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Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:23 am
by Dauntless
Looks like they're about to bring it up soon. 8)

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/thi ... ation.aspx

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 2:32 pm
by [CAT]CplSlade
I saw this on the news recently and they made the claim this is the only known "surviving" example.

Does anyone know if that is true?

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 2:45 pm
by jkinzel
Check out article in today's(4 May) Vancouver Sun.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:37 am
by normandy

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 3:57 am
by Mad Sam
UPDATE VIA THE BBC - WEATHER CAUSING PROBLEMS.....

A plan to raise the only surviving World War II Dornier 17 bomber from the English Channel has run into difficulties due to bad weather.

Experts salvaging the German aircraft, which is lying in 50ft of water at Goodwin Sands, off the Kent coast, have had to ditch their original strategy.

A faster but riskier approach will now take place.

The original scheme to bring up the Dornier 17 - devised by the RAF Museum - was to build an aluminium frame or cradle around the wreck in which to lift it - putting the least possible strain on the fragile aircraft.

Divers were expected to take about three weeks to construct the frame, working down on the sea floor,but ever since a salvage barge complete with giant crane, arrived over the wreck site on the afternoon of 3 May, work has been repeatedly interrupted by bad weather.

Fifteen days of diving have been lost and the barge has had to take shelter in the harbour at Ramsgate, Kent on four occasions.

What is more, the salvage team discovered that the wreck, which was thought to be resting entirely on sand and silt, was in fact partly lying on chalk bedrock.

To put the lower struts of the frame in place, divers were having to drill painstakingly through the chalk rather than simply sliding the frame's components through soft sand.

Last week the museum and the specialist diving company doing the work, Seatech, held a crisis meeting.

The budget of more than £500,000 allowed 35 days to complete the project.

Continuing with the original plan would, they estimated, take 50 days - longer if the bad weather returned - and would cost tens of thousands of pounds more.

The RAF Museum told Seatech to adopt a revised plan which involves attaching cables at three points to the aircraft itself - exactly what the experts had hoped to avoid.

All three points are on the strongest part of the airframe - two single-section spars that run the length of both wings.

Since the plane is lying on its back, one cable will pass through its central bomb bay, with the other two running through the undercarriage doors next to the engines on either wing.

Two polytunnels have been set up at Cosford, where hoses will spray the Dornier with a citric acid solution The tail of the wreck will also be supported during the lift, and a central beam will be inserted to run from the bomb bay doors back towards the tail section to give the fuselage extra strength.

Divers have discovered that a crack running around a third of the circumference at the point where the fuselage joins the wings has widened in the past two years.

"We're having to rely to a larger degree than we originally planned on the structural integrity of the aircraft," said Ian Thirsk, the RAF Museum's head of collections.

"But we have no choice. We're doing what we can to save a unique and precious heritage asset. If we leave it one thing is certain - it won't be there in a year's time."

The museum is hoping to put the new plan into practice next week, weather permitting.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 11:02 pm
by snake
Not exactly a positive update.

Lets hope that they can get it raised in one piece. Would be a great shame to have it pulled into several large pieces from the strain.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:37 am
by Mad Sam
ANOTHER BBC UPDATE - 'PLAN B' POSTPONED FOR AT LEAST A WEEK DUE TO BAD WEATHER. (They came very close to giving it a go)

An operation to raise a German World War II bomber from the bottom of the English Channel has been postponed for at least a week owing to bad weather.

An attempt on Sunday night had to be abandoned because of high winds.

The RAF Museum, which is organising the salvage of the Dornier 17 - believed to be the only intact example in the world - will discuss its options later.

Museum spokesman Ajay Srivastava said another attempt would commence when the weather improved, but it was unlikely any attempt would be made this week, he said.

Representatives of the museum and the specialist diving contractor Seatech came within minutes of lifting the wreck on Sunday night.They are on board the salvage barge GPS Apollo and a second barge had moored alongside with a crane on board.

Divers were waiting for the current over the Goodwin Sands, off the Kent coast, to slacken sufficiently at the turn of the tide to send one man down to attach six cables to the aircraft, but when the crane lifted the metal rig designed to spread the weight of the plane evenly, the wind caught the cables and spars hanging from the rig and they began to swing dangerously.

It was clear that to lower the rig into the water in such conditions would be too risky, not least for the diver on the seabed charged with fixing the cables with shackles to the lifting points on the plane's 70-year-old frame and on a spar inserted into the fuselage.

On Monday morning, the salvage barge returned to port in nearby Ramsgate.

The project has been dogged by unseasonal bad weather ever since the salvage barge dropped anchor 50ft (15m) above the wreck at the start of May.

So much time was lost that the original plan to build a frame or cradle around the aircraft was scrapped in favour of attaching cables directly to the plane.

