N.WotherspoonI have often thought that Time Teams’ descent into farce began with the wearing of such hi viz but ultimately useless clothing. 😀
Can only comment on my own experience, but find that when working in close proximity to large excavating plant machinery I would say Hi-Viz is an absolute necessity if you want to ensure the operator can see you! – On our TT project we had two 20 ton tracked machines and with so many people – diggers, film crew etc it was sensibly mandatory require everyone to wear Hi Viz PPE?
N.WotherspoonPhoto of WD377
Try “Chipmunk – the first fifty years” by Fisher, Brown & Rothermel, published by Air Britain, 1996, ISBN 0851302459
WD377 entry is on page 24, includes photo taken at Turnhouse in 1964 – only have a poor photocopy I’m afraid, but PM me your address (my study is a tip as usual, so don’t have it to hand) & I will post it to you.
N.WotherspoonOne of the very first crash sites I ever visited was that of a 316 Squadron Mustang III, Serial No. SR411 in the early 1980s and one of our earliest finds was a heavily corroded .50 Browning. However, the gun was a bit of a mystery, being found just below the surface in a shallow gully bordering a footpath some 200 – 300 yards from the impact site – It was on its own with no mounting brackets or even bolts still attached and the breech cover had been removed and was found nearby wrapped in what appeared to be the remains of sacking material.
Several years later the gun (officially declared no longer a firearm after police inspection) was one of a number of artefacts placed on display at a local library. The display proved particularly successful, in that several witnesses to the immediate aftermath of the crash came forward. After a long chat with one individual, he opened up and related how soon after the crash he had returned to the site, with some tools whilst it temporarily unguarded – apparently those detailed to stand guard had retired to a local pub!. Together with a couple of friends, they removed a machine gun from one of the wings, which were laying relatively intact on the surface. Not wanting to risk a meeting with the returning guards on the only access track whilst carrying their booty, they hid the gun in a ditch some distance away, intending to return for it once the authorities had left. However, shortly afterwards the friends apparently had a run-in with the law over some questionable rabbit hunting and they lost their nerve and never returned for it!
N.WotherspoonWhile not my thing, I am curious to know if the relic`s which purport to come from Gibson`s Mosquito are genuine, what do people think ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/R-A-F-Mosquito-Relics-KB267-Guy-Gibson-V-C-617-Sqd-Crashed-Holland-19-9-1944-/221762400933?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item33a211b2a5
I’m afraid I cannot throw any light on the Mossie item, but I can say his recent auction of a piece from Major Borsodi’s YP-80 is very unlikely to be from that aircraft!
N.WotherspoonPossible ID
Last two Cheetah rocker cover?
N.WotherspoonGone!
As some of you may have seen in the papers, today was forecast to be a record high tidal surge, dubbed the “tide of the century”, which also meant, of course, that equally low tides would take place around our coast. So armed the the exact GPS location coordinates from some of our member’s previous visits to the P-38, we met up on a car park in North Wales to see what had become of the dubiously christened “Maid of Harlech” (sorry but I hate that contrived title!). The result was not necessarily a surprise, but should render many of the arguments on here somewhat academic now as the channel the aircraft lay in has moved and it is once again entombed under several feet of sand! It may be some time before she re-emerges, but at least in the meantime the deterioration that our members observed over their visits should at least now be slowed?
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N.WotherspoonTT were certainly very sensitive to this issue and I am sure the situation was handled correctly and with due respect – in fact when discussing the details for our Warton A-26 project, their criteria was quite definite, in that they wanted to avoid any possibility of “accidental” discovery of human remains on future aircraft themed excavations.
N.WotherspoonI recall the Spitfire diorama too – the exhibit caption suggested it was one aircraft and was found along with the pilot’s remains? But obviously it contained excavated and non-excavated parts. I seem to recall a Napier Sabre engine from a Typhoon nearby and next to it a steel rack of 20mm Hispanos which IIRC were captioned as being from the same aircraft. Photos were allowed at the time and I took a few (pre-digital!), but they are packed away at the moment and I think I only took ones of the diorama and the 20mms.
