That particular Hurricane was never 50ft below the surface of the English Channel. It was more on land than in the sea, it was on a tidal beach very near protective high ground. What the sea and the tide could get at, was washed away and destroyed. The amazing part we see today, was dug from the sand and has always been one of the most spectacular exhibits in the RAFM.

A bit late catching up with this thread, but just to clarify on Hendon’s other BofB ‘saltwater’ wreck – Indeed, entombed in good Essex oxygen free saltmarsh for 33 years preserved the remains well, including much of the paintwork. Most damage not caused by the impact was the result of an underground fire. When finally re-exposed on the surface after all that time, one wing spar then lay in a pool of saltwater for a couple of years before the big recovery. Just that short period was sufficient to weaken it, so that when the ‘lift’ came, it was the first and only large fragment (save the Merlin) to break free.

70+ years in a saltwater environment takes the Do17 into a totally different league. Even though the outward appearance looks very much intact, there must be inherent weaknesses all over the structure by now. What might appear ‘large and sound’ may well retain little strength if most of it has been converted from a pure metal into some form of corrosion compound. Once recovered, that same aspect will continue to plague the conservation team as I am sure they are (by now) aware.
It might not come up in one piece – we will soon see – but hopefully there will be sufficient parts to make it recogniseable. In which case it will almost mirror the Hurricane, both in style and in interest. I think one of the early plans was to display both aircraft next to each other, but things might well have moved on since then.

Hi Bob,

Something tells me very little of the forward fuselage frame would be the same, if any of it. I imgine any attempt on a Henley would involve starting from scratch in that area. A long way to go with the Hurricane, although much will come together relatively quickly, so keep us in mind with the parts if and when they start to take up too much space.

Geoff

Hi Bob,

Not much to see that looks like a Hurricane at the moment on display, so you didn’t really miss out. Most of the on-going work is taking place off-site. What can be seen in the main hangar is the frame of the rear fuselage which was put together using wooden struts to test fit all the joint units that had been straightened – all except two are from the original Hurricane. As they are stainless steel the structure has been left in situ as a display item (together with just a few original struts and straightened bracing wires) with no worries about corrosion setting in – even though it is undercover!
The aim is to keep to the original bits from that machine rather than replacing with new or other Hurricane’s cast-offs. But if the original parts just don’t exist then we have to go elsewhere. If you are likely to be moving on your pieces, please pm photos of what might be moving.

Henley, now there’s a challenge. Half a wing lies at the far end of the main hangar, along with most of the ‘original’ skinning from the outer wings of LF363

Geoff

I quite agree with the neglected/confused parts of the Hurricane’s history. So many of the numerous books just repeat and re-package what has gone before. As for the Hurricane equivalent of “Spitfire, the History”? Yes, Martin Goodman has been working on the history of all the Hurricanes for the last few decades and intends to produce a series of volumes (grouping the various production batches to even out the volume size) giving the history of each airframe, complete with photos where available. Should fill a gap in many a reference book collection.

Graham,
By ‘mix’ I meant that the start of the batch was with DH but at some point the production line changed to Rotol. (Edgar Brooks date looks to be in the right area – is there a source for that?) However the occasional aircraft from that batch, and the third Hawker batch, are seen in photographs with DH props, usually in a Middle East scenario, and hence my additional comment.

Mason’s early works were ‘landmark’ for their time, but ‘typos’ and errors did creep into the later revamped and enlarged Hurricane book.

ME DH props – it is merely an observation from photos. If the observation is correct, I would guess it might be related to wear in the harsh dusty environment. Likewise, I have seen no such statement.

Agree with your suggestion about the Hawker second and third batches – probably very early into the third batch, or even the start, but I have no documentary evidence for it.

Richard,
Agreed, pure supposition, but we do know the end result – the aircraft is intact, so no need to speculate about many scenarios that would have caused damage/break-up that just aren’t there.
Likewise fingers and everything else crossed when the lift takes place. I really hope it goes well and the conservationists have something of promise to work on.

TO

I also remain a little unconvinced as to the scenario for the ditching as suggested by the BBC’s CGI….

Apologies, but a little late following this thread. Quite agree with Tangmere1940’s comment. I would have thought a wing tip touch, as per the BBC’s CGI, would have spun the aircraft around and potentially caused the aircraft to break up.

A more likely scenario would have been a good ditching with the aircraft settling level on the sea surface. Impact would have damaged/destroyed the plexiglass nose thus allowing an inrush of water from the front. The aircraft would soon have adopted a nose down attitude and with the added forward weight of the engines it would have continued to slide under water nose first. Air trapped in the rear fuselage would assist with an eventual vertical posture. Once the nose touched the seabed it would form an anchor leaving the (vertical) rear fuselage to move around with the vagaries of the tidal stream. That tidal stream effect on the rear fuselage and tail would be sufficient to gently flip the aircraft over as the air slowly escaped – so gentle that it would not break the aircraft’s back as it came to rest on the sea floor upside down. Had the tidal stream been in the opposite direction as the tail lost buoyancy, the aircraft could have been let down the right way up.