N.WotherspoonInteresting frame its sitting in……
Mike
Hadrian?
N.WotherspoonNot sure as regards on aircraft, but Citroens used to have stainless steel bands crimped in a similar fashion to this to lock them in place as hose clips – Once you got them off, it was impossible to get them back on without the right tool – I think the brand name was Ligatex.
N.WotherspoonNot sure as regards on aircraft, but Citroens used to have stainless steel bands crimped in a similar fashion to this to lock them in place as hose clips – Once you got them off, it was impossible to get them back on without the right tool – I think the brand name was Ligatex.
N.WotherspoonHaving two prolapsed discs, this is probably not the best hobby for me! 😮 So I have been collecting Flexello wheels for a while to make trolleys to put under various items, so they can be moved around without having to resort to lifting. below is the frame for the Merlin – the wheels certainly seem up to the job, but it still takes two people to get it moving!
[ATTACH]202137[/ATTACH]
N.WotherspoonStill on the Nimrod theme – seems a bit of an expensive garden ornament to me?
N.WotherspoonWhen it came to moving a Vixen cockpit off a trailer in a very tight yard and into a confined garage I really was in awe of the trolley jack and plank manoeuvering kills of our Timbo and Bamel!:)
Have manoeuvred a few disabled cars in tight workshops the same way – you do need a big enough trolley jack though. Tried putting swivelling castors on one end of my recent Merlin frame to make it steerable, but found the weight tends to make using them effectively difficult.
Is that a Volvo Amazon I spy in the second photo? 🙂
N.WotherspoonWe have used various Heath Robinson methods in the past – the vision of an early Canberra cockpit almost rolling over on to its canopy, not to mention on to the individuals trying to keep it upright, as we dragged it across a playing field with a tractor still haunts me! These days I have to say, spending a little extra is well worth every penny – the implications of something going wrong are likley to be far more serious than a burnt out clutch – yes I’ve done that too – Pegasus vs Volvo Amazon on a steep farm track! Little things like towing capacity of the vehicle, trailer load weights etc can soon mean, at the best, big fines!
To this end, today’s method of choice would be Tommy Stafford – highly recommended 😀
[ATTACH]202133[/ATTACH]
N.WotherspoonAndy – Tried to reply to this via PM – Your Mailbox is full again!!! You must be popular! 😉
N.WotherspoonWhilst interviewing witnesses to a crash near Southport a few years ago, this subject often seemed to crop up as there was an aircraft target range in the vicinity. It was mostly used by Mosquitos and the pilots apparently had strict lanes they had to use to approach the target area and equally strict rules on when they could open fire. Now the range was strictly out of bounds to the young lads in the area, but they knew that many pilots opened fire a bit too early and the fields below the approach lanes would usually be good for 20mm casings – It was less fun for those who had been a bit older and had to work in the fields and a passing Mossie began firing early – being hit by one of these cases left quite a bruise it seems, but this was pretty rare and no one was seriously hurt. I would have though that a casing has a certain terminal velocity no matter what height it falls from, though these were pretty low according to the accounts.
I believe fuses from exploded anti-aircraft shells were much more dangerous and there is a documented case locally of a man killed in his bed by one that came straight through his roof, ceiling and then him 😮
N.WotherspoonWPG STATEMENT the suggestion of “planting something to find” is just outrageous! Not only is this hugely condescending, but it goes against everything that archaeology stands for! Surely that statement is a massive embarrassment for L.A.I.T.?
Hi Lee – As you have mentioned me by name several times in your post, I obviously feel compelled to reply – Though, firstly I would like to clear up the matter in the quote from your post above – I did not make any suggestion about planting finds – I simply responded to what was clearly flippant suggestion by another poster on this thread. I fail to see how anyone would take this seriously and to suggest that myself or anyone from our group would in anyway interfere with a site as a spoiler for another group is IMO quite out of order.
Other than that – Thank you for posting this “statement” as it is the first public indication of what actually happened on this project to have come from your group and is highly informative. It is good to hear that you surveyed the site and have such experienced members – However I do find it a little odd that you say we are “on the same-side”, yet I have never heard of your group, nor am I aware of any of the 400 investigation / excavations you have carried out – even though you are on our doorstep – so to speak. I do find this strange as we correspond with many other groups, including sharing research, resources and occasionally projects – perhaps you could let us know more about yourselves?
