05-04-2019, 10:40 AM
Bob,
The Merlin engine belongs to a friend - it crashed onto his parents’ farm in Kent, thankfully the pilot escaped (but then died in another crash some years later)! You can see parts of the prop embedded in the engine.
Some time later he dug it up (such was the force of the impact it was some 9’ down) and one of his daughters (a Typhoon pilot) arranged for a cradle to be built and then shipped it up to his new home in the Highlands via a transport plane.
Last year the son of the pilot, now in his mid 80s, visited the engine - tracking him down is another remarkable story in itself.
Like me, my friend has three daughters - two are fighter pilots and one is a doctor, I always ensure my daughters chat to these ladies on our visits.
Never a dull moment.
The Merlin engine belongs to a friend - it crashed onto his parents’ farm in Kent, thankfully the pilot escaped (but then died in another crash some years later)! You can see parts of the prop embedded in the engine.
Some time later he dug it up (such was the force of the impact it was some 9’ down) and one of his daughters (a Typhoon pilot) arranged for a cradle to be built and then shipped it up to his new home in the Highlands via a transport plane.
Last year the son of the pilot, now in his mid 80s, visited the engine - tracking him down is another remarkable story in itself.
Like me, my friend has three daughters - two are fighter pilots and one is a doctor, I always ensure my daughters chat to these ladies on our visits.
Never a dull moment.