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By: - 24th April 2011 at 09:46 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
cool! wouldnt mind a small piece for the BDAC please!?
By: - 24th April 2011 at 09:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Well done merkle, keep us informed as this is something a bit different :).
By: - 24th April 2011 at 12:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Nice!
By: - 24th April 2011 at 20:14 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thanks for your replies chaps, ( erm Sorry Tony, I got it wrong,PX229 was based at Farnborough with the RAE , )
History as follows
DH Hornet F.1 PX229 of RAE Farnborough en route to RAF Locking TDU for torpedo development trails/conversion. , Piloted by Lt Commander Thomas Bentley . crashed 12th November 1946 at Charterhouse ,on the mendips, after flying through low cloud, and clipping the trees,the Aircraft carried on across the valley only to hit the opposite hillside, Causing a huge crator,
the Pilots was thrown clear, but sadly was pronounced dead at the scene.Ironically , it was RAF Lockings RAF personel who had to gaurd and remove the wreckage. here are a few pieces that I have given a little clean with the bead blaster, very corroded , part of one the magneto's
also a fuel ,Oil filler,Compressor cap, piece od supercharger casing,and hydro/electrical fitting,
I got so much to clean up , well, a bag full, and to be honest, most of it is very corroded, but it is hornet, and nothing will be thrown, incase it is of use to someone :)
By: - 24th April 2011 at 20:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I got so much to clean up , well, a bag full, and to be honest, most of it is very corroded, but it is hornet, and nothing will be thrown, incase it is of use to someone :)
I'm sure that David Collins will be more than happy to rummage through the recovered items ;)
By: - 24th April 2011 at 20:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Dont worry, I am sure Dave wont be forgotten ;) .
By: - 24th April 2011 at 21:40 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Dont worry, I am sure Dave wont be forgotten ;) .
Hi Chris,
Looks like you had a good day to dig. Great weather! Great finds!
I saw Gareth at Shoreham and he told me that you would be doing this shortly. If you get stuck on identifying anything, please send me some pictures, and I'll hopefully be able to ID them for you.
Yes, PX229 was an F.1 that was on charge with the RAE. I don't believe it had been converted to Sea Hornet status like PX230 (the NF.21 prototype).
You will also be pleased to know that you have parts from the 20th production Hornet, making it the earliest extant remains yet found. I have parts from PX250 and PX273, while there are parts for PX244 and PX274 in other collections I know of.
Looking forward to seeing more.
By: - 24th April 2011 at 21:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Many thanks Dave, I am very chuffed , to find a Hornet is one thing, But to have the earliest parts extant of one, well... its mind blowing, Like I said, this is so important as a find for british aviation history, it doesnt matter if the pieces are bent and corroded, I will try to preserve all, My Girl friend Tina,found the first difinative piece, the Constant speed unit, all be it very corroded.
I am quite sad that it has blown itself out the hole, as i dont think we will find as much as i would have wished, and it really doesnt warrant the use of a Mini digger, but being the ground is so hard, and stoney, and the chance that we "May" find more. and due to its rarity, I am happy to put my hand in my pocket and get a digger. if we get just another small bag of bits, its still Hornet.. and still very much worth it .. Thanks for your support Dave and all, And yes I am sure I have plenty for you to identify :D
By: - 27th April 2011 at 08:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Question for Mr C, .. Did the Hornet F.1 have wooden or metal Prop's ??
:confused:
By: - 27th April 2011 at 09:09 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Question for Mr C, .. Did the Hornet F.1 have wooden or metal Prop's ??:confused:
Metal props. Concurred by Mr.C.
By: - 27th April 2011 at 12:34 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
here are a few pieces that I have given a little clean with the bead blaster,
Clockwise from top left:
1: Magneto contact breaker plate (as you said) BTH Type
2: Don`t know
3: Part of engine reduction gear casing
4: Engine starter drive cover plate
The separate item is the intercooler header tank filler cap, also part of the engine.
