Re: Whirlwind

Originally posted by EN830
There was a idea being bandied around 12 months ago of building one from scratch, (In 3 years) it seems to have died a death, though the website is still live.

I could try to contact the diver again to see if he would be interested in surveying the crash site, it could be a bit sensitive as the two pilots were lost with their aircraft. However I am in first hand contact with the family of one of them, and his daughter was quite keen to discover if he was still with his mount.

I can understand that being a sensitive subject , maybe best left alone .
Be nice to see one scratch built , along the same lines of the recently unveiled Boulton Paul Defiant , using some original components maybe ?? , wonder if the gentleman who has the remains of the one from Scotland has any plans for it ??

Geedee , if your thinking of sticking a big engine in a wee hull there’s a chap in Selkirk selling 4 Rolls-Royce Meteor engines(tank version of the Merlin ) , one is used £800 , three others in crates £3000 each . Keith at JEM Engines in Maddiston in Falkirk builds marine engines too and he also has a Merlin and various other big engines which he run’s up on special occasions

You could always hope that some of the airframe is protected by silt , but that’s probably wishful thinking . Wonder if there was enough of the Whirlwind left to use to build as a static airframe ?? , another gap filled in a list of extinct aeroplanes !!

Chap sounds like my brother-in-law ,Paul , he’s a BSAC Instructor and he never shuts up about diving , handy for borrowing videos and books etc though !! . Will there be much left of a Whirlwind after all these years ?? , it would be superb to see one .

GeeDee , the book I mentioned is called ” Boats In The Blue” by W.D Pereira ASIN No is 0907036228 , it’s still in print , hardback is approx £20 .The boats are powered by three Packard Merlins , it goes into quite a bit of detail regarding the engines , starting procedure etc ….. good book.

Sorry Ian , my mistake , on the back cover it say’s that the three engines and some metalwork are all that’s left of PT509 and all was to be left on the seabed as a memorial to the lost crew , a surviving PT Crewman Shelton Bosley was flown out to the Channel Isles , he was’nt on 509 but knew the men who crewed her , he was taken out on a dive to see the remains .
I’ve not actually watched it yet , I only got it from a workmate at the start of my shift .
Must have been a powerful beastie with 3 Packard Merlins !! , imagine the racket in the engine room !.

GeeDee , you want to get hold of a video called PT509 The Last Patrol by John Ovenden + Paul Haslam of Underwater Video Services 01534-484599 VHS 57min £9.99 , it’s the true story of a PT boat which ran out of torpedoes while attacking German Destroyers near the Channel Isles – she went in close to get some shots off with her 20mm cannon , collided with the destroyer and sank , it’s the true story of how she was found and they recovered the THREE Packard Merlins , all through the eyes of a surviving crew member.

Good ****

Originally posted by Twilight2002
Greek Air Force: “Antiquated sh#t”

60 F-16 Block-52
78 F-16 Block-30/40
20 F-16 Block-20 (NATO nuclear distribution)

60-90 EF-2002 / PENDING Olympics 2004

53 Mirage-2000-5
8 Mirage-2000EG

98 A-7H/C Corsair

Probably one of the best armed and best pending AF’s in NATO and some fuc#wit talks rubbish about antiquated technology. I’m sorry, aren’t the British still using Jaguars? Aren’t the Americans still using B52s?

What other NATO force can boast S-300s AND Patriots? Not many, if any.

HAHAHAHHAHA , That’s the best one yet , good one mate !!!