Hello Johnnie, the mask looks like a type H which came into use right at the end of the war, so probably a late mark Spit. The condition suggests it was picked up from a hillside rather than dug out of the ground. The RR on the casting would be Rolls Royce. No idea about the other parts although I would imagine the photo and wings are for decoration rather than relating to the actual aircraft. Have you taken the bits off the board in case the serial is written on the back? Not ‘Aviation Archaeology’s’ greatest day. Only buy from a registered accredited seller with badge and certificate.

here It is. Is that a Scout hiding behind your sight? Quite a collection!

I bought the excellent “helicopters of the third reich” book as one of those presents to yourself christmas treats (half price in Ian Allen) The same photo is quoted as a modified BMW 301 in an Fa223. One can only hope the seats were not for opperational use. What particularly attracted me to the book was an account, with photos, of the excavation in the 80s of lumps of an Fa223. The crew had destroyed and then buried it to prevent it falling into allied hands. A story too good to be true! I wonder where it is now.

Lynx Panel

Not terribly historic but a bit of a project i’d like to finish. I’m trying to fill this Lynx panel but can’t find a decent photo of what’s missing. The label says ‘harpoon engaged’ so I’m guessing it’s a navy one. The hovermeter(?) is pretty but wrong. The helicopter museum is close in a straight line from me but a long old drive over the bridge from Cardiff. Any help much appreciated, Thanks, Ian.

Many interesting opinions, and some top quality crayon work! I count myself as a bit of a digger but despite being a member of the British Aviation Archaeological Council certainly wouldn’t call myself an archaeologist, especially when dealing with real ones. Despite this I think we have a responsibility to record and preserve what is found. The BAAC already has a framework in place for this recording, arrived at in consultation with English Heritage. This includes details of aircraft colour scheme, armament, personal equipment etc. County archaeologists are informed and are generally (in the south at least) supportive of what we do. At the conclusion of a dig an inventory of items recovered is returned to the MOD and there is an opportunity for interested national collections to express an interest. The difficult bit is the report. As has been said previously much can be learned from these broken bits of plane but the information needs to to be collated and disseminated. I would be happy to put what I’ve written on line as part of a virtual museum (much less drafty than a real one and you don’t spend your weekends getting a sore backside) but it is a time consuming business and there are always new sites to be found. Time is now very short to locate these and within the next decade there will be no eywitnesse left to ask.
On a slightly different tack, simply enquiring about and locating these sites brings back long forgotten memories of past events. Quite often a landowner will have no idea that an aircraft crashed on his farm, far less who the pilot was and his depressingly young age. Things could certainly be improved in the digging fraternity but I think we are doing more good than harm in an activity which will soon itself be consigned to history.

The top one looks like a rocker cover from a radial, the center not unlike a rocker from a Merlin with a direct connection to the camshaft. Bottom valve looks radial again. Could be horribly wrong….