WIX Archives
Re: A true story........
Posted by TonyD on Mon Nov 04, 2002 01:58:46 PM
In reply top Re: A true story........ posted by Ron Henry on Mon Nov 04, 2002 12:47:15 PM
Sold off I believe for a marital breakup 80((
: : Good story Ron...no doubt th parts your friend sold went
: t
: : o Alan Downings delightful Biggles Restaurant (fast food
: w
: : ith Hurricane burgers etc!)
: :
: : alas, the restaurant and its lovely museum with working
: sp
: : ot lights succombed in the late 1980s
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:
: Yes, Tony, that might have been the place. So what happene
: d to the artefacts?
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: : : : abandoned airfields lately?
: : : :
: : : : The stories about the many dumpsites on disused airf
: ie
: : ld
: : : s
: : : : around Britain still fascinates me. Despite all the
: in
: : te
: : : re
: : : : sting stories, are there actually any activities rec
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: : tl
: : : y
: : : : where parts have been unearthed?
: : : :
: : : : Little Snoring has yielded many interesting parts du
: g
: : up
: : : f
: : : : rom pits. Tony Agar for instance found his cowling p
: an
: : el
: : : s
: : : : for his Mosquito rebuild. Furthermore what happened
: to
: : t
: : : he
: : : : dozens of Typhoon firewalls that were found about a
: d
: : ec
: : : ad
: : : : e ago. Where they sent for scrap?
: : : :
: : : : FlyPast promised many years ago to do an article but
: n
: : ot
: : : hi
: : : : ng has ever been done about that.
: : : :
: : : : Cees
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: : :
: : : This would be an appropriate time to tell the story ab
: ou
: : t
: : : a friend of mine (from Liverpool). The timeframe would
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: : e
: : : about 20 yrs ago. I've forgotten some detail, but here
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: : s
: : : the main part of the story.
: : :
: : : Like most of us, he was fascinated by the idea of buri
: ed
: : a
: : : ircraft. I can't remember where he got the story, but
: he
: : h
: : : eard about the probable existence of some buried aircr
: af
: : t
: : : on the edge of the then closed Bramcote airfield, NE o
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: : Co
: : : ventry. It had been a RAF base during WW2 (can't remem
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: : r
: : : what, but not operational sqns, I think), then RN post
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: : ar
: : : . It had probably closed, as an airfield, after the ru
: nd
: : ow
: : : n of the RNVR in 1957.
: : :
: : : The story was that aircraft had been buried in a pit o
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: : th
: : : e edge of the airfield, and the pit had been filled in
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: : he
: : : n the airfield closed. My friend did all the research
: he
: : c
: : : ould, and it all confirmed the story. He obtained perm
: is
: : si
: : : on to excavate (can't remember who from), hired an exc
: av
: : at
: : : or and an operator, and digging commenced. After quite
: a
: : b
: : : it of digging, not a great depth had ben excavated, bu
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: : pu
: : : lling out a few very minor parts kept him motivated. N
: ev
: : er
: : : theless, it was an expensive business, and his funds g
: ot
: : l
: : : ow. In searching for a cheaper option, he talked to a
: lo
: : ca
: : : l Territorial Army (TA) unit who were engineers, and t
: he
: : y
: : : had just got a new excavator. He persuaded them that h
: is
: : c
: : : ause would be a good trial for the new kit.
: : :
: : : Digging started again, and a few larger parts started
: to
: : c
: : : ome out of the hole. Sadly I can't remember the detail
: ,
: : bu
: : : t I think there were some nacelle and cowling panels,
: pl
: : us
: : : possibly some undercarriage parts. The whole excavati
: on
: : o
: : : peration covered a few weeks (the TA could only dig oc
: ca
: : si
: : : onally). One day, the excavavator operator went to the
: c
: : hi
: : : p shop in the local village in search of lunch : follo
: wi
: : ng
: : : that, the excavation stopped!
: : :
: : : At the chip shop, the operator met an old friend he ha
: dn
: : 't
: : : seen for years. They swapped stories about what they
: ha
: : d
: : : been doing, and, of course, the local asked the op why
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: : e
: : : was in the village, and he explained that he was diggi
: ng
: : f
: : : or the buried aircraft. The local confirmed that the s
: to
: : ry
: : : was, indeed, true, but, unfortunately, the excavation
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: : as
: : : 20-odd years too late - the scrapped aircraft had bee
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: : re
: : : moved just before the airfield closed !!
: : :
: : : The whole thing cost my chum more than he could easily
: a
: : ff
: : : ord, and he needed to get money back. He decided to se
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: : t
: : : he recognisable stuff and they went to a guy who was g
: oi
: : ng
: : : to open a bar with an aviation theme somewhere in Yor
: ks
: : hi
: : : re (IIRC). The purchaser was going to use them as atmo
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: : he
: : : ric artefacts. My friend also had some other panels he
: 'd
: : c
: : : ollected over the years (including, I remember, a 1950
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: : RN
: : : Avenger cowling with artwork - "The Ruptured Duck" ?)
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: : nd
: : : he also sold these to the bar guy. So, if you go into
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: : b
: : : ar somewhere in Yorkshire, and see this stuff, you now
: k
: : no
: : : w how it came to be there!
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: : :