Scrapyard Photos; Any More?

Valiant scrapping at st athan

Pagen 01 there was a colour slide of a valiant being scrapped at st athan last week on e bay I’ll see if I can get some details

Some more pics from RAF St Athan but involving a slight thread drift. Some of these are not strictly on the scrapyard area but were being prepared for it so I guess that counts.

However as for Shack is concerned what do you want to see, Mk2s, Mk3s spare AEW2 etc etc. I have many from that era as well as a host of the Canberra and Victor aircraft that went to the smelter at this base. I also have dozens of photographs of the contents at RAF Catterick before it was Armyized.Just be patient and I will put some more up when I am not supposed to be working.

Ah great, I will look forward to seeing those, or indeed any Saints pics that you may have.

Thanks, James

The first is an Auster AOP9 (I think) marked XN44? Taken at Hallers car scrapyard just outside East Dereham, Nfk is 1968.

QuePee

QuePee
The Auster is one of four possibilities, XN440 was w/o 27/7/63 and I think is probably the one in your picture(is that a ‘0’ just visible under the shrub). XN441 still survives. XN442 was broken up at Akrotiri Cyprus in 1966(could be this one if the remains were shipped home), and XN443 went to the Middle Wallop dump in 1974.
Puzzle is if its XN440 what happened to it for it to be written off as it looks whole in the picture.

Richard

PMN
The Varsity was WL678 and was flown in I believe specifically for the use of the Fire Dept at LBA. I think it arrived sometime in late 68 or early 69 and as you can see it attracted some attention very quickly. More than this I do not know except that I do not think it lasted very long. This was just before the mass Varsity scrapping of Varsitys took place at Kemble so it just may have been one of the early arrival there before being allocated to LBA.

pagen01
Unfortunately I arrived in the St Athan area after the scrapping of the Valiants was complete, nothing remained by the early 70s. However as for Shack is concerned what do you want to see, Mk2s, Mk3s spare AEW2 etc etc. I have many from that era as well as a host of the Canberra and Victor aircraft that went to the smelter at this base. I also have dozens of photographs of the contents at RAF Catterick before it was Armyized.Just be patient and I will put some more up when I am not supposed to be working.

Glad you like the pics so far.

QuePee

Hi QuePee,

Would you have any info on that Varsity? LBA’s my local so I’m quite interested to know what happened!

Cheers,

Paul

The aircraft was sold to the airport in 1970 for fire training and lasted until at least 1985.

see the following

http://www.lbaspotters.net/apps/photos/photo?photoid=53305273

http://abpic.co.uk/photo/1244114/

The only other aircraft that was in the Hallers yard in Dereham was a RN Whirlwind. I have a photo of this at home somewhere and I will add when I get the chance. Does anyone know the likely full serial number for the Auster?

Unless someone else knows otherwise, it would seem that the Auster slipped through the net. In 1974 W&R IV has an entry for Scarning, west of East Dereham, to the effect that Whirlwind HAS.7 XG593 is kept by Haller & Son Co. Ltd.. However in 1968 W&R III has no entry for Scarning, or Haller’s yard, either in the main text or the scrapyard section. Thus one must assume that it arrived after the 1968 edition had gone to print and had gone before the same could be said of the 1974 edition.

Fascinating pics QuePee, thanks for sharing, I would love to see any more especially any taken at St Athan.
I’ve never seen pictures of the Valiants and Shackletons that were scrapped at Saints – here’s hoping!

Hi QuePee,

Would you have any info on that Varsity? LBA’s my local so I’m quite interested to know what happened!

Cheers,

Paul

The only other aircraft that was in the Hallers yard in Dereham was a RN Whirlwind. I have a photo of this at home somewhere and I will add when I get the chance. Does anyone know the likely full serial number for the Auster?

As for the Vulcan B2 XH533, i do not have the history and do not know why this aircraft was scrapped such a long time before the rest. Maybe someone on here can add their thoughts.
The only other picture of the Vulcan that I have was taken a little later on from an Islander of Humber Airways.
Finally some pictures of the mortal emains of the Varsity at Leeds Bradford airport.

QuePee

[QUOTE Vulcan in white and scrapped long before the other B2s – was it damaged by design or accident?
QUOTE]

This was the first B.2 and was used for trials before being retired to St Athan

more details here http://www.avrovulcan.org.uk/misc/533_stathan.htm

Thanks for posting, fascinating stuff. I’ve got a seat out of XH534, also scrapped at St Athan but a good few years later. Would love to see more!

Great to see these, especially the Vulcan in white and scrapped long before the other B2s – was it damaged by design or accident?
Its also great to look at the piles around the Auster to see if anything else can be identified.
More please, for this is my favourite long running thread!

Scrapyard Photos

This is my first post so be gentle with me if things dont quite work out as planned.
Scrapyards have always been a particular area of interest for me ever since my early days with a camera and I have many photos that may be of interest. I will start with a few from the early days to test the reactions.

The first is an Auster AOP9 (I think) marked XN44? Taken at Hallers car scrapyard just outside East Dereham, Nfk is 1968.

The other three represent the end (or very nearly) of the fist Vulcan B2 XH533 and were taken in September 19070 at RAF St Athan.

QuePee

This, I think, are the remains of a complete Vickers Valetta which was parked at RAF Cosford in the early 70s. Assuming it is the same aircraft it was in good condition and looked more-or-less complete when I first visited it. The photo was taken in 1974 or 5.

Note the radical attempt at balancing the starboard propellor…

Haven’t got any photos more’s the pity. However, back in 2002 I was in a local minibus driving past Qamishle airport, a town in northern Syria on the Turkish border. At the southern end of the field, clearly visible from the road, were 2 Syrian Arab Airlines DC4s (possibly DC6s – the driver was going some and I was a little taken aback with what I was seeing). Both were in full original scheme and still standing , but one had already lost it’s tail and a 1/4 of its rear fuselage and was presumably being scrapped.

Due it being a border town and with the sensitive nature of Syrian security I wasn’t going to go back to poke around. I haven’t any idea which aircraft they were, have found no mention of them anywhere else, and have checked google earth and both aircraft are no longer there.

Any ideas?

At the start of the EH-101/Merlin programme, there was some concern that the avionics fit was of a whole new level of complexity, and that the assessment and integration of the system would represent a significant part of the total programme.
Needless to say the priority in the assessment of a new prototype rests with tasks like; vibration, stress measurements, performace, handling………
It is unlikely that the mission system would get a look in until the basic vehicle aspects had been assessed.
With this in mind, arrangements were made to install the main components of the mission system into a Sea King, including the radar which gave it a rather grotesque appearance.
Known as the ‘Hack’ Sea King XV570 flew in its EH-101 role in 1986 shortly after the EH-101 prototype.
By the time PP-5, the fully equipped aircraft was on programme, the basic fuctions of the mission system, and test procedures were fully understood, thanks to the work carried out with the ‘unlovely’ ‘XV570’.
All this preamble is simply to introduce ‘Before and After’ photographs, to bring us back on thread.

well i just read this ENTIRE thread,, took me over 4hrs. No wonder i got nothing done today,,,,

Norfolk Scrapyard

Somewhere in South Norfolk……

Looks like a pair of Sea Vixens in the last pic too. I played there from around 1968 onwards. I don’t recall any engines or props still fitted. I also remember that the aircraft had been lowered by digging holes and pushing the undercarriage in. I also saw a video of them burning, which I think was made by a chap who bought a couple of Lightnings and sold videos to help raise funds.