PROCRAFT: PROject Protection and Conservation of Heritage AirCRAFT

The Second World War (WWII) is often considered the golden age of aviation, but this air war has left a large number of remains in the European soil and in the sea: this massive commitment has caused considerable human and material losses. Even if WWII aircraft heritage has an undeniable historical and emotional value for Europeans, only recently these remains have officially entered the field of archaeology and cultural heritage conservation. Their presence in national museums is limited. They are often cared by numerous volunteers and associations.
PROCRAFT will face these challenges by connecting the multiple actors of the operational chain from recovery to exhibition. Scientists and associated partners (museums, associations, conservators, State representatives, mediators), from Italy, Czech Republic and France representing all the actors in this heritage chain, will pool and benefit from their joint expertise and capabilities.
Our purpose isto create innovative procedures and solutions for each key step in aircraft conservation: tailored techniques of conservation-restoration, smart coatings for outdoor protection respecting the requirements of cultural heritage safeguard, innovative solutions for preventive conservation in confined or semi-confined environments, guidelines for Al alloys restoration and conservation for nonprofessional actors.
The results of this project will:
- enhance and share knowledge about conservation of WWII aircraft, focusing particularly on the conservation of aluminium (Al) alloy components,
- contribute to its preservation,
- promote its dissemination and presentation to the public.

Programma: JPI Cultural Heritage, H2020, grant agreement No 699523
Durata del progetto: 2020-2023

Responsabile scientifico/responsabile DBC: Cristina Chiavari
Staff DBC coinvolto: Mariangela Vandini
Partner: Grand Patrimoine de Loire-Atlantique – Arc’Antique (AA) – Nantes, France (Coordinator), “A. Daccò” Corrosion and Metallurgy Centre of University of Ferrara (UNIFE), Czech Technical University
in Prague (CTU) - Prague, Czech Republic, Centre national de la recherche scientifique - Centre d'élaboration de matériaux et d'études structurales (CEMES) – Toulouse, France.
Associated partner: DRASSM (Marseille, France), DRAC Pays de Loire (Nantes, FRANCE), Toulouse Métropole (Toulouse, France), UNIWA (Athens, Greece), CIRIMAT-INP (Toulouse, France), LARAUniversité de Nantes (Nantes, France), AEROSCOPIA (Toulouse, France), Musée de l’Hydraviation (Biscarosse, France), Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace (Bourget, FRANCE), Volandia (Somma Lombardo,
Italy), Air Club & Fun (Argelato, Italy) http://airclubfun.it , Museo Storico dell’Areonautica (Bracciano, Italy), The Military History Institute Prague (Prague, Czech Republic), Ailes Anciennes (Toulouse,
France), AEOROCHERCHE (Toulouse, France), ABSA (Châteaubriant, France), AEROSCOPE (Bouguenais, France), MFC (Paris, France), Materia Viva (Toulouse, France).