Here is spool that pulled the pin from the bomb once it was clear of the bomb bay and recoiled back. And a pic of the Lanc Bomb bay at Duxford.

This is all very interesting but there are few things that don’t seem to add up.
Tangmeres friend admits he is not an expert!
Although he seems to prevent a balanced view there are no measures quoted.
What troubles me is that if these gauges are so dangerous how is it that many surviving aircrew live into their eighties after having been exposed to fresh material for many hundreds of hours.
One Pilot I knew personally did 3000 Hrs operationally and lived well into his eighties; surely an exposure of 3000 hrs would have killed him or at least significantly shortened his life according the last view expressed?
The flight engineers sat with their faces practically up against the glass and yet again many live very long and healthy lives.
Is it possible some people are more resistant to radiation than others? I very much doubt it.
Its simply does not add up to say you must leave the canopy off to allow the radon gas to disperse when its a proven FACT that thousands of aircrew were exposed a great deal more than any collector or modern display pilot and lets remember these instruments were new then and yet they live healthy lives.
Hundreds if not thousands of people collect and own these instruments for the last 60 years why haven’t we seem seen premature deaths of collectors?
Lets remember its the vintage vehicle collectors as well as the aviation enthusiasts who are exposed.
Is there one single documented case of anyone dying or suffering health problems as a result of exposure to instruments?
The only documented cases I am aware of are the girls that painted the faces who were exposed to huge quantities of dust, licked the brushes to keep them sharp and even were known to paint their teeth and nails. Even then not all suffered health problems.
I have heard allot of theories where is the proof? Where are the documented cases?
I took the advise of of Tangmeres friend many years ago and did research myself and the only documented cases I could find of health problems were with the girls that painted the faces.
We should all be very careful about what we say without PROOF or FACTS.
Everything from weed killer to cosmetics are tested on animals and reports published in medical journals where are the tests that proove exposure to instruments cause health problems?
Dont forget its not just wartime instruments, many cockpits, aircraft could be heading for the nuclear dump and maybe even permits to dig or recover old aircraft could be refused on the grounds of the risk of contamination.
As to the threat of a dirty bomb from a terrorist, is this a JOKE??????? Considering the value/cost of WWII aircraft instruments he would have to be muti-millionaire to gather enough material to make a dirty bomb, I would think smoke detectors would be a better buy.
At the end of the day the Government/MOD released these instruments onto the market, They would be liable for any claims relating to health issues if any are ever proven, including the finacial loss to collectors who have their instruments confiscated.

.?:confused:

Covered here http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1534834&postcount=72

IIRC you’ll find that both pieces of legislation apply – certainly to groups, traders etc you need to have a license – not 100% certain about an individual.

Good sensible advise thankyou I will take it. 🙂

That link seems to apply to working with radioactive material in the workplace not collecting instruments.

Got to be careful pursuing that argument Graham, as was pointed out to Spitfireman and myself today, by a very respected head curator, the levels of various cancers in 60-80 year old men is high. Some peoples bodies and immune systems react to exposures to any chemicals in different ways of course, but for every healthy ex airman I know of a certain period, I can think of a few more that have had cancers.
As much as I think some of this is indeed overboard, there is clearly a need to take the subject seriously and be able to demonstrate that we are taking some responsibility, and safeguarding our collections.

I quite agree its something that has to be faced better now before legislation becomes worse, that being the case personally i am going to take profesional advice.
Will update this thread where appropriate.

I will post the advice given by a professional who deals with the radiation industry as per earlier link. I did call him unfortunately he had been burgled the night before and told me to call back in a few days which I will do on Monday.
I did ask him if I was committing any offences and wether I was liable to have instruments confiscated. The answer to both questions was no, he said that our issue was right at the bottom of the pile as far as radio active items in the public domain was concerned.
These instruments can be cleaned up and I am waiting to see what that involves there may be a gap in the market for this specialist service.
So like some of the other posters here think twice before you dispose of something you may later regret.