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Do-17 salvage starts today
A Do-17 which crashed almost intact off Kent is to be salvaged for Hendon:Yahoo! News UK & Ireland - Latest World News & UK News Headlines
The operation is expected to be completed in three weeks. |
Good luck to those involved. Hope I'm still around when the project is complete.
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They haven't even finished the Halifax yet!
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Given the aversion of aluminium alloy to sea water, I wonder how much of the aeroplane will make it ashore, but I wish them lots of luck.
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The experts warn not to expect too much |
They haven't even finished the Halifax yet! |
I wish the RAFM the very best of luck with this project, but there is one element of the plan that I do not like. I understand that they are going to display it inverted as that is how it presently sits on the sea bed. Understandable logic, but it may not optimise what could be an awesome display.
I guess the argument of preservation v restoration would take up a dozen pages so lets not go there. For me, a review of what is brought ashore would be the basis upon which future plans should be decided. I am therefore somewhat disappointed with present plans as a more eye pleasing display could be possible. Rarely is the underneath of an aircraft in isolation a pretty sight. |
Rarely is the underneath of an aircraft in isolation a pretty sight http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multim...ber_53927b.jpg |
The media is making a regular noise about the Dorniers tyres still being inflated. I wonder what amount of pressure actually remains in them? I have this vision of the underwater pressure being removed upon return to the surface, and the corroded wheels exploding upon removal from the water by the residual tyre pressure. I guess the salvagers would have thought of that, and found some way to deflate the tyres? :confused:
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Sonar images have confirmed the Dornier Do 17 is in good condition with its tyres still inflated |
there is one element of the plan that I do not like. I understand that they are going to display it inverted as that is how it presently sits on the sea bed |
2 of the crew died in the ditching. If the remains are still in the wreckage would the usual protocol not be to leave it on the seabed as a war grave? Having said that, if they are still inside, I'm sure that they will be returned to Germany for burial.
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If the remains are still in the wreckage |
A fleet of 1,700 were built as passenger planes before Hitler ordered their conversion to bombers. |
'Twas in the days when the catchphrase was "Us? Rearming? Perish the thought".
I suspect that the "conversion" was little more than a small tweak. |
A fleet of 1,700 were built as passenger planes before Hitler ordered their conversion to bombers. |
Like I say
"Us? Rearming? Perish the thought". In 1932, the Ordnance Department (Heereswaffenamt) issued a specification for the construction of a "freight aircraft for German State Railways", and a "high speed mail plane for Lufthansa".[1] The factory at Friedrichshafen began work on the design on 1 August 1932.[1] When the Nazis took power in 1933, Hermann Göring became National Commissar for aviation with former Deutsche Luft Hansa employee Erhard Milch as his deputy, soon forming the Ministry of Aviation. The Ministry of Aviation designated the new aircraft Do 17, and on 17 March 1933, just three months after taking office, Milch gave the go-ahead for the building of prototypes. At the end of 1933, the Ministry of Aviation issued an order for a "high speed aircraft with double tail," and for a "freight aircraft with special equipment," in other words, a bomber. The original design (the Do 17 V1) configuration in 1932 had sported a single vertical stabilizer, and Dornier continued developing that model. The Do 17 was first demonstrated in mock-up form in April 1933. The "special equipment" was to be fitted later, to disguise its offensive role.[4] ........the Do 17 V1 was contracted as a fast six-passenger mail plane |
This is unfortunately a complete nonsense. http://i39.tinypic.com/2d598l.jpg |
Some more info here:
Dornier 17 conservation | Whats going on? | Cosford | RAF Museum |
Restoration
Ref the Hendon Halifax, and it's non-restoration. The Canadiand also recovered a Halifax from a Norwegian lake. It's been totally restored, and is now at Trenton's museum. It looks magnificent.
This suggests that the aircraft can be restored, if the will is there. At the time I think the RAFM were thinking of it, but, based on the amount of work it took to restore the nose turret, decided against it. Can anyone else confirm that? B |
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