RE: Halifax querys for Halibag
Hi Mick,
Very good questions and very well put too. Nice to talk to you here.
Well, NA337 could (in my opinion) still be put back in the air, even as she stands today, apart from one teeny little problem that could so easily be overcome…. she has a 20mm cannon shell hole (unexploded) that went through her main spar. That alone would be enough to give any potential flying project the kiss of death, however, the spar was accessed & stripped to a certain extent during the early restoration period, and it would have been then that the relevant replacement part could so easily have been fitted… making it wouldn’t have been any problem, as the workshop was fully fitted out by that time.
However, it was decided at a very early time that due to her scarcity, NA337 would never reach the sky again & so, for authenticity reasons, the damaged section of spar was left in situ & the jigsaw put back together again.
Having said that, NA337 is still being put back together WITH (in my opinion) flight capability. The brief we got was that she has to be “Mission Ready”. I guess they will draw the line at putting fuel & live ordnance on board!
So, to answer your question simply, Yes, NA337 could have been put back in the air (bearing in mind she needed a new front end.)
Question 2… Is there another possible project… Well, the answer to this is Yes, there is the possibility of another Halifax project.
We have records of three possibilities, out of which, we are planning to have a go at one of them in the not too distant future, although I doubt very much if any attempt to put that particular one in the air will happen.
The other two? Well, one is sitting in a fresh water lake in Germany, on her belly with only the glazing from the mid upper turret blown out, nose glass gone & no tail.. very intact otherwise apart from the problem of her entire bomb load also being very intact too! 🙁 The word on that one is that if any attempt to effect a recovery takes place, the authorities will be forced to come in & blow the bombs up…. best we leave her alone for the time being.
Finally, there is also another one, but that’s another story which is too depressing to talk about…. It’s one of those “buried bomber” stories, although there is a lot more to this one than you might think. Please don’t ask too many questions about it though 🙂
I have also heard many whispers about another Hally in Pakistan, in storage & in bits, but as we have no access to that part of the world, then it remains a rumour, apart from that, there must be others lying in fresh water in Europe, it’s just that we have not heard about them.
Anyone care to offer information, please contact the team at 57 RESCUE, thw website is http://www.57rescue.org From there you can email the gang with info etc.
(I’ve probably said too much already & a lynch mob will be after me!)
The info about NA337 is “In My Opinion” and not “official”.
Hope it helps?
Halibag
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