I read an article a few years back about finds made while restoring aircraft at a museum. This got me wondering what everyone else has found while restoring their aircraft of cockpit section project?? Did yo ufind missing parts in deep corners or items from its past which add to the history?
When restoring our lancaster, there were a few smaller items found behind several panels and even inside the engine cowlings. When cleaning out a recent Bolingbroke, Blenheim fuselage, I discovered spent links and some cartridge casings under the floor near the top turret. Moving forward and cleaning out the cockpit floor of 50 years of dirt and leaves, I found pieces of original glass and some small indicator lights and radio parts.
By: Arabella-Cox - 15th December 2009 at 21:52
Discoveries
Not quite an aeroplane, but, I acquired an old (just-post war) RAF pilot’s (Lockyer) tunic top (complete with medal bars) which had a torn-out leaf from a note pad in one of the top pockets. It had a sketch on it of a flying circuit with heights and speeds (very low, must have been a Tiger Moth) required at the various turns. On the other side it had, jotted down, the bill for drinks at the mess.
Also, I acquired a wartime green flying overall recently and this very evening I undid the clip on the small inside breast pocket and found an Air Mail letter, dated 30 May 1943, from a relative or family member of the wearer (then, an LAC, Woodier). It was addressed to his flying training school in Transvaal and this has been crossed out and the letter re-directed to his (presumably)latest posting at 1 A/S BARAGWANATH.
He went on to fly Mossies with the Banff Strike Wing later in the war and only recently passed away.
Anon.
By: SpockXL319 - 15th December 2009 at 20:28
Starboard Leading Edge of XL319, down through a stuck solid inspection hatch, we found these
and inside the cockpit and into the H2S Radar area
one of the RAF lads deactivating the old gal
By: Zebedee - 14th December 2009 at 21:31
Ok… no strictly a cockpit section… a while back I bought some avionics from the Avro Heritage guys… turns out they are from the Nimrod MR1 test bed… attached to the back of one is a loverly handwritten note….
“NOT FOR FLIGHT”
Zeb
By: Kenneth - 14th December 2009 at 21:15
Many, many years ago I had the opportunity to sit for a very long time in the cockpit of the only Spitfire preserved in Denmark. Having a looong and close look at just about every corner of the cockpit I found a Greater Copenhagen train ticket from the early Fifties hidden somewhere in a corner (can’t remember exactly where anymore). I decided to put it back where I found it as I somehow felt it belonged to the aircraft.
However, I left the aircraft having this vision in my teenager mind of a debonair Danish Air Force pilot arriving by public transport (!) to the airfield and taking the Spitfire up for some spirited flying in the wonderful unrestricted and uncrowded air space of the Greater Copenhagen area in the Fifties, thereby loosing the aforementioned ticket from an unzipped pocket of his flying suit (!!) only to be found by me some thirty years later.
Much later it was determined that this Spitfire had actually been hiding behind a false identity for years and that it had never flown while in Danish Air Force service, having been used as an instructional airframe until someone found out it was the last one left and then giving it a new lick of paint and a “proper” identity.
The true origin of that train ticket is thus more likely to be found in an idle erk’s use of one R.J. Mitchell’s products as a dust bin…. sometime in the early Fifties.
By: Tango Charlie - 14th December 2009 at 21:02
Loose Change!
In addition to the obligatory birds nests we found a wasps nest in the port wing a mummified mouse “Sven” and a Swedish crown under the rear spar in the Mk 3 Proctor “KEX” on rebuild. The mouse now has a permanent home in his own wooden display case in the workshop.
By: TempestV - 14th December 2009 at 20:52
Meteor TT.20 WM224
During the conservation work carried out on the cockpit structure on Meteor WM224 in the late 80’s, lines of poetry were found written in pencil on the inner skins. The Meteor cockpit is double skinned, so this would have only been possible before during manufacture at Armstrong Whitworth around 1951..
