Very Quaint.

It seems quite quaint watching the old 8mm now. Strange also to think that it’s about one and a half times as long since the making of the film, as it was from the real events portrayed to the making of the movie.
It’s still a great film, if a little dated in places, but it couldn’t really be made today. It’d be all CGI and no ‘heart’, which this film has in plenty.
I love the low-flying, pity about that Duxford hangar though…!
I don’t recall seeing the wreck of the Stuka in the film…..I was at the premiere, but it’s been a while. Could that have been what was left of one of the ‘Proctukas’…?

Size.

I have a feeling that the DH badges came in at least two sizes. A larger badge for the Merlin-Size, and a much smaller one for Light a/c. The smaller one was only about 28mm in dia.

If so, what size badge does the Spit’ at Cosford have fitted..?

…………………

Oldgit;- Knock-down the house next door…:)

In fairness, I do have some Machine Mart gear, and it does the job inexpensively. For some items, – as long as you are not intending heavy use, it’s fine. The folder just happened to be an example of the more unsatisfactory items they sell.
When they offer very lightweight items, one has to ask why the originals weighed a ton…:)

Queens.

Hi……

I am about too start a “job” on a working model of a Gypsy Queen engine
(am I correct in saying the Gypsy 6 ?)

Does anybody know where I can find parts for it as I may need too install missing parts to it (Ie nuts and bolts)

Also….. (I know I am pulling the rabbit out of the hat here)

The engine drawing’s as they will be more than useful when building the engine together again.

Thanks

I’m not too clear on what you are asking. Are you restoring a real engine or making a model..? Actual drawing will be a big problem, but original manuals can be had on eBay, as can CD copies.
The DH Gipsy Queens were memebrs of a family of engines. There are many diffferences, so you need to be explicit about exactly which version you are talking about. (If you PM me the details, I’ll try and help you identify it.)
Here is a brief rundown, – it’s not exhaustive, as there were some very short-run versions that are little-known or never got beyond the prototype stage.
These are the first-generation from 1934 onwards and all were around 200hp, give or take a few hp ;-
Gipsy Six
Gipsy Six Series II *
Gipsy Queen
Gipsy Queen II *
Gipsy Queen III
(* These engines had a splined crank for a VP airscrew.)
All these above engines are basically similar, even if some major components differ.
After this, the next generation, from about 1947 shared only the basic configuration and mounting dimensions, – and a few screws;-
Queen 30 * 250hp.
Queen 30-2 * 250hp.
Queen 70 * and derivatives;- All geared & supercharged. Aprox’ 350hp + at take-off.

Fiddling while Rome burns.

You have quite a job on your hands, as the battlefields of just that one war are littered with literaly millions of corpses. There will be many, many thousands out there in North Africa alone…. You’d better get your bucket and spade out.
I’m as grateful as anyone for what they did, but as someone with aircrew relatives out there, somewhere, I can say I’m not comfortable with the mawkish interest in disenterring the bodies of the fallen. It certainly won’t bring them back to life. If they are disturbed, sure, re-bury properly with digity and respect, whatever side they came from. Otherwise it’s pretty pointless.
I really hope this chaps body does turn-up, – now that expectations have been aroused and inflated by all the speculation on the web, but it doesn’t need to turn into another TIGHAR/Earhart-style hunt just to satisfy a few enthusiasts.
Back in the 1970’s, I spent months out in the desert and saw plenty of remains from the war. I’m sure if we’d have dug around in the sands, we’d have distrubed human remains. Thankfully, we didn’t feel impelled to do so. We just looked and moved-on and left the stillness and silence the close back over them.
‘…the pilot is inestimably more important and significant..’, no, not a ‘fact’, just your opinion. The word ‘more’ is irrellevant.
Coppings name will already be on a memorial somewhere. He isn’t ignored or forgotten, and certainly won’t be after his kite turned-up from so long ago. Recovering it and ensuring that it doesn’t end-up in a scrapyard, wrecked (As is happening), will be his most effective memorial. If the lads body turns-up, it’s a fortunate plus that wouldn’t have occured if the a/c hadn’t have been spotted. None of this is a logical reason for any serious delay.

‘..is certainly correct..’…?

Laurence is certainly correct in what he suggests. And he is better qualified than anyone else on this forum, I’d suggest, to forumlate a plan of action in relation to the search for the pilot.

It would be wrong, I think, to move the P40 without conducting an adjacent and scientific site search first. The P40 is by far secondary in consideration.

Well;-

Fact 1; More damage has occured in seven weeks than in the preceding seventy years.
Fact 2; There is nothing whatever to suggest that the damage will not continue.
Fact 3; Unless the remains already found are identified as the pilots, there is no reason whatsoever to expect the pilots remains to be found within any sensible timeframe.
Fact 4; ‘..is certainly correct..’ – is just your opinion, not a fact.

This isn’t a search in the local allotments. To find the body would require either a large dose of luck, or vast resources. In the absence of the latter, one can hardly rely on the former.
Now let us suppose, just for a moment, that the pilot had an emergency supply of water with him, as is highly probable. If he had enough water for say only three days, he might have waited 24hrs. (Less, of course, if he mistakenly believed that he was close to help.) If he set-off then, walking only at night with perhaps part of the parachute as a sun-shelter and blanket, he may have covered 20 to 30 miles a night. We also know (For a fact)that when he set-off in the P40, he flew in completely the wrong direction…. We might also reasonably deduce from that, that he could have also set-off on foot in literally any direction….! That gives us a circle of uncertainty between 80 and 120 miles in diameter. That is, to say the least, a lot of desert in which this mans body might be. If he had more water, then the circle of uncertainty must be much bigger, as the growth is exponential.
That doesn’t even factor-in other possible scenarios, such as him bumping into other people, Allied or Axis, all of whom, along with him, subsequently perished – for whatever reason. There was, after all, a war on…

Either way, these are two separate matters. Removing the a/c is likely to have little or no bearing on finding the remains of the pilot, so further delay is pretty pointless. In fact it could possibly help matters. There is a small possibility that under all that sand inside the a/c, he may have left a note, indicating the compass-bearing that he was setting out on.