David,

Have you been in touch with a chap who has a Hornet prop spinner for sale? I recently saw it advertised in i think the LAA magazine. Meant to PM you with the details but can’t seem to find it now:confused:

Hi,
I did call the person and he described it as

“a griffon engine 5 bladed spinne from Malta, so it must be from a Sea Hornet”.

The only problem I saw with this ID was that Sea Hornets had merlins with 4 blades, so I didn’t persue it.
Many thanks,

Hi Bruce,
just checked on some older photos on the forum , and yes she was the venom offered to me, I was jumping at the chance, but like i said, i lost my job, and that pretty much changed everything at the time, Glad to see she is inside, and being looked after, She is “the one and only” so i think being at the DH museum, is a must, I am glad you are all going to make her look like her old self again one day, i reckon she will be a centre piece for the museum, and where else could you see a british FB.4 ??,
would love o come and see the museum when i am in your neck of the woods,
Best of luck
Chris Collins;)

Hi Chris,
WR539 is a complete airframe. It’s just been dismantled for so long, I doubt if anyone can recall seeing it together! :rolleyes:

p.s. did you get me e-mail yesterday with the photo’s?

Sadly the dig with the Mini digger didnt come up to much, although a few interesting items came out.

Due to such corrosive soil , most of the aluminium was turning to powder before our eyes,:(

some bits were of interest though, a switch with SAFE and NOSE FUZED was found, (armament ??)

a really nice welded piece must be engine,maybe remains of stubb ??

armoured glass, brass oxy fitting, inspection hatch, plastic/rexine type circular piece ( part of Dingy pump ??)

i leave some pictures.. what are your thoughts ?

🙂

Hi Chris,
You have found another interesting collection of parts. The switch with the label “SAFE and NOSE FUZED” is shown in this photo. It is located on the pilots electrical box to the right of his seat.

You have indeed found one of the exhaust stubs, also a spark plug, part of a ki-gas pump, the pointer from the elevator trim indicator too.

Any chance of sending me some higher resolution images please?

Hi Chris,

On first inspection I can ID two parts:

The round disk lis the boss on the back of the throttle box, into which the friction knobs screw into. (see original scan photo below too).

The mangled piece of aluminium is a data plate of some sort.

Dont worry, I am sure Dave wont be forgotten 😉 .

Hi Chris,

Looks like you had a good day to dig. Great weather! Great finds!
I saw Gareth at Shoreham and he told me that you would be doing this shortly. If you get stuck on identifying anything, please send me some pictures, and I’ll hopefully be able to ID them for you.

Yes, PX229 was an F.1 that was on charge with the RAE. I don’t believe it had been converted to Sea Hornet status like PX230 (the NF.21 prototype).
You will also be pleased to know that you have parts from the 20th production Hornet, making it the earliest extant remains yet found. I have parts from PX250 and PX273, while there are parts for PX244 and PX274 in other collections I know of.

Looking forward to seeing more.

I shall be attending both days with a Sea Hornet PR.22 instrument panel display if it is completed in time.

Is it in the Museum at Manston do you know??

Hi Blue Max,

When i last visited the museum in the mid 2000’s the fuselage frame was in the museum compound, outside under a tarp. I haven’t seen it for over 6 years though.