Recovery of Typhoon IB MN924
By Peter Celis and Stijn Mertens
Here are some photos of our recovery of the remains of Typhoon IB MN924, flown on February 15, 1945 by W/O J Marshall, and abandoned over a field near the village of Kortrijk-Dutsel due to closing-in fog over the airfield B-80 Volkel.
The recovery took place on October 8, 1988, and was organized by Peter Celis and one of his best friends, Stijn Mertens. They got the help from a very keen and interested local earth hauler!
The Full recovery article written by Stijn Mertens
read it Read more here
The photos:
1 – Overall scenery when starting the dig in the early morning.
2 – The first evidence of airplane wreckage being in the ground.
3 – strange metal objects sticking out of the soil. What are they?
4 – They are 20mm Hispano cannons!
5 – The engine, sitting in a grey mixture of oil, fuel and clay. The whole placed smelled like fuel!
6 – The loot. We recognize the engine and propeller hub.
7 – Picture taken right after the engine was pulled out. The digging machine almost pulled itself into the crater due to the weight of the Sabre engine!
8 - The local farmer who pointed us towards the crash site came to take a look at the crater. His body size gives an idea of the crater depth.
9 - The Napier Sabre engine after cleaning. In remarkable good shape, with clean leads, spark plugs and cylinder heads.
Click on image to enlarge
 |
 |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
 |
|
|
4 |
5 |
6 |
 |
 |
|
7 |
8 |
9 |