N.WotherspoonSaw that too Ian – used to read his “forum” for a laugh, but my login was revoked shortly after I highlighted one of his 617 Squadron Lancaster items was actually a chunk of Wellington – Any item with provenance in the form of a convenient luggage tag “museum label” will never be trusted again!
N.WotherspoonGuys, there is no doubt about the identity of my cases (I have quite a large collection of similar items) the question is how did they come to be in the garden.
A few years ago I was searching a back garden and found a 20mm Hispano case and on showing the owner he promptly produced two more – now we were searching for the crash site of a P-51K – definitely not a candidate! so I was a bit puzzled (BTW it turned out to be under the front garden anyway!).
Looking in detail I noted my case had come from the edge of a fenced ménage area and both his had been found whilst raking the sand covering the ménage itself – so I asked where the sand had come from – turned out due to the quantity required it had come direct from the extraction company working off Southport beach and the Ribble estuary – an area used for ground to air and air to ground firing training during WWII (HMS Queen Charlotte land based gunnery school, Ainsdale, Southport, and Banks Air to Ground Firing Range).
So mystery solved and probably lucky their was nothing more substantial in his bulk delivery! 😀
N.WotherspoonNot going to join in the theological debate (Despite being a clergyman’s son – or possibly due to that fact!) but as a collector of WW1 Trench Art I have always found things fashioned from military equipment and munitions fascinating. Around the area I live there are still the odd farm trailers with wartime surplus aircraft wheels, though tyres are becoming a problem I believe. Also I have heard several local versions of stories of tail wheels from crash sites being used for wheelbarrows, but have yet to actually see one! Other tales involve aircraft panelling being used to repair several chicken sheds and pigsties locally, but they are always long gone when I try to track them down! I was once involved in the recovery of a Hadrian frame that had served as a chicken shed – Now at YAM after I donated it to them.
Abroad my fascination with French junk shops has uncovered a couple of portable compressor units featuring B17 oxygen bottles, but the wife put her foot down at the time when I suggested bringing them back in our already overcrowded VW camper (Kids and their toys taking up most of the room).
More recently I spotted the following items on display at the excellent Szolnok Repülőmúzeum in Hungary – a stove made from a B17 wheel and some rather fetching privy doors panelled in aircraft skinning complete with the aircraft’s national insignia still showing – not sure whether retaining this had been a deliberate feature or not but the display was balanced with one being American and one German. Finally a Fiat G12 Fuselage section – the sole surviving representative of its type I believe, that had served as a woodshed on a farm in Hungary for many years, after it was destroyed on an airfield by strafing P-51s near the end of the war.
N.WotherspoonNOTE how small the print is on their web page at the bottom – – – – “In keeping with common practice, on grounds of both security and copyright, we regret that no cameras, video recorders or any other types of recording equipment (including notebooks) are allowed in the Museum.”
And allegedly NO authors either! 🙁
Anyone know what has happened to the dug artefacts from Defiant T3955 held by the BPA?
N.WotherspoonThanks for that – Yes, now I have looked more closely at the photo, I think you are right the size 10.00 x 11.5 – afraid I just cut and pasted from the owners email.
I have not seen the trailer lately – its probably stuck out in one of the fields with its collapsed tyre!
When I looked more closely at it a couple of years ago, I could not find any cast or or stamped numbers, probably due to the layers of paint and mud! But will try to look again.
N.WotherspoonYes still here lurking! 😀 Very nice door! – somewhere I have part of the door frame from BX195, with the locking latches and a release lever – looks like when operated the door just fell off ? Surprised to find it as the pilot attempted to bale out, but sadly too low for chute to deploy after he stayed with the aircraft just long enough to clear a village below. Afraid I have not much in the way of painted panels as most went to D. Stansfield, but seem to recall it was green and brown, with RAF markings still visible. Main lump I have is the Oldsmobile M2 20mm cannon bent like a horseshoe and still passing through the prop hub.
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N.WotherspoonI own the remains of G-ARDG, the sole MkII Prospector (c/n 47) built by Lancashire Aircraft Ltd.
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As you can see there are a few bits missing 🙁
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