The memorial was / is at Shotgate which is not too far from Battlesbridge.
This link tells the story

http://ww1talk.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-2268.html

From what I found during a websearch Zeppelin L48 also crashed somehwere in the area and there is also another memorial as well to a Hurricane pilot.

http://airfields.fotopic.net/p55000646.html

The whole XH558 saga seems to have been a bit of a sorry one.
Like others I admire the efforts of those who got her back in the air and the fact that she has flown at all and has continued to fly for a while is the positive side of the whole project.
I also appreciate that without lottery funding it is extremely unlikely that this would ever have happened BUT many of the constraints imposed by lottery funding seem to have placed a millstone round 558’s neck.
As I understand it much of the wage bill goes to pay people who are employed to meet the demands imposed by the HLF including Dr Phleming and professional fund raisers and accountants. I fully appreciate the fact that there seems to have been no alternative to employing these people but I have never donated simply because I felt any donation was largely paying to employ these people with little actually going to pay for the actual upkeep of the aeroplane.
In contrast I was glad to put my hand in my pocket (admittedly for a comparatively small amount) to donate to save the Blackpool HS 748 because it was very clear that all my money went on the costs of saving the aeroplane -not mainly to administrators with the odd few coppers left over used to buy a lock washer or two for the aircraft.
Through my job I have seen the amount that some charities are now paying to professional fund raisers and having seen what some fundraisers earn in commission there is no way I would give to a charity through a fund raiser who approached me in the street to get me to sign up for a monthly donation.
I am sure I am not the only one who has held back from donating to 558 because I was uncomfortable with the amount of money sunk into administration etc.
I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe the HLF needs to re evaluate their requirements for the involvement of professional “money men” in HLF funded projects so that other projects don’t incur such huge financial overheads to cover admin costs although I do understand that HLF need some assurances that Lottery money is being used correctly.
Unfortunately I have not seen 558 since she got airborne again and now it seems possible that I never will. Although jets aren’t my main interest I have to admit that the Vulcan is a spectacular sight and I can understand why the sight of such a distinctive and noisy aeroplane appeals to members of the public with little other interest in aviation.
I will be sorry if 558 is grounded but what makes me even more sorry is that there is a good chance that the money wrangles linked to the project will be remembered far more than the fact that she ever returned to the air at all.

If you can’t run to an airbrush the small Revell sprays are pretty good. They used to be better than Humbrol because Revell used a more finely ground pigment which gave a smoother finish.

I found the new fence a few weeks ago when I went to investigate the possibiltiy of spare parts for G-BEJD. I hadn’t driven up Aviation Way for a long time and lots had changed.
It is true that the golf course and some other areas are still relatively easy to access but a credible security plan doesn’t mean having barbed wire fences and water filled moats on all sides – it surely simply means that patrols and fences combined are regarded as offering an acceptable level of security.
Of course it is always possible that the police hut is unmanned because the occupant is out patrolling the site to make sure it is secure rather than sitting on his behind in a nice warm hut but why look at the positive aspect of an unoccupied hut when the negative aspect lends far more credibiliy to your arguement.

Interesting point is that back in the late 60s the airport was far more busier than it is now. Channel Airways aquired one or two BAC 1-11s and Tridents, don’t remember any complaints then, the locals expected noise because it was an airport!

At the time that Channel Airways acquired the BAC 1-11’s and Tridents it was planned to extend runway 33/15. This made more sense than extending 06/24 as 33/15 had flight paths across less densely populated areas and it was comparatively cheap and simple to extend the runway into the fields at the Rochford end although there was the problem of the potential obstruction caused by Warners Bridge.
A very active anti-jet lobby stopped the plans. As a result Channel Airways were forced to move most operations to Stansted and ultimately this may have been the catalyst for the financial problems that spelt the end for the company.
The lack of a runway which could handle anything other than the smallest jets left Southend with no prospect of attracting more airlines and the airfield gradually became run down.
The short sighted decision to do away with 33/15 and sell the end of the runway and surrounding land for a retail park in comparatively recent times has left the lengthening of 06/24 as the only option if the airport is ever to be anything much more than a maintenance base. It is far from ideal as the road diversion and lowering the railway must have cost far more than any extension of 33/15 would ever have cost and far more people will be disturbed by aircraft noise.
Had the 60’s plans gone ahead we would have had a thriving airport years ago (instead of years of it being perceived as a millstone around the council’s neck0 and we would almost certainly have had far more employment in the area.
I lived under approach in Leigh-on-Sea for about 15 years from 1967 and remember a neighbour trying to get up a petition to stop all flying. We had a large park on the opposite side of the road which was probably about half a mile from touchdown on 06. Our neighbour insisted that light aircraft on climb out were intentionally diving at his house to terrify him as he had previously complained about aircraft noise. I explained to him that the park was probably the best place to attempt a landing if someone had an engine failure on take off and that what he was witnessing was practise for a potential forced landing but he refused to believe me. Needless to say neither I nor my parents signed the petition.

Fully appreciate the reason for waiting for the paperwork. More than a few people in the preservation movement have landed up with burnt fingers and /or a lot of wasted effort by jumping the gun and then finding someone changes their mind and the paperwork fails to appear.
It is a shame that the delays mean that the weather is getting colder and available daylight less and less each day which will make the job all the more difficult when the time does come.

If my French is correct the article about the Argentinian Mignet’s says that Mignet either built LV-X5 and LV-X6 or had them built in Argentina with the intention of setting up a factory there but the authorities dragged their heels over certification so he abandoned the idea and moved on to Brazil.