I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a touch of sarcasm R.e Sadsacks post, I can’t believe anyone, having seen an entire albums worth of song titles would then go for David Gilmour as the owner , surely if he were the owner it would be parked over in the dark side of the hangar, whilst he was learning to fly, etc etc ..( of course theres no dark side of the hangar ,its all dark)

The blades are still working when they touch the water, unless they are feathered, simply put they are pulling at the air in flight and continue to do so as they enter the water,it being denser than air, exerts a greater force on the blade than it can take resulting in the bend; the ground on the other hand isn’t just dense its plain hard! the blade reaches its critical point almost instantly, it has no chance to pull or claw at the ground and is forced back ,although marshy land by definition falls somewhere between the two ,and the wetter it is the more likely that the blade will get purchase on contact and bend forward. (of course I could be wrong!)

Colin thanks for your reply; I have an eye witness to the removal of the engine, he clearly remembers it hanging from a JCB, do you know any of the “individuals” who might have dug this site ; did they have permission? Do you have any info on the A/C ,ie date crashed, fate of the crew

I know where the “Exe” goes (its generally accepted that it marks the spot!); however the Exe was a piston engine similiar to the Vulture, does this mean someone in Rolls-Royce had a sense of humour?

Yes , your all right!! Thanks to Mark G for his “concise” explanation ; I do know that the collective term is “an alarm of pikeys” (ies) as in an unkindness of ravens, or flock of seagulls…

You have the right to remain silent…I notice the sign didn’t sell, but undeterred its back on at the full price.

R.e the discrepancies with the uniforms, could this photo be taken at a reunion, i.e some years later ,and maybe not even their A/C.

Unfortunately if you were building almost any other A/C then much of what you say would hold true,but because you use the magic word $pitfire, then you enter this twilight world of speculation, “data plate ” rebuilds, hoarding (same as speculation really) , misappropriation , and even theft (out of the ground as well as peoples garages) . Its mostly down to money although the $pitfire evokes a lot of deep feeling in people, some just want a bit others want it all. Your last statement that “the community is too small for crooks to p*ss off too many people” doesn’t seem to ring true here in the UK ;almost every day I hear another story of how so and so has “done it again” most of us know who they are ,but those that are just getting started get a baptism of fire; in a previous post I used the expression “all that glitters is not gold” that refers to reproductions being passed off as genuine, often with a bona fide provenance!! theres good money in it. Not sure how the museum registration thing works where you are ,here in theory it ties up loose ends, in practice things still get misappropriated or stolen, often museum storage facilities are remote even off site and far less secure, and sadly much of what goes on is an inside job. I can understand peoples reservations re donating or loaning items, even if everything was above board there is still the risk of storm damage or fire , and any powered exhibit has the ability to destroy itself ,whats left then?