I am sorry if you feel my comments were in any way mocking you – they were certainly not intended as such, I was simply making observations based on my actual experience and knowledge of the site – NOT merely assumptions. When I first suggested investigating the crash site of HeIII, Werke No. 2989 – I did get a few raised eyebrows from members of our group and other groups we contacted – But we had clear and achievable aims for our project, based on our ongoing research project into the incident – i.e. to pinpoint the impact site and carry out a detailed electronic survey of the area. Personally I am satisfied that nothing remains at the site – but I am quite prepared to be proved wrong and wish you luck – We come across many of these stories concerning buried aircraft remains – we would all like to think that surely some of them must be true?
[ATTACH]201934[/ATTACH]
Our meagre finds – The parts we can attribute with reasonable certainty to the aircraft – the two larger circular objects to the bottom centre are: left; part of an ammeter from the aircraft’s instrument panel and right; a tap from an oxygen bottle. The small aluminium buckle is, we believe, from part of a crewmember’s equipment as it matches similar buckles we have seen found at other crash sites. There is only one bullet cartridge casing in this photo, which is definitely German and of the correct date and calibre – we did also find several similar broken ones.
[ATTACH]201935[/ATTACH]
We found several of these scattered over the area – it is all that is left of a German magnesium 1kg incendiary bomb after it has completely burnt out – probably relics of an earlier air raid.
[ATTACH]201936[/ATTACH]
Souvenier apparently made by one of the barrage balloon crew that were partially credited with bring the HeIII down – it is made from aluminium from the aircraft and we understand each of the balloon team got one of these – it was given to one of our members during our research, interviewing witnesses to the incident and relatives of those connected to it.
N.WotherspoonCounty Archaeologist dragged their heels for over eight months, and time ran out.Chris
Good to get this thread back on course – Chris – can I ask – what was the reason behind this? was there a known archaeological site / feature likely to be disturbed?
N.WotherspoonAll of the Vulcan seats that have been through my hands, including the pair I still have that are fully kitted out and complete have the BTRU’s, as does my Hunter seat. They aren’t exactly ‘dangerous’ unless you trip the thing and have your fingers in the mechanism at the time
Hi XF940 – Sorry obviously getting my MBEU parts mixed up – I have had three at various times, but all incomplete – The item on the right with the big red DANGER panel on it – drogue gun? EOD were pretty happy to take it away – Eventually!
N.WotherspoonPossibly the original shufti-scope?
OK, I’ll see myself out!
Resmoroh
After a suggestion like that, I should think so too :p Could explain the discolouration of the brass I suppose, but don’t want to go there 😉
N.WotherspoonNot ebay, but of similar eye watering expense. Polished Vulcan seat:
http://www.rauantiques.com/item/Vulcan-Bomber-Ejection-Seat.29-5458.html
Now that’s some serious polishing!!!! However, isn’t that the barometric firing device still in situ – thought these were always removed when bang seats are taken out of service, as it is not a part that can be easily deactivated?
Found one on a dig a few years ago and caused me all sorts of problems 🙁 (Had no intention of trying to keep it – just wanted to do the right thing with it!)
N.Wotherspoon… One more mangled Hurricane or Spit with the teeth of some poor ****** embedded in the gunsight..? Utterly pointless and vulgar, leave it alone;- a point that long overdue to be made.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course – However in this case I have to say it is your stereotype I find pointless and vulgar! As for “well documented” – crash sites may be now, but that has not always been the case and much of the work identifying and locating the sites has been done by those with a “fetish” for tracking them down.
Yes I may be obsessive in attempting to document over 2000 incidents in the North West of England – identifying the sites, recording the names of those involved and publishing the results of this research in books, magazines, TV documentaries and online – but the feedback I get, including from relatives, tells me this work is appreciated.
The purpose of this thread was IMO to clarify problems in the process of obtaining permits in different parts of the UK – I don’t really see where your post fits in – unless it was simply deliberately antagonistic – In which case I have walked right into your trap? :rolleyes:
Sign In
