Blimey what a difference… excellent work fella.!

The remains of WB271 were sent for scrapping last year on conclusion of the Board of Inquiry.

Thanks for that Lee.. also do you know if the airframe was stripped of parts/ancilliaries before scrapping, or is it still naval policy not to re-use parts from crashed airframes.?

They have rebuilt a 2nd one at wolverhampton? I thought?

Not original.. lots of new material with some original parts as i understand it. Hence my “one complete original example” statement.

I must admit to thinking that ‘if’ an example exists in fresh water, such as Loch Ness, and ‘if’ it is relatively complete.. then i would imagine it would not present too many problems as regard to restoring one to flying condition. I have never seen one stripped down but would of thought they used a fairly straightforward construction method.
I know spares would be an issue, but at least the powerplant would’nt present too many problems.!

Would they not be better off directing there resources/efforts towards the P38 on the beach in Wales that i’ve heard them linked to.. or is that better off without them getting involved anymore.?

Not to be ghoulish, but does anything survive of the RNHF Firefly WB271?

Richard

It was totally destroyed, but, still in large easily recognisable sections. I remember standing and watching it being loaded on Grange Rd onto the RN low loader for the journey back to Yeovilton.. enough to make yer weep.!

I thought the Buccaneer was only a no go because of the non standard Tornado nose.. and the subsequent problems with paperwork etc to return to standard fit.?! Other than that maybe its not such a definate no. After all there were many who thought the Vixen would never see air under its wings in private ownership.. including apparently Ray Hanna.

I seem to recall that when the Hanna’s were close to getting there MiG-17 or 19 (can’t remember which they owned) into the air, the CAA basically said no because it needed to use re-heat for take-offs. Hence possibly why we have a Vulcan and Sea Vixen flying, and not a Lightning or Mig-17.!

Thanks MM!

Cheers Rob! Hopefully I’ll get a chance at this one day. But unless I’m commissioned, it won’t be anytime soon as I still have quite a to-do list to catch up on! 😮

PM sent :).

Please let’s not revisit the Invader can of worms again.

Point taken baz… just glad that nowadays more thought is given to the airframes longevity rather than the pilots bravado..;)