous cleaning programme on a historic Second World War bomber plane which is undergoing conservation work at the RAF Cosford museum has now begun.
The last surviving Dornier was lifted from the English Channel earlier this month after being shot down more than 70 years ago during the Battle of Britain.
Since its arrival at the museum near Wolverhampton the aircraft has been sprayed with citric acid in water as part of the first stage of the conservation process. And officials say they have now begun the cleaning work.
Darren Priday, deputy conservation centre manager, said: "The citric acid is to soften the plant life that is on the plane and will also dissolve and soften some of the salt water that will be on the plane.
"The citric acid is added to water, so we can get the right pH level so it does not affect the plane. It has started softening it already so we have been cleaning the bits off some of the small parts.
"In July I will probably call a few people in and we will start cleaning down the larger parts of the plane.
"We are hoping that by gently removing the marine growth we will find evidence of the original paint scheme. Some original paint is evident on the lower surface of the wing, inboard of the engines."
The spraying technique is being used for the first time by the museum and Mr Priday said he hopes it will be successful for them. The team has already completed the conservation of four steel wing bolts, which have been photographed and monitored for any change in condition.
The aircraft was pulled from the sea in a £500,000 recovery operation and a six-week mission involving 50 specialists.
