WIX Archives
Spitfire PK350 - The Zimbabwe crash.
Posted by PeterA on Tue Dec 24, 2002 07:47:36 AM
In reply top null posted by null on null
Hello,
There was a recent request for details as to just what happened to the remains of the Spitfre 22 PK350 of the late Jack Malloch that crashed in Zimbabwe in May 1981. Find attached the relevant parts of an email, just in, from a party who was directly involved with the location and recovery, such as there was. A photo of the impact site shows a 50' crater about 10' deep into what looks like relatively soft soil. Thoughts of some that there might be substantial parts on the scrap heap in New Sarum look remote.
PeterA
"I was in charge of the 'Recovery Team' that was sent out from New Sarum Air Base to retrieve the wreckage - I say 'recovery' as there wasn't much to bring back. Unfortunately, I wasn't involved in the navigation to the site, but as I remember it was about 160 kilometers NNE of Harare in a remote Tribal area.
The impact point was a large crater, with a debris field spreading out from there. The furtherest piece of wreckage was found about 400 metres from the crater - a 2 foot piece of laminated main spar. We were asked by the Board of Inquiry to locate the guns to give an acurate angle of attack, but after much fruitless digging in the soft, wet ground, the Board told us to stop. The evidence around the crater suggested a nose-down angle of about 16 degrees, with wings level and engine under power.
When the Board released the wreckage, they instructed us to collect everything, throw it into the crater and fill it in, which was done, except that the engine was loaded onto the recovery vehicle for further investigation later. The engine was a V8 as the front 4 cylinders had gone AWOL.... I seem to remember that someone rescued the tail wheel and arm as it was basically intact. Personally, I came away with a bent sodium-filled cylinder valve and the data plates from a Prop blade(German built) and the HX2 Generator. Apart from the undercarriage legs, the largest piece of wreckage was a 4 foot section of main spar."