Kinloss – environmental tests

[ATTACH=CONFIG]235589[/ATTACH]THIS IS THE DUMP IN 1977, AN MR3 A T4 AND THE REMAINS OF ANOTHER BADLY BURNT

When I was there from circa 75 the MR3 still had a couple of engines and at least one prop.

The T4 illustrated was not burnt at the time , though there was also the skeletal remains of the other T4 with mostly nose left and adajacent.

There was also a Meteor two seat with greenhouse canopy, sitting on the deck and can’t recall if had wings.

Other items included a Riley pathfinder and a strange Victorian looking 3 wheel engine powered ‘horse’ carriage, probably worth a fortune if it still existed! I think there was a lot of other stuff there at the time, though not as interesting at the time to an eleven year old as your own private Shackleton to play in! I remember passing years later to see the MR3 on fire with a Whirlwind and crew member dangling, could have been the mid 80’s.

There was a lot of oil etc soaked ground around at the time related to the fire training I expect. Hardly surprising it is baren, same as some crash sites.

Thank Cabbage and Scotavia for your replies.

I do hope the RAFM has held onto those Whitley parts. Its not always been the best custodian.

the Whitley remains were recovered from a high ground wreck site and stored in a Northside hangar until placed on pallets and flown south in a C130 for the RAF museum. A few bits got left behind and were dumped behind the hangar and later covered with a spoil heap,these bits included control lines runs and fragments of cockpit area.

Alleged Whitley remains?

Please tell us more.

Sorry, can’t give any more details. there was I am fairly certain a pile of wreckage that I was told was from a Whitley.

These are the mystery wings I was talking about. This area is to the North-East of the main runways at Kinloss, in a wooded section with tracks running through it.

THIS IS THE DUMP IN 1977, AN MR3 A T4 AND THE REMAINS OF ANOTHER BADLY BURNT

Quoting the “Scotland Scanned” book of that same year – “WB847 Shackleton T.4 (8020M) coded B arrived in 1968, ex MOTU, as a potential gate guardian – still largely complete on the fire dump.
A similar aircraft WB846 “Z” was finally burnt out in 1975.
WR953 Shackleton MR2C “F” of 205 sqn – burnt out shell remains on dump.
XF730 Shackleton MR3/3 “F” arrived 24/6/71 from 42 sqn – the last Shackleton produced for the RAF is still fairly intact on the fire dump.”

A pity there seems to have been a change of mind re the gate guardian idea.

Alleged Whitley remains?

Please tell us more.

I was at Kinloss from 1982 to 1989, and don’t recall seeing any Shack bits anywhere. There were I seem to remember a Buccaneer rear fuselage (for batle damage repair practice), and the remains of aledgedly a Whitley in one of the hangars on the Northern dispersal.
Incidently if the damaged forest area is at the eastern end of the airfield, that is where the 1st Mk.2 Nimrod crashed, after taking multiple birdstrikes, so the damage is more likely to be from that, than from any other form of contamination.

As a regular visitor to the bomb dump, I don’t recall seeing any aircraft wings anywhere near that area. The only “wings” visable were of the feathered variety, belonging to a very large number of obnoxious gulls and terns, who took an instant dislike to anybody disturbing them. These were nesting within the confines of the bomb dump.

I do like the no dumping sign

[ATTACH=CONFIG]235589[/ATTACH]THIS IS THE DUMP IN 1977, AN MR3 A T4 AND THE REMAINS OF ANOTHER BADLY BURNT

The wings were at 57.659833, -3.529576, next to a fire trainer. It looks like they used this area as a small car park and everything, including the fire trainer, was removed as of 2014.

No wings during my time, never had any reports of Shackletons in the woods and i saw the last remains on the burning area.

Hello Scotavia. Did you ever get a glimpse of the wings in the woods when you were up there? Could they be Shackleton remains?

My own exploration located Anson parts into the South East corner of the bomb storage area in the dunes in 1990,this area has now been covered by a development but theres likely still bits around the Findhorn foundation wind turbines. the Shackletons were at the East end burning area just between the approach lights and the public road.

I’m bumping this thread as I’ve had a look at Kinloss on Google Earth today; the perks of being off work thanks to some suspect conference grub.

The area at 57.651090, -3.535315 has been cited as a dump before, with photos of wrecked Shackletons posted on here apparently from this site. It looks like the soil is fairly contaminated with something here as nothing is growing. The coniferous forest looks fairly mature in the surrounding areas, so they might have tried seeding this area at the same time and found that nothing was coming up.

On a related matter, can anybody with good eyes identify the wings at 57.659833, -3.529576, dumped in the woods?

There’s a lot more imagery of stored aircraft at Kinloss on the NCAP website www.ncap.org.uk. Search 106G_UK_0169 to see Wellingtons, Warwick and Havocs stored in the dunes. This sortie also covers Lossiemouth with many Lancasters, Wellingtons and a variety of other types on the airfield and surrounding farmland. Subscribers can zoom in.
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RAF Cosford

Didn’t they scrap plenty of Spitfires, Lancasters and Mosquitos at Cosford?

WZ862

Not as far as I’m aware of!

No comments either about the aerial photograph that was used in the BBC report and mentioned in my OP!! :confused:

Any further news on the search for the hidden nuclear stockpile at Findhorn?

Aye indeed Tom. I’m sure you’re right.