There are all sorts of recoveries.., scrap yard,high ground crash, jungle airfield,underwater, restore to ferry flight. Depends on waht you mean by the phrase. And also how do you define not being a good result? Sometimes it has taken 10 years and many site expeditions to recover all the parts. On other occasions it has taken a new team to finish a job.

Overall the recovery and restoration of historic aircraft is in a very good state at the moment. Thee are several companies with good track records.

I fully agree, possibly by having learned from the past.
Take the recovery of Halifax NA337 for example. Due to the depth of the lake they built a special device called “Moby Grip” which was shaped like the wings leading edge and positoned next to the centre fuselage section. That way the stresses on the airframe were the lowest. Using a winch they inched the airframe to the surface. If the old way (floating bags, oh oh now the failed first recovery of Wellington N2980 now at Brooklands appears again from the dark depths of my memory) this could have brought some problems as one wing was severly damaged during the attack that caused the aircraft to ditch. It also took three attempts to finally bring Halifax W1048 to the surface, on the first, the outer wing broke away having been damaged as well.

Cheers

Cees

Well done, what a great job.

Cheers

Cees

At least the Kondor is being restored in Germany, so that counts only as a half:D

There was the Martin Mariner recovery by the US Navy in Lake Washington IIRC where the airframe desintegrated. During one of the Boston recoveries in New Guinea by the RAAF one wing and engine had to be jettisoned from the Chinook after it had started twisting and turning. There is the botched up recovery of Peter Cazenoves Spitfire from the Calais beach (now supposedly under restoration in the UK).

When recovering a wreck a lot of preparation is to be done before the actual recovery takes place. Some cases have proved that this still stands.

Cees

I have some questions on updates on british heavy bombers?

1. HALIFAX
Any more news on another Halifax recovery,?
what happened to project “57”?? and their planned recovery?
Is it viable to consider airworthy restoration of the next one?

2. STIRLING
Is there any prospect of a Stirling recovery?
I understood the RAF Museum was investigating one?
Is there still a project to build one from replica parts and recovered fuselage sections similar to the “Friday the 13th”
Is it viable for that to be built airworthy in stead of static?

3. LANCASTERS
Are any further Lancasters in Canada under rebuild to fly?
I see the Lincoln has gone to Australia but is not going to fly,
is the lancaster that went with it going to be rebuilt to fly?

4. LINCOLN
I see Argentina has two Lincolns, if the one going to Australia isnt going to fly has anyone looked at acquiring one of two in Argentina and bringing it back home to fly in the BBMF?

5. WHITLEY/WELLINGTON
Any further details on these restorations, any being considered for upgrade to airworthy outcomes.

HAL

“Hal”,

You really do have a lot of questions. What answers to you expect us to give?

Let’s see:

1. Halifax
Any more news on another Halifax recovery,?
what happened to project “57”?? and their planned recovery?
Is it viable to consider airworthy restoration of the next one?

There are two investigations underway at the moment, no news as of yet
so just wait and see.
With Project 57 you mean 57Rescue’s LW170 project? See above.
What do you think about restoring a Halifax to fly? A new built example would be the only possibility and that is not going to happen (unfortunately).

2. Stirling
Is there any prospect of a Stirling recovery?
I understood the RAF Museum was investigating one?
Is there still a project to build one from replica parts and recovered fuselage sections similar to the “Friday the 13th”
Is it viable for that to be built airworthy in stead of static?

If a substantial wreck was found, perhaps yes. The RAF Sub Aqua Club spent a lot of time on a substantial wreck in Norway but abandoned for reason of two MIA’s still aboard (THAT’s the reason to continue it IMHO).
That was decades ago and the allegedly spotted Stirling scrapyard in Egypt was long cleared.
Could be with major sections from LK488 being loaned to the Stirling Project by the RAF Museum but as I understand (feel free to correct me) they are just being used as patterns for drawings and the aim of the project is to build a forward fuselage only in the forseeable future, which is an enourmous task in itself.
What do you think (see above)

3. LANCASTERS
Are any further Lancasters in Canada under rebuild to fly?
I see the Lincoln has gone to Australia but is not going to fly,
is the lancaster that went with it going to be rebuilt to fly?

No, isn’t one enough? There are only a few sections of Lancaster,
not enough to restore one to fly.

4. LINCOLN
I see Argentina has two Lincolns, if the one going to Australia isnt going to fly has anyone looked at acquiring one of two in Argentina and bringing it back home to fly in the BBMF?

Perhaps you can make them an offer. These Lincolns are Argentinan property and part of their heritage. IMHO it’s a bit strange to think they can’t have their aircraft but should give it up to the UK. The BBMF is already stretched to the limit with the Lanc, a Lincoln (even after restoration) would place a great burden on the workforce. And they should probably be forced to sell some of the other aircraft to finance a restoration.

5. WHITLEY/WELLINGTON
Any further details on these restorations, any being considered for upgrade to airworthy outcomes.

Elliott’s Whitely project is a long term one but is going strong. The major boost would be to recover a substantial wreck. One was found in the Baltic but no news on that one. There are two complete Wellingtons on display in the UK with enough parts scattered over the country to build a third but that is not going to happen.

“Hal”, you have a lot of questions but as you might know it takes a lot of time, effort, and of course a lot of resources (funds) to be able to have any relistic hopes of starting and more important, completing such a project. It can be done. But these people/organisations are do-ers and take the time to get off their backsides to make a difference. If you want to see that one or more of these types are better represented, why don’t you ask yourself what you can do to help. I hasten to add that this is not meant to put you down but to get a better understanding of the enormous task of these projects.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Cees

We can always ask Kermit Weeks or scour the Canadian countryside for
bits and pieces (Lincoln in the lake as starter?).
Where’s a will there’s a way. Look what YAM did with their Halifax.

Cheers

Cees

Well done, preserving a bit of history.

Cheers

Cees