By: ZRX61 - 14th December 2009 at 20:01
Was looking around the “Prince Of Van Nuys” a few years ago & each engine cowl had a birdsnest contructed completely from pieces of discarded safety wire…
During the resto of PA908 I found 17 bullet holes going in.. & only 11 coming out.. but no sign of the 6 bullets.
By: JagRigger - 14th December 2009 at 18:25
Found a dead lizard in a live Jaguar during maintenance ! 🙂
By: low'n'slow - 14th December 2009 at 11:22
Should also add; a very large rodent’s nest in a wing leading edge. Lots of hazel nut shells and their acid urine hadn’t done the metal fittings a lot of good either! Yuk!
By: hunterxf382 - 14th December 2009 at 10:56
On arrival at Metheringham about 5+ years ago now, we unfastened the engine bay panels on our JP4 XS186, and found a depth charge and a 500lb bomb in the engine bay………….
😀 Now that’s a classic….. :diablo:
Of all the things you might have found in a JP – those don’t make the list do they – brilliant!
:diablo:
By: Arabella-Cox - 14th December 2009 at 09:45
When I deriveted the fin on Meteor WA591 for us to restore it, I found a Gloster Riveting buck right at the bottom.
Must have been dropped and left during the build as the only way to get it out was to de rivet the skin. It had been sliding back and forth for some time looking at the witness marks on the skin it was sitting on and some damage to one of the ribs caused when it must have flown inverted. Bet it made a good clatter !!
Regards
Mark
By: pagen01 - 14th December 2009 at 08:45
What have you found when restoring your cockpit section or aircraft?
That is costs a fortune!
By: ozjag - 13th December 2009 at 07:32
I found the original key for the master arming switch behind one of the side consoles in my Jaguar cockpit, I was quite pleased with it actually as I never thought I would ever get one.
Paul
By: Arabella-Cox - 13th December 2009 at 06:51
On arrival at Metheringham about 5+ years ago now, we unfastened the engine bay panels on our JP4 XS186, and found a depth charge and a 500lb bomb in the engine bay………….
Left over from her days as a bomb disposal aid at North Luffenham, and quite safe, except for trying to get them out, one slip and they would have gone straight through the fuselage!
By: RMAllnutt - 12th December 2009 at 20:17
I found a bunch of strange confetti inside an RA-24B Banshee I was taking apart for rebuild a few years ago. The Banshee (Dauntless) was used by MGM as a wind machine at one time, and we figured that this stuff must have been from those days. We also found an NOS panel, rattling inside the wing section, with no possible way for it have found its way in there other than being sealed up by accident during the original manufacture of the aircraft. There were a number of really bad manufacturing faults on this airframe to be honest, such as rivets shot through the skin attached to absolutely nothing, rivets hit too hard, or not enough, and even the odd smiley face here and there… Makes you wonder if the plane was made on a Monday 😀
Cheers,
Richard
By: bentwingbomber - 12th December 2009 at 20:15
When we restored Spitfire SM969 we found some very interesting notes left inside the skin work.
Also found a BA spanner inside EP120 when we picked her up from St Athan.
By: Peter - 12th December 2009 at 19:07
Interesting finds.. One has to be careful about finding any critters inside the aircraft..!
By: Deryck - 12th December 2009 at 18:53
We discovered a 1940’s aviation map of the Toronto area in the baggage compartment when restoring a Harvard Mk II for museum static display.
Not many places to land in the area in those days!
By: Fouga23 - 12th December 2009 at 17:38
Even more fortunately, I haven’t found any spiders yet 😮
Those were in mine:D that and about 5 hornet nests!
By: Rlangham - 12th December 2009 at 17:35
Massive birds nest inside a Hudson tail, fortunately no birds (or remnants of). Also the signature of the woman that built it.
Even more fortunately, I haven’t found any spiders yet 😮
Although this little stowaway gave me a fright at Waddington Airshow http://www.austerclub.org/phpAlbum/main.php?cmd=imageview&var1=Waddington+2009%2Fiac4.jpg
Sign In
December 12, 2009 at 4:38 pm