I’ve been puzzling over the picture of the Hector that I posted. Judging from the lack of much forward of the cabane struts, I assume that someone has had the Napier Dagger out of the airframe – but equally there appears to be a propellor blade in the photograph. Maybe its not a propellor blade but just a deceiving shadow on the shiplap cladding of the hut in the background of the photograph.

No, it is not the propeller. I have zoomed the pick and looked at it long and hard. What you see is in fact a shiplap join and as you say the aircraft does not appear to have the Napier Dagger in situ, so again no prop.

I am fascinated and very grateful to Avion Ancien for posting this probably ‘only’ photo of the mystery aeroplane at Connaught Road Boys School, Littlehampton, in West Sussex.

Back in 1992, myself and Andy, under our Tangmere museum hat, visited the school after hearing strong stories of a ‘vintage’ aircraft having been buried in the school air raid shelters at the end WW11.
With the eventual permission of West Sussex County Council, we were able to carry out a very early terrain (ground) radar search of the area pointed out to be where the air raid shelters used to be. Unfortunately for us, a ‘new’ post war classroom had been built slap bang over the alleged burial ground. We had metal readings on both sides the building, and came to the conclusion that whatever was left of the aircraft was under a slab of concrete with a class room on top.
A further search of a nearby hedgerow brought to light a largish piece of aileron which gave proof to the stories of the Hectors existence.
There was no way the local authorities would allow us to even probe the ground so close to their classroom building, and so another ‘find ‘ entered the annals of history….until this year….when I was prompted by a story that the school had recently closed. I drove down to Littlehampton with by now, many years of experience of (not) finding the ‘absolute certainty’ of buried treasure, but a glimmer of possibility that the long wait might bare fruit, just for once.
It was not to be….this school had been enlarged to accept pupils from a smaller local school. The headmistress was more than helpful and knew a little of our previous visit. Yes, the classroom had been removed …but in its place, is now a tar macadam volley ball/any ball play area. Strictly not for digging up !!! she said, politely.
I shall however, with your permission a.a. show her your photograph, and at least now try to find some local names and hopefully…memories.
You never know….tarmac can always be replaced in the holidays

Isn’t it incredible to realise how much suffering and loss of young lives on all sides was caused by one man with a silly moustache and a bad hairdo…unbelievable !!!

I imagine, like with the Lancaster, they will have to remove the bomb bay doors and have the bomb hanging slightly beneath the aircraft.

Let’s hope their first bouncing bombs will be on Brussels, and all the unelected EU chronies who suck the lifeblood out of our country !!!

“Septic calling…Septic calling……tell the Tiger our race will have to be delayed…indefinitely……….over “

Scramble Bill
why do you end your sentences with all these………….? Is this what you were taught at school???????????????????? My sister-in-law does it too and I find it very annoying…………………………..I’d just like to know the reason……………………….
Thanksssssssssssssssssssssss
Pete

Nothing wrong with posting like that……..makes life easy to post….I do it all the time…..never had a complaint yet…………….if they don’t like it, they don’t have to read it…

Any marketing company worth its salt would realise, that trying to sell this number of expensive toys, in what is, a very restricted world market place
would be virtually impossible at even those prices.

cheap to buy and expensive to run or expensive to buy and cheap to run makes no difference today.
The spare cash is not around any more. Even if it was, too many on the market pulls the price down and the individualityof owning one disappears.

Good idea at the time guys, but…….even museums don’t have that sort of cash.

Came across this interesting picture of a Do17 on wetlands on the Sussex coast, after a belly landing an what appears to be soft mud/sand. It would seem it has suffered a serious amount of damage and is in much worse condition then ‘our’ 17.
I believe this may indicate that the water landing of our aircraft is much more likely than the suggested Goodwin sand ‘then flipped over’ scenario suggested by others.

Lets hope some of them know how to reconstitute fresh air into metal, corrosion into metal, salt water into metal ect., and then put a big picture of a Do17 alongside all that, to show to the post war kids, exactly what they are looking at.
Then watch their faces when you tell them, that all that cost £800,000.00 and counting.