In his last speech before leaving office this week, the American ambassador went out of his way to stress his country's interest in Britain remaining at the core of Europe.
"We are collecting in-service aircraft components to asses the remaining characteristics and capability in terms of stress and fatigue, " says Olivier Malavallon, project director of business development and change at Airbus.
He believes that with an infusion of private money, the course and several of the remaining estate structures could be restored and repurposed as a kind of sanctuary for soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, amputated limbs and other battlefield injuries.