Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk. V T4136

Some "Aviation Enthusiasts" nearly came a cropper here.

The bomb was found in the bucket of their JCB, according to The Independent, so obviously good archaeological practice was (as ever for wreckologists) not the No. 1 priority!

I am led to believe Eliott Smock of "The Whitley Project" was the digger in question. Perhaps he would have been better to leave well alone.

He has said since the original date of the posting that he makes no claim to be an archaeologist, and is just digging to get parts to attempt to make a museum piece.

It's nice that he does not have the common delusions of grandeur, but even if you are a house-builder, wouldn't it be better to allow professional archaeologists to make the maximum possible use of your dig site?

If you are going to drive a digger through a crash site, you will irreversibly destroy the archaeological evidence.

Why not follow the new CADW guidelines, even if you are not required to do so by law?

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Location SE 889 818

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)

DeHavilland Vampire FB5 VZ106

The Vampire's distinctive twin booms are well preserved at this site

DeHavilland Vampire FB5 VZ106

The Goblin 2 turbojet engine from the aircraft is still in place, rather than serving as a garage ornament for some sad anorak as so many engines now do.

Location: SN 82641 20047

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

Avro Anson Mk. I EG472

Avro Anson EG472
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

We approached Moel Hebog from a new direction yesterday, resulting in our locating the undercarriage, wheels, fuel tank and other less recognisable wreckage left by the crash of Anson EG472 into the mountain, (and of course the subsequent raiding by local "aviation archaeologists" for their mickey mouse "museum").

It wasn't as easy as we expected, as chest-high bracken which didn't show on the map impeded our progress up the steepest part of the hill.

The picture shows a detail from the undercarriage winding gear of Avro Anson EG472 of 9 OAFU Llandwrog which crashed on the 13th of June 1944 into Moel Hebog (above Beddgelert in Snowdonia).

The 'plane reportedly flew into the North face of the mountain in low cloud and bad visibility on a night navigation exercise.

Turbulence was experienced at 6,000 ft and the Bombardier asked the pilot if he could descend to a calmer altitude.

The Navigator stated they were over Hawarden so the descent was made and the aircraft struck the mountain. One Sgt. Howard was thrown clear and survived, but the other four crew were all killed in the crash.

We don't normally bother with crash report details on here, but there's nothing on the internet about the circumstances of this crash at present.

Location: SH 56890 46948

Grumman Avenger Mk.II JZ390

Wast Water Avenger
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

On the rock in the foreground is a scrap of the Royal Navy Air Service Grumman Avenger ship-borne torpedo bomber which flew into a cliff on the 16th January 1945, on a training flight from RNAS Inskip in Lancashire.

The 'plane's engine is allegedly in the lake shown in the background (Wast Water at the foot of Sca Fell in the Lake District).

Eeh, Mick's new camera takes an atmospheric picture...

Location: NY 14648 03913

Countryfile

Countryfile's article on the peak plane wreck sites may have been the cause of the massive spike in visitor numbers to the site over the weekend.

At least they sent out a competent presenter guided by a local MRT volunteer to the Shelf Stones Superfortress site, rather than the clueless floppy-haired double act possibility: Ben Fogle and Alan Clark. Imagine that if you will.
























Oh dear-here's that Mountain Rescue Team volunteer leading his colleagues in the "recovery" from the site of what is described as a gun turret, previously hidden by kids back in 1948.

I'd be interested to know whether they had a licence from the MOD for the operation. If they have, we could have told them where there was one in much better condition.

Boeing B-17 G Flying Fortress 44-8683

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 44-8683
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

A long trek over boggy terrain above Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales yesterday yielded only one confirmed site, this collection of scraps from a Flying Fortress crashed in cloud in May 1945.

Location:SE 00053 72764

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Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I X4588

Supermarine Spitfire X4588
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

A day out in the Brecon Beacons yesterday located the crash site of Spitfire X4588, fatally crashed by Sgt. D P Carruthers during a formation flying exercise in May 1942 probably as a result of a combination of bad weather and a slight navigation error.

The efforts of the local National Park staff in the Brecons to prevent the activities of magpies (as previously reported) are probably the reason for this being our most extensive Spitfire wreckage visited to date.

Location: SO 01677 18458