Spitfire found in Norway flown by participant in "Great Escape"
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,852
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Spitfire found in Norway flown by participant in "Great Escape"
Spitfire found in Norwegian peat bog
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotla...lands-46316377
Hmmm - restored?
Can't find this on pprune.
The remains of a Spitfire shot down while on a mission to photograph the WW2 German battleship Tirpitz have been recovered from a Norwegian peat bog.
Auchterarder-born pilot, Flt Lt Alastair "Sandy" Gunn, had flown the aircraft out of RAF Wick in Caithness on 5 March 1942.
Gunn was captured, interrogated, imprisoned and later executed after the Stalag Luft III "Great Escape".
His plane, Spitfire AA810, is to be restored and flown again.
Auchterarder-born pilot, Flt Lt Alastair "Sandy" Gunn, had flown the aircraft out of RAF Wick in Caithness on 5 March 1942.
Gunn was captured, interrogated, imprisoned and later executed after the Stalag Luft III "Great Escape".
His plane, Spitfire AA810, is to be restored and flown again.
Can't find this on pprune.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,923
Received 2,844 Likes
on
1,215 Posts
Sad as it may seem they will have the data plate and that is more or less all that is required for a ground up restoration, even that may be replaced, but that's basically all the CAA req for a "rebuild" that's why when I see Spitfires, Hurricanes etc described at airshows as a genuine WW2 aircraft, I have a little chortle. One I know that was rebuilt off a gate and relatively intact ended up containing a leading edge skin and the plate, the rest was new. There are a few about that are more or less complete, but they are a rarity.
Why doesn't someone just set up a production line for Spitfires, and then every time one is dug out of the ground, its data plate can be screwed in to make one of them genuine? (supposing that any variant can be configured from a basic airframe).
The whole business is a con. I'm more than happy to see fake Spitfires in the sky, but I do mind the public being expected to believe they are original WW2 aircraft.
The whole business is a con. I'm more than happy to see fake Spitfires in the sky, but I do mind the public being expected to believe they are original WW2 aircraft.
The same has been done for the Hurricane, the P-51, and more recently the Mosquito in Aus/NZ with a 3rd Mossie shortly about to take to the air from Avespecs Mossie 'production line'.
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
Posts: 14,573
Received 422 Likes
on
222 Posts
Did they check to see if there were eleven more down there, in crates?
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Often in Jersey, but mainly in the past.
Age: 79
Posts: 7,809
Received 135 Likes
on
63 Posts
Serious question: I have connections with a charity that's pretty sure it has a Spitfire fuselage buried (somewhere) on its land. No engine or wings, just the fuselage and cockpit. It's not a crash site, and no reason to anticipate ownership would be disputed. Identity/provenance of the airframe is unknown; we know how it got there, but nothing about its previous history.
Anyone have any idea what it might be worth (if anything) if it could be located?
Anyone have any idea what it might be worth (if anything) if it could be located?
Value is subjective. If there’s any provenance connected to what’s left of the airframe then you may get something for it. Original Spitfire parts are few and far between, so even something with no provenance may end up used in other restos or as templates at some stage. How did it get there?
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,923
Received 2,844 Likes
on
1,215 Posts
Why doesn't someone just set up a production line for Spitfires, and then every time one is dug out of the ground, its data plate can be screwed in to make one of them genuine? (supposing that any variant can be configured from a basic airframe).
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...tfire-crashes/
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,923
Received 2,844 Likes
on
1,215 Posts
Pasta depends on condition, there were some Lancs found yeas ago but though they showed on a scan they had literally disolved, that said stuff is still coming out of lakes and the ground, these are examples of late
Messerschmitt Bf 109 - June 2018 Water Recovery in Russia!
Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik Recovery ? Updated Story | Warbirds News
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/thread...ign=11-22-2018
Messerschmitt Bf 109 - June 2018 Water Recovery in Russia!
Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik Recovery ? Updated Story | Warbirds News
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/thread...ign=11-22-2018
If it is 'restored', surely that's better than leaving it in situ ,or on display in its current state? The Kittyhawk found in the desert has apparently been ruined by the Eygptians. The RAF museums Hallibag is slowly dissolving away. I am sure most of us would rather see it flying,even it is not in its orginal state.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,923
Received 2,844 Likes
on
1,215 Posts
The whole business is a con. I'm more than happy to see fake Spitfires in the sky, but I do mind the public being expected to believe they are original WW2 aircraft
Original
Restoration
Reconstruction
Conversion
Rehabilitation
Reproduction
Replica
As an example, the B-17 "Shoo Shoo Baby" is defined as "a composite rehabilitation to factory condition" and the “Spirit of St. Louis,” "a preserved,definitive original, reference date 1928".
Details here.
https://tighar.org/Projects/Histpres/guide.html
Drain Bamaged
I have vague recollection about something saying somewhere that for an aircraft to be called “original “ at least 3% (!?) Of it has to come from original parts.
Whatever the actual percentage, it was really low.
Don’t quote me on it though....
Whatever the actual percentage, it was really low.
Don’t quote me on it though....
for an aircraft to be called “original “ at least 3% (!?) Of it has to come from original parts
Value is subjective. If there’s any provenance connected to what’s left of the airframe then you may get something for it. Original Spitfire parts are few and far between, so even something with no provenance may end up used in other restos or as templates at some stage. How did it get there?
Join Date: May 2008
Location: The wild west of France
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Where is the charity's land? Is it in Burma? If so, I'm sure that if you paid them handsomely enough, TIGHAR would dig it up for the charity and give it a TIGHAR 100% original guarantee certificate. They might even throw in some bones and freckle cream!
Would need to be somewhere warm. Plus this sounds too definitive a story for them: they like their expeditions to be a bit less specific. That way, it's easy to relocate the vacation somewhere else warm. I'm not sure TIGHAR ever did much about Maid of Harlech for most of those reasons. Probably.