DeHavilland Vampire FB5 VZ106

The main pile of the still-extensive wreckage from this early jet-powered Fighter/Bomber which crashed on the slopes of Fan Hir, in the Black Mountains in Wales in 1953.

The pilot apparently let down through thick cloud without getting a fix on his position or requesting a radar-controlled descent, resulting in his death.

The wreckage constituted a more or less complete aircraft until 1986, since when the usual suspects have taken it upon themselves to "recover" some of it.

Location: SN 82641 20037

(There are also some big chunks of wreckage in a nearby gully around SN 8258 1990)

Avro Anson Mk. 1 L9149

Second 'plane of the day. More or less all that remains of this Anson which became disorientated and crashed in thick cloud and rain on Fan Brycheiniog in January 1939 are these globs of formerly molten aluminium and rusty scraps of steel.

There is a memorial to this crash and the associated rescue operation at the church in Glyntawe, at the foot of these hills, as previously featured on our site

Location: SN 82499 21249