Republic P-47D-1-RE Thunderbolts, 42-7872 and 42-7898

I had a great day out with Ian DB last Saturday on and around Shining Tor, near Macclesfield. All of the pics for these four sites are c/o Ian, who is a lot better at photography than I am. You can see more examples of this at his site here.

This pic shows the leading plane's impact crater. All of the wreckage seen last time is gone, though a bit of skinning and a new cross have replaced it. The nearby crater of the following plane no longer has any visible wreckage t all.

These two sites are a bit awkward to get to, well away from the path, over a fence and down some steepish roughish ground. There is no reason to suspect they are there is you don't know that they are. This is not the work of "curious walkers". It smells of anorak to me.

Locations:

SJ 99502 75395 (leading)
SJ 99502 75410 (following)

Airspeed Oxford Mk.I LX745

Looking much as it did back in 2007, despite being very easily accessible from the nearby well-trafficked path, the Oxford site was the third of the four sites visited last Saturday. The pic shows the main wreckage pool. There is also a fuel tank partially buried nor far away.


Locations:

Wreckage pictured is at SJ 99800 74629.
Fuel tank at SJ 99813 74648.

Lockheed Lightning P38G 42-13345/F5E 44-24229

A day out in the vicinity of Aberystwyth earlier in the week to look at a two sites with Matt ZX and a couple of our regulars.

First up the infamous and contentious Plynlimon Lightning, about which you'll see very little reliable information on the internet (other than this) - was it for example Lightning F5E 44-24229 or P38 42-13345?

More contentious and far more interesting to non-anoraks is who did this:


Who cut the turbocharger out of this wing and took it home back in 2003/2004? Here's what it used to look like pre-vandalism:



There's a sizeable reward for information leading to recovery...

Location: SN 79840 86523

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De Havilland Mosquito Mk.III TV982

De Havilland Mosquito Mk.III TV982
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

This is the most upstream collection we found, mostly comprising undercarriage parts.

Location: SH 61086 52993

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I X4843

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I X4843
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

All that remains of the Spitfire crashed on Yr Aran are these few scraps.

These are less still than Matt ZX saw only as far back as April.

This piece of perspex, and chunk of armour plate have been taken from the site since then.

If you click on the pic and zoom in , you can see that the plate is marked with the year of manufacture, 1940.

The magpies like nothing better than a Spitfire. Consequently even the few bits not yet misappropriated may be the most we have seen left at a Spitfire crash site!

Interestingly, I am told that the missing bits apparently feature in the photos of the crash site on the PDAAR website, which were taken very shortly before we visited.

Location: SH 60615 51687

De Havilland Mosquito Mk.III TV982

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De Havilland Mosquito Mk.III TV982
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

This undistinguished looking item around 100mm in diameter was our only reward for getting rained on for five hours in the vicinity of the Watkin Path to Snowdon's peak, on a very wet Bank Holiday Monday.

If you zoom in, you can see it is marked J98978/1. The "98" prefix makes it a bit of a Mosquito, specifically we believe Mosquito TV982, which crashed here in 1948 as a result of severe turbulence. We think it is a rubber damper from an undercarriage leg.

We had to beat a hasty retreat shortly after finding this, as Mick's fags had got wet. All other possible emergencies pale into insignificance next to the spectre of nicotine deprivation.

We will be back for the rest in the near future.

Location: SH 61119 52762

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Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

A day out with Matt ZX to see if we could find anything from the Marauder crash site on Y Garn yesterday.

The photo shows what we believe to be the impact point of this medium bomber of the Western face of Y Garn, Snowdonia. The parallel lines of scree are deepish scrapes which have filled over time with small stones. The site location was proven correct by the presence of some distinctive bits of aircraft aluminium, as shown in the entry below.

David Earl reports that the aircraft broke in two from here, with one bit staying with one of the crew on the Llanberis side, and the remainder of the crew and 'plane going over the edge to break up and scatter in the valley below. An old-time wreckhunter has written to tell us that by the early 60s only the props lay on this side of the hillside, the wing sections seemingly having been pushed over the cliff.

Using telescopes and binoculars from the summit, we established that the undercarriage and other bits not weighed in for scrap by the local magpies are still present. We will return by the Eastern route to get photos and accurate locations for the scattered wreckage on a later trip.

Location of impact point: SH 62842 59856

Location of undercarriage:SH 631 602

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

Site proving debris

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Heinkel He-111 F4801/IT+EL

Heinkel F4801/IT+EL: Lllwytmor
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

The Heinkel wreck site, found at the third attempt with assistance from Rob TT. As well as the big bits at Mick's feet, there's a lot of molten scattered stuff mixed in with small rocks, as commonly seen at burn-out sites.

There's not much about the 'plane on the 'net, so I'll put a bit of history in for once:

It was a Heinkel 111 of 3/KG28. The plane had been on a bombing run over the docks at Barrow in Furness where it was believed the “Illustrious “ was being repaired. Anti-aircraft guns hit the plane, taking out the radio and compass.

The damaged plane then flew into the side of Llwytmor killing the engineer on 14th April 1941. The remainder of the crew survived the crash and were sent to POW camps in Canada.

Location: SH 68683 69747

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Bristol Beaufighter TF.X RD210

Beaufighter TF.X RD210
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

Some of the extensive wreckage around the impact site.

