WIX Archives
Re: Spitfirebits Snake Valley
Posted by PeterA on Thu Oct 10, 2002 06:45:14 AM
In reply top Spitfirebits Snake Valley posted by Cees Broere on Thu Oct 03, 2002 01:33:20 PM
Cees,
The scrap yard of SA Metals in Cape Town yielded 10 projects with serial provenance ranging from full fuselages down to firewall frame five. After Larry Barnett took the first bite of the best four projects, BR601, LZ842, RR232, and TD314, in circa 1970, the SAAF Museum returned to the yard circa 1980 and collected the remainder MH603, ML255, SM520, TA805 and TE294, shipping them to the open storage site at Snake Valley. One firewall that was thought initially to be from ML196, but was open to interpretation, was lost to posterity by a later owner scrubbing the serial evidence stencil off with wire wool before closer examination. In July 1981 Guy Black and I had made just the briefest of visits to Snake Valley with a flight departure deadline. I concentrated on identification, Guy on the parts for trade. Given longer and better conditions I could have identified the firewall. Subsequently the best Police lab. technology, here in the UK, failed to resurrect the serial number from spar cover and it has been abandoned. A potential Spitfire project lost but we had different values back then.
Anything left at snake valley of note? I don't think so.
Peter
Tying up the SAAF serials with the RAF serials is still a major problem for the extant projects. Some we have but anybody out there is sitting on a list of tie-ups please shout.
: Hi all,
:
: Today I also bought the book about the Spitfire's service
: in South Africa. There are some very intruiging photo's of
: the Spitfire wreckage in Snake Valley.
:
: Peter, are all identities now being used in rebuilds or is
: anything usable still remaining there?
:
: Cees