Pete
By: - 27th April 2011 at 13:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Well done - it is indeed a rare type - The results look very similar to our Hornet dig on PX274 - see: http://laituk.org/Hornet%20PX274.htm
Very high energy impact leaving parts very badly damaged and hard / rock ground meaning wreckage was flung far and wide rather than imbedding into the ground - One of our best finds was the pitot head embedded about a foot down some 30 feet from the impact crater! Found by our detecting guru Gareth.
By: - 27th April 2011 at 18:11 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
many thanks for the replies :) .. and what knowledge !!..
I am hoping to find a bit more, its a gamble ,but worth it, the baffling thing is we have not found one piece of cockpit equiptment, apart from a few shards of perspex :( a prop.. or a some data labels would be more than nice to find :D.
lots of shallow steel targets , not much luck with the fisher either, but we found the impact spot, as we found the cannon shrouds, about 3 ft down and not far apart, no cannons though sadly :(. apart from a muzzle , I will put more on as i find it and will post a picture of the complete lot found as to date, :)
Nick.. after reading your report, the sites are allmost identical !!, we found smashed engine, but not one valve yet, and cannon shrouds, also a assortment of very small fragments over a wide area, and also its ironic that you too, never found any cockpit parts, like the PX274 you researched, the airframe must have shattered to tiny pieces flinging parts over a wide area .
By: - 27th April 2011 at 18:43 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
We did find part of the canopy rail from PX274 though, but that was the closest to the cockpit anything came from that I can re-call.
By: - 27th April 2011 at 19:44 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
can anyone identify some of these bits, ??, and are there any more in existance, Ie the item that looks like a Bomb shackle ??
By: - 27th April 2011 at 20:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Hi Chris,
On first inspection I can ID two parts:
The round disk lis the boss on the back of the throttle box, into which the friction knobs screw into. (see original scan photo below too).
The mangled piece of aluminium is a data plate of some sort.
By: - 27th April 2011 at 20:43 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
looks like you might have the fuel gauge in the centre photo....very nice
By: - 27th April 2011 at 20:52 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
un sure on the data plate Mr C , its devoid of any stampings, or markings :confused:
and thanks Tony .. i wondered what insrument it came from, sadly yet again, no markings :(... infact, ive found practically nothing with markings on .. hope fully the next recovery will bring up some more interesting items :)
By: - 27th April 2011 at 21:04 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The large piece (sector) of bevel gear is surely part of the pitch-control mechanism from a de Havilland variable-pitch propeller and the two large pieces of roller-bearing (brass cage) almost certainly go with it.
By: - 27th April 2011 at 21:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I thought they were prop, I imagine even the prop hubs smashed to pieces too.. the 20 mm, we only found the muzzle, I imagine to snap a 20mm , PX229 must have been going with some force :eek:
Posts: 1,107
By: merkle - 24th April 2011 at 08:01 - Edited 2nd October 2019 at 11:40
Yesterday after many many months of waiting, the recovery of Hornet PX229
which crashed on the Mendip hills began in earnest.
The aircraft which was serving with Boscombe down crashed in November 1946 whilst on a transit flight to the TDU (Torpedo Development Unit) at RAF Locking, weston Super Mare .
the aircraft was lost in cloud , and clipped the trees causing it to crash into the hillside on the opposite side of the Valley.
Yesterdays Jaunt was to survey the site with magnetometers to see just what might be left at this crash site, which had not been touched since the aircraft came to grief.
we found a few pieces but due to the hard/stoney ground ,we believe the aircraft blew itself out of the hole, and was strewn up the hill,
however, not beaten, we will be back with a mini digger soon,
Many thanks to Gareth, Glyn, and steve, (North Gwent Aviation Society)
and my lovely girlfriend, who like a trooper got really stuck in :) .
The finds to date were, various engine parts, Skinning, the Cannon recoil spring/shrouds, and one muzzle, constant speed unit, Undercarriage strut,
wood, and fabric alot of it is unreconisable, and needs cleaning, once cleaned those finds will be shown on here .
here is just a few tasters of what we found so far :)
h