The museum is now open to offers / swaps regarding the whole of the aircraft as it lies now INCLUDING the cockpit. We have a reasonable idea of the value of the cockpit and the weight of the fuselage so we can’t let it go for pennies,JK

Would that be around 3,200 GBP perchance! 😉

Hi 611 Squadron – We are still struggling a little with his RAF career – we have dates of enlistment and promotion, as well as a rough idea of when he was injured and transferred to the ATA. But despite extensive trawling through the records at the PRO by Alan, no trace of him has been found. Even getting in touch with his relatives has not helped much in this respect, as his sisters were very much younger than him, so had no information and his widow, although happy for our project to go ahead, did not want to become involved – too many sad memories, I feel – and quite understandable. So we still have little to go on, other than a few family tales, with no place names or Squadron Nos. plus a few comments in the AIB report and his obituary. So the project remains open & we hope to get a break one day!

One of the witnesses on the day of the dig, certainly gave a graphic account of an aircraft clearly suffering from some form of mechanical problem. However, the engine shows no apparent evidence of this – in fact it’s like brand new! – It had only done some nine hours! The valve gear is all intact and shows no signs of failure, ruling out a dropped valve, which would fit with his description. Another possibility would be an ignition problem, but much of the harness was ripped away as the engine buried itself – so no smoking gun there. The engine does appear to have been running at impact, though perhaps not at anywhere near full power – gouge marks from a turning reduction gear breaking free are present, as well as a big end shearing off as it came to a sudden halt and rotational gouges and bearing failure around the supercharger gearing – all seem to point to it having been turning and stopping very suddenly!

Although several instruments were found, they were all in pieces and certainly no possibility of any readings – The same with the throttle quadrant, which was totally smashed, as were the trim controls. We do now know that the canopy was still with the aircraft on impact, so as it was noted as open by witnesses, it must have been slid back rather than jettisoned, so bailing out was obviously not Fairman’s first instinct? as it must have impeded his exit? All the witnesses do seem to agree that the aircraft was circling the village at a low altitude for several minutes before the crash and although it was seen flying erratically just before its final dive, none spoke of “aerobatic” manoeuvres. Sixty-five years after the event, we never expected a definite answer, but in our opinion the pilot was definitely in trouble and knew it – But sadly left it too late, for whatever reason, to abandon the aircraft.

A couple more to whet your appetite – the impact site was now under a rockery feature in a front garden of a rather large house in a decidedly up-market area!

Photos

A few photos to be going on with 🙂

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I heard rumour just today that one may be being unearthed down south very shortly so we shall wait and see.They might like it back but do they seriously have the time and resources to do anything with it ?. I doubt it and would they be more likely to let a group of enthusiasts build one and perhaps offer it to them or similar emporium on loan for future display I think more likely.

It doesn’t matter if they have the time or resources to do anything with it – It’s written into the licence that they can claim anything they like and it seems that they have started to exercise this right. Fighterace has a point, this is a rare beast and that could easily arouse their interest and you could find yourself conducting a very expensive excavation – if the sites are as difficult as I suspect – and ending up having to hand the choice finds over at the end of it .

This set of photographs were taken on 2 April 1979 at a real scrapyard, ie Siddal nr Huddersfield. QuePee

Minor correction – Halifax not Huddersfield – That brought back many memories – including putting my foot through the Vulcan wing which was still there on my first visit and getting well & truly stuck 😮 The state of anything that had been in the yard more than a few months was dire due to the chemical ash that seemed to cover everything – I remember the Bristol Hercules power eggs near the entrance, which we were quoted £40 each to buy. The pile of overgrown helmets was very poignant IMO & I recall taking several photos of them, also the Victor cockpit – unfortunately they are all on slide and in storage.

Looking at them again – the overpowering smell of the smelter is even coming back to me now!

The R101 ladder (lot44) sold for £30. I assume to a collector. Expensive firewood if not to a collector.

Said buyer was more than a little shocked when he arrived to collect his ladder – it is a huge wooden multiple stage extending ladder about 30 feet long when not extended, together with its wood framed, axle equipped base and a massive iron pulley mechanism that was originally mounted on top of the base frame. The wooden parts are definitely showing their age and it is all massively reinforced with iron brackets – the whole thing must weigh two to three tons – plenty of scrap metal and as he declined to take it, it is now awaiting the next passing scrap dealer 😮