FirebexAbout the only vaguely accurtae fact I suppose is that the Vampire has its origins late in WW2 nicknamed the Spidercrab .It flew to late to take an active part in world war two but I suppose can be loosely said to be a ww2 jet but definately not the T11 ,although yet again its origins do trace back to the Mosquito as it uses basicaly the Mosquito cockpit area with a steel bulkhead front and rear,it is built in the same way over concrete moulds in two halfs then baked and the halfs joined together or should I say the first ones were.
Just goes to show how economical with fact the media can be except of course for dedicated aviation media who know better !!
FirebexHi
Now you have just reminded me, I was told there is a engine naccelle from
P6969, recovered via a fishing net ? It was in the late 80’s with a private collector in Cornwall.
cheers jerry
Now then thats a challenge thanks Jerry.
It must narrow it down to under a thousand so now then does anyone know of a likely candidate in Cornwall who might be the person sitting on an engine nacelle no less. Then the next question is who was the owner of the said fishing boat and where was he fishing when he snagged the nacelle?.
I know its all very long shot stuff but stranger things happen.
Has anything else of this aircraft ever been known to have been recovered.
Just as a by the by for many years off the Blue Grotto in Malta the fishermen complained about ripping their nets on a clump of rock on an otherwise sandy bottom.That clump of rock was in fact Z3055 (Hawker Hurricane) now standing ground running taxiable in the Malta aviation museums Air battle of Malta Hanger.
So Never say Never and never discount something that might sound a bit wild and not possible until you know 110% that it is.
FirebexOne thing that has amazed me through all these rounds of defence cuts is how the UAS always pull through seemingly unscathed. I get that they are a valuable intro to RAF Flying and being an awfcer, but against the background of the need for front-line jets/helicopters and equipment for troops they don’t come close, especially now with a decline in aircrew places.
I think Topcliffe is AEF motor gliders but Colerne, Church Fenton and Woodvale are other UAS/Tutor only bases, Wittering will become one and after the VC-10 minors are finished so will St Athan.
I really hate to see the drop in military flying and some wonderful old bases closing, but some of these descisions as to what bases are kept going just seem odd.
Half the Time the uAS squadrons dont seem to be very close to the university so why dont they put all the bases except one that only have UAS on care and maintenance or whatever they call it these days and put all the UAS stuff in one hole the same with basic training it would seem logical instead of spreading all the basic stuff around here there and everywhere to centralise that .Then when economics permit open up fully the stations you need again.
Another daft one is that At Leeming they have a Hawk refurbish and maintenance line and it is one of two in the country why do they need two doing the same job.I am all for keeping guys in works but why do we have to duplicate everything anymore ?sorry if its a bit controversial but if we aint got the money because we are giving it away in aid to folks who dont really need it then we need to make sensible ALTERATIONS not necesarily cuts.
But to coin a phrase of my eldest the powers at be seem to be a load of No Brainers !!!
FirebexDoes anyone please have a current contact with Westlands ?.
It has been some considerable time since the subject was last broached with them but it would perhaps be worthwhile as the finished aircraft is destined for a major museum(fingers crossed).To ask about their hack that was borken up and buried on the airfield in 1947.Something must survive the engines have I am assured long ago gone to the great test bed in the sky as they were used for test bed engines then sent to the local scrap merchant.
There are various stories around the aircraft ,It did exists ,it was buried on the airfield in 1947 but it was either broken up or used for practise on the fire dump first.The latter wont be helpfull but there should still be a good bit of basic stuff left.
Its just if we can get permission dear Mr Westlands to take a stroll around your airfield with some suitable detection equipment and then can we just park a JCB there for a couple of days whilst we do some landscaping ?.
Or something along those lines !!!!
FirebexThere appears to be an aviation technical museum in Rechlin (my German is lousy unfortunately).They seem to have a lot of stuff including ME262 I have dropped them a line to see if they have any knowledge being on their doorstep hopefully they will or at least know what became of the aircraft.
FirebexJerry
Going back to the old chestnut of the Whirlwind sent to the states ? and then allowed to fall apart so much so the engines fell into a power boat ?.
Is this the same one alledged to have survived into the 1970’s that the RAF turned down so it was burnt on the fire dump at a show ?.
Has any truth to the reports been established ? I know the base is long closed.
Mike
Firebex[QUOTE=bradleygolding;1705604]
Hello Firebex,
Jerry asked me about this soon after I posted it. I was searching the net in about 2001 and came across this reference to a part of a rear fuselage. The museum had apparently been closed for some time even then though according to one of the posts.
