The Hurricane wasn’t a dead end per se – as already mentioned, there is a fair bit of similarity under the stressed skin on the front of the Typhoon, and there is a developmental line from that to the Hunter (some of which was on paper only, such as Jet Fury that eventually became P1040).

It’s also interesting to speculate how Mitchell might have developed his designs if he had lived

Beleived to be. Last time seen in public would have been Fairford in 2003 I think. Presumably still pretty much the same state as shown below

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/swift/survivors/xf114fairford.jpg

Re SAAF ones, I meant disposed of straight to scrap rather than through the usual Everret/Witham etc disposal route (and with a degree of secrecy too). And I was using it as an illustration of how rare Pumas have been on the disposal market

Speaking of Bruntingthorpe and Meteors, I always fouind this story that Whittle had flown one of the remaining f1s in 1954 a little unlikely – anyone know?

Whittle would naturally have been a fairly frequent visitor, and on 19 October 1954 flew one of the two remaining Meteors, despite not being cleared to do so.

From p.11 http://www.rafanddfsa.co.uk/Nov16.pdf

There is not a lot of published information about this. Info in the National Archives seems to be mainly to do with purchase and in Foreign Office files (It was early in the War in Dec 1939 rather than pre-War). This link has some information, especially about the political nature of the proposed buy (in terms of keeping Italy out the War)

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=28572

I always envisaged the Re2000s would have been shipped to Mid East or Far East if they had been delivered. If you wnat to play what-if regarding engines, an American engine might be a possibility.

1:30 – the original factory Earth/Green and Sky under the wing root fairing. Something researchers have been argueing about for years.

And later on, clear view of Sky wing undersides overpainted with Azure blue

This was such a time capsule and important research artefact.

My understanding is that the UK Govt gave up title to all wrecks/crashed aircraft, and the PMR Act was brought in to prevent wholesale digging up of what might be war graves. Thatr’s why the wreckage in the UK is protected. The USN, on the other had, retains title to all it’s crashed aircraft.