Location SH 86409 22595

Republic P-47 C Thunderbolt 41-6246 HL-F

P 47 Thunderbolt 41-6246 Creiglyn Dyfi
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

This fragment of a "Warner Aircraft Corp." brake control unit from the 1944 fatal crash site of this USAF Thunderbolt turned out to be a bit of a red herring.

Finding it high on the hill as we did convinced us we had found a rather sparse wreckage trail, rather than the very edge of the scatter.

Even more confusingly, we found a bit of Mosquito mixed in with this "wreckage trail"

It has been suggested that this is the last labelled part at any high ground wreck site in the UK not already nicked by the magpies. On your marks, lads...

Location: SH 86524 22379

Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk 10 MF509

Wellington MF509
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

The extensive remains of this RCAF Wellington on Carreg Goch, Black Mountain, Brecon Beacons, with memorial in the foreground.

A little documentary video can be seen at the link below. Nice that the National Park staff coordinated opposition to it being taken away to someone's garden in Preston, rather than colluding in it, as we are told they did in Snowdonia.

Location: SN 81618 16921

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Avro Lancaster Mk. I W4326 'C' Charlie

Dolwen Lancaster
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

We went out yesterday for a look at the Dolwen Lancaster. We knew it had been "recovered" a few years back, so were unprepared for how much skinning and other components might have been left behind by wreckologists clearly interested only in engines.

There is a lot. We'd still class this site as at least a "medium" on the High Ground Wrecks gradings. The HGW coords are pretty good too.

We understand the soft ground meant that the engines were exceptionally well-preserved. We believe one of them to be in the Caernarvon Airworld "museum". Where the others are we do not know.

We understand the guy previously mentioned on here who makes the little model 'planes from melted down wreckage has also visited this site.

This is Matt ZX with the crater and wreckage piles in the background

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 42-75101

Engine: Thunderbolt 42-75101
Originally uploaded by wreckhunter

After a number of trips without a decent find we thought we'd go to a site known to have good sized wreckage. We chose the crash site of Thunderbolt 42-75101 on Mynydd Copog, just outside the Snowdonia National Park, and therefore seemingly safe from the scrap merchants.

Matt ZX was supposed to come with, but had to go elsewhere at short notice. Our thanks to him for assistance with planning.

What a change from last week's conditions. It was clear and bright, frosty but not freezing cold. It was a breeze to get up to the wood (planted after the crash) on top of the hill. That the plantation was of Christmas trees was pleasantly seasonal.

Finding the wreckage pile and engine on the boundary of the wood was a doddle. Behind this in the wood is a bigger pile of wreckage still, not shown elsewhere on the 'net.

We explored the wood for a couple of hours, finding all sorts of fair sized scraps everywhere to the East of the edge site illustrated. The only thing of high interest (for us at least) we found was an oxygen bottle in good nick.

Due to the heavy tree cover, some of this week's coordinates are expected to be of lower than usual accuracy.

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 42-75101

Pile: Thunderbolt 42-75101
Originally uploaded by wreckhunter

Detail from the pile of skinning and components nearerest to the edge of the wood

Location: SH 88453 14438

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Blackburn B-24 Skua Mk.II L3054 or Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV V6099?

Skua/Beaufighter: Elidir Fawr
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

We think the molten aluminium mixed in with these more recognisable components show this to be the burn-out site of this disputed wreck site on Elidir Fawr.

There is a cairn immediately adjacent to this scatter of bits, perhaps indicating that someone else thought the same.

We are calling it as the Skua rather than a Beaufighter, based on what is there to be seen now. It might even be more of the Blenheim. That would be a long wreckage trail, mind.

Location:SH 60976 61526

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Blackburn B-24 Skua Mk.II L3054 or Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV V6099?

Skua/Beaufighter: Elidir Fawr
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

A cluster of fair sized bits of steel below the burn site, with my walking pole for scale.

Location: SH 60960 61570

Blackburn B-24 Skua Mk.II L3054 or Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV V6099?

Skua/Beaufighter: Elidir Fawr
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

The lowest sizeable bit we found near the HGW coordinates for the Skua. Looks to be a bit of undercarriage and associated oleo strut.

There is some evidence that this might be a bit of the Blenheim, despite being much closer to High Ground Wrecks' Skua site.

A correspondent tells us that the undercarriage is from a Blenheim. (I would say suggests, but the correspondent is not a person who suggests, but rather expects to be beleived on the basis of his own unrealistic self-appraisal) This is easily possible, though the photos offered as evidence are far from conclusive.

No-one is presently offering any convincing evidence to dispute that any of the other suspected Skua parts are from a Blenheim. No-one other than this correspondent, and his mate have offered any opinion, despite the photos having been posted on the Aero Part Identity Board since 28/10/2008.

Location: SH 60900 61740

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Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV V6099

Blenheim: Elidirs
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

Some bits of aluminium skinning from the site of the 31 March 1943 crash of 22 year old Flying Officer Edward Alexander Perry's Bristol Blenheim.

We don't normally bother too much with the historical stuff on here, but there's really nothing on the web from other wreck hunters on this.

Though there were no identifying marks on any of these bits, we are calling this definitively Blenheim wreckage based on the proximity to the High Ground Wrecks coordinates. No-one is disagreeing with us so far.

Location: SH 60874 62112

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Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V LA765

Whitley: Godleybrook
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

A chunk of cast aluminium alloy from the 1944 crash site of this Whitley bomber at Dilhorne near Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.

Location: SJ 97304 44867

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