This looks to me VERY much like the artwork of the late Alf Batt who died a few years ago. He produced various unit badges, Geschwader emblems, Staffel badges, swastikas etc etc. All were to a very high standard, as it went, but the immediate give-away was that they were not painted on correctly matching pieces of airframe! For instance, you could end up with Me 109 swastikas on alloy panels marked ALCLAD 24 S T or Dornier 17 unit badges marked on bits of He 111 wing! Many of his pieces have already passed hands as original and many have turned up on e-bay in recent years. Apart from lack of “originality” of the actual panel used as his canvas another give away was that his paint had often run through rivet holes and trickled down the inside…..often over corrosion! Caveat Emptor

Ah, dear old Alfie….his items were never sold for huge amounts (by him – so they were good value for the effort expended) but he was very artistic….he often signed his items…though in interesting ways…the one item of his I acquired had a scratched number on it that was difficult to pick out in the melee of scratches….I’ll wager that if you went and got Alf’s local phone book it was the number of the page on which his phone/address was! A true character.
Returning to the advert, cleverly worded as he implies nothing…not Hurricane/Spit or anything I recognise…location of rivet holes does suggest something with a hot bottom!:)

Went Saturday….the show was brilliant as usual…up HF/ARco end (by PV202), the cloud burst just before the display started was bad (got very wet) but good (the chaps on the fence went for cover! So I got pole position).

The commentator asked that step ladder brigade did not use them in front of people which was great. The Spitfire start was not as mind blowing as it has been in years gone by, though a 6 ship Merlin and 3 ship Griffon formations were nice. The Mustang tail chase was awesome….watching the P40B doing pirouettes was amusing (must tease the pilot about that!!). Other highlight was the sheer grin on Geedee’s face when that nice MerlinV12 let him run his Merlin!!! Go a crackin video and audience cheering and clapping response at the end of the run by the 5 engines (2 x Merlin, 1 x Griffon 58, R2800 and jet) was fantastic….will post up a couple of shots…..one other amusing thing on the flightline walk was a marshal who remarked that some spotter had pointed at Stephen Grey and said why can that man go nearer the aircraft and I cant!!!

Kev

I have no intention of entering into a slanging match with anyone. Not my thing both at work or in my personal life! I dont wish you to modify your views and opinions…just wish you would use a less brusque way of delivery! Your post is a little confrontational. I do not like censorship, but there are nicer ways of telling someone ‘their baby is ugly!’

I understand your views on crash sites, but you yourself said you knew little about that subject. The majority of people who recover such items from aircraft do so with the most honourable of intentions (please see my previous post for the personal link I gain from the (very) few I do). You immediately took the worst tack from my words….I just dont like seeing fellow forumites at loggerheads…is that so bad?
There would be no retrograde step to my hobby, because it is just a small part of my hobby (which encompasses restoration, rescue, photography, documentation, teaching etc etc and not just archaeology). Besides I comply with all parts of the procedure/law. However, your legislation would need careful thought and consideration to ensure it affords protection without overly hindering the law abiding. The subject is complex….there are fields up and down this country where farmers regularly plough crash sites…have they committed a crime? It is a minefield but any more legislation may just push even more digs underground which neither of us would want.
I don’t believe in tarring all diggers with the same brush. I could spend hours over pints of Spitfire ale talking this over with you (i.e. the ins and outs)…you would see that the protections are there for the law abiding. However, the current wave of knife crime and gun crime (togther with a nanny state/protect the perpetrators) mentality shows that such protections do not always work.

I would be delighted to meet up with you again at Legends to chat this over rather than provoke misunderstandings on this forum.

The wider issue of how we ended up with the artefacts we have (some undoubtedly being liberated) is very interesting. One would not advocate someone nicking something off a modern day Typhoon…too difficult for me to cope with after the flight I have just had!! But interesting.

Back to the topic, thanx for letting me know about the origin of the relic Robbo…what I would love to see now is the item going on Ebay as a charity item for the Spitfire….it would raise a pile more.

Tony.

The only possibility of a ‘slanging match’ here comes about purely because you want me to moderate my views and opinions. On what grounds? I can only imagine that is because they are out of step with your own and if my opinion was agreed with by the MOD it would, in your opinion, be a retrograde step for your hobby. I have not been argumentative, I have not been rude, I have not been personally insulting. I have just stated my opinion in a discussion forum.

The world of aircraft recovery may well be controlled enough in your opinion, but not necessarily in mine. But you seem to imply that if I do actually hold such opinion I should ‘temper my response’?

What a strange attitude to take.

Regards,

kev35

The Chinook is historic (proto flew in late 50s) and there cannot be a post war aircraft that is more useful or done so much in the services…still earning their keep and will be for many years to come…..so stop yer no good helio bashing and credit the Chook with the praise it deserves!!

saw her a couple of months back, looking as sweet as ever, think someone said she was going to be repainted…mind you doesnt her owner fly a rather tasty Spit 1 too?!

big lump of Seafire F46 cockpit

Seafire 17 canopy (perspex gone)
assorted grips (firefly, sea hawk, vixen, dh110 proto, bucc s1, s2, seafire, sea king etc)
Sea Fury bits