PS: Stu the virtual Whirlwinds are still flying in X-Plane.
Steve
Hi Steve
can you remember the article or the location of the museum ?.The refernce we had was last in 2000 yours sounds more modern unless the dates are confused.Jerry seems to think its near Rechlin and that is what we had been told.We had been led to understand it was actually some private collector who had tried to open a museum but had run foul of authority but how true that is I dont know.It could all be like a lot of things you hear of like aircraft down mineshafts etc.But if you dont follow up the leads some other lucky sod finds a gold mine of aircraft.Or worse someone not only finds them but earns lottery numbers by selling them for all the wrong reasons.
any leads appreciated as we now have contacts in Germany helping us
FirebexHi
If it was Germany I would suggest that it was most probably in the Rechlin area, as this is where SF-H (or parts of it) went.
cheers
Jerry
Hi Jerry
I heard rumours about something near Rechlin it was apparantly in a magazine article in 2000 but we cant remember the publication and the museum is /collection is apparantly closed/defunct I have two different serials for the aircraft concerned your suggestion seems the most plausible.
Does anyone please remember the article or even better have a copy of it or even better still know who,what ,and where this collection is ?.
FirebexThere is virtually nothing on the web.A trip to Rolls Royce or Hendon might be in order.
Just got the nod to examine as much as i like a mans Perigrine engines.So will be sorting a trip in the near future.
FirebexIt is all made harder to report when the definition of closed is so varied, there is Care and Maintenance, Relief Landing ground, RAF out and run by Army but airfield still used by RAF, RAF out airfield closed totally but Army running much of existing ground as barracks, Airfield sold, then leased back with only turnrounds and daytime operations with mobile support brought in by RAF.
Aaargh my head aches with the possible ways this could turn out.
But the Govt wants to save money and puts targets to MOD. MOD will fudge the outcome and will save money but the result will be very unhappy serving RAF people, they will end up being all over the place on detachments, rather than sending aircraft to fixed already manned bases.
Down here in Gods Country Top Cliff went army but the RAF still use a hanger and the runway for Tucano circuits and bumps but with the training cuts it could all go Army.Church Fenton is now pretty much jsu University air squadron and not a lot else.
FirebexLauchars was slated quite a while back, before SDSR even. Lossie is set to be the one remaining flying station for the RAF in Scotland and will recieve a major upgrade for the F-35 when it eventually arrives.
The way this government is hacking drasticaly I think that even the F-35 wont happen.
FirebexCracking journalism.
First the T11 is described as a WW2 fighter and it is apparently one of only two T11s in the UK! Where do they get these muppets
I dont know obviously someone who cant count.There ius one Near RAF Leeming we have got one and a half near Ripon so with that one there is three in the space of 40 miles I dead to think how many there are in th eMidlands.Air Atlantique has got how many is it two or three ?.Then there ar eso many in the south of England you could fill a Tesco’s carpark to overflowing and that does not include any of the other flying ones or the ones that Source had that someone was recently trying to flog off.(plus of course two in Malta plus a Venom).
FirebexIn other words, in the spirit of advancement, if we dig one (or two) up, is there something we should be looking for?[/QUOTE]
Undercarriage or major parts of would be a great help as would anything from the tail end and controls.An engine would be nice and anything to do with the centre section and radiators. Obviously cockpit but I doubt we would ever be that lucky as its right at the sharp end in an impact with solid ground.
Firebex[QUOTE=bradleygolding;1502313]The RAF/RAFM have nothing of any note of which I am aware (others may know more), and in my opinion have much to answer for by way of what has not been preserved or they have allowed to be scrapped.
I did a few years ago come across some references about a preserved rear fuselage in a European museum, Germany I think, but the museum had at that time been closed for a while and I have seen no mention of it since. So presumed it was just a rumor. Perhaps there is more?
Is there any further information on this report please,does anyone know of the museum and these references ?.
FirebexEdit: the post above asks whats left – Airframe Assemblies have a section of rear fuselage, and a couple of engines. Aside from small components, thats it.[/QUOTE]
I have been fortunate to have a long Talk with Steve today and he tells me he has the remains of Two Perigrines currently with RR and apart from an undercarriage leg some leading edge and a few twisted bits thats it.Definately NO rear fuselage unfortunately.But a very helpfull conversation and he is willing to help if he can.
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