The museum had allowed 35 days for the £600,000 project - It is estimated that Tuesday 4 June is Day 35.

The RAF Museum insists this is not the end of the project and will hold a meeting ashore in Ramsgate later to discuss the options.
"We've come too far to stop now," said Ian Thirsk, the museum's head of collections.

The project has been funded partly by the museum, partly by a £345,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and partly by the proceeds of a public appeal, which included one substantial anonymous donation believed to be from a collector of 1/18 scale aircraft models living in the South West of England....ok, I added that bit :)

The plane on the Goodwin Sands is believed to be aircraft call-sign 5K-AR, shot down on 26 August that year at the height of the battle by RAF Boulton-Paul Defiant fighters.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:52 pm
by Dauntless
Mad Sam wrote: The plane on the Goodwin Sands is believed to be aircraft call-sign 5K-AR, shot down on 26 August that year at the height of the battle by RAF Boulton-Paul Defiant fighters.
That's interesting, who's knows where it was hit. The Defiant could shoot it down at almost any angle of attack with that turret.
Image

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 12:02 am
by Mad Sam
BETTER NEWS THIS TIME..

The RAF Museum has raised an extra £100,000 to fund a bid to raise a German World War II bomber from the English Channel.

It is hoping to make a fresh attempt to salvage the bomber before next weekend.

On Sunday, the museum's salvage team came within 40 minutes of raising the Dornier 17 bomber from its resting place on the Goodwin Sands, off the Kent coast.

But rising winds and sea swell led to the attempt being abandoned.

The salvage barge and team of divers are now in Ramsgate harbour, awaiting the kind of calm sea conditions they need for the operation.

The latest 10-day weather forecast suggests they may get them on Tuesday, or on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of next week.

Extending the operation means increased costs, on top of the original £600,000 budget, but the museum's director general, Air Vice Marshal Peter Dye, told the BBC it had received substantial offers of help within the last 48 hours, including at least another £100,000 from individuals, and from organisations in America and Germany.

"We have been hugely encouraged by the support we've received over the last few days," he said. "Everyone around the world has been excited and enthused by what we've been trying to do.

"Everyone can see how close we were. They know we didn't really run out of money, we ran out of good weather, and people have rallied round to help us."

The extra money has allowed the museum to keep the salvage team in place until the end of next week.

He said the salvage barge would only set off to sea again once there was a favourable weather window and a reasonable prospect of being able to raise the aircraft.

Here's hoping.....

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:35 pm
by snake
Lets hope for some calm weather, and good news.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:37 pm
by Mad Sam
THE DORNIER IS UP!!

A German World War II bomber has been raised from the bottom of the English Channel.

The Dornier Do-17 aircraft was shot down off the Kent coast more than 70 years ago during the Battle of Britain.

Believed to be the only intact example of its kind in the world, it has lain in 50ft (15m) of water on the Goodwin Sands.

Attempts by the RAF Museum to salvage the relic had been hit by strong winds over the last few weeks.

The BBC's Nick Higham on board the salvage barge said the weather conditions for the hour-long operation were "near perfect" on Monday evening.

The salvage almost had to be postponed again when the rope from one of the salvage barge's four anchors got wrapped around its propeller, but the crew were able to free it in time to take advantage of the tidal conditions, our correspondent said.

The aircraft was badly corroded, the fuselage twisted and held in place only by a strut inserted by the salvage team. The engines had come adrift and will not be raised until Tuesday, he added.

The Dornier will be restored at a site in Shropshire before eventually going on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon, north London.

Museum spokesman Ajay Srivastava said: "It has been lifted and is now safely on the barge and in one piece.

"The operation has been an absolute success, the aircraft looks great and I believe it will be towed into port tomorrow morning."

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 3:08 pm
by [CAT]CplSlade
Rough looking, but you can see the tires still inflated (or full of sea water):
Image

I'm still surprised this is the only one. Were all the remainders utterly destroyed or scrapped?

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 4:28 pm
by cjg476
Did the crew die or survive? Will they leave a memorial? This is fantastic news.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:19 pm
by snake
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22846645


Looks to be in pretty rough shape, and hopefully they can get the pieces that fell off during the lift.

Going to be a major effort to restore this, but am sure they will make the effort.

Two crew members killed, and two taken prisoner.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:53 am
by Mad Sam
This from the RAF museum - They didn't forget the crew either...

Yesterday as we started the process of raising the Dornier 17 Alex Medhurst, General Manager of the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, paid his respects at Cannock Chase cemetery on behalf of the Trustees, Director General, and Staff of the Royal Air Force Museum to Cpl Heinz Huhn, the Bombardier of the Dornier 17 that the Royal Air Force Museum raised successfully yesterday from Goodwin Sands.

Of the wreath laying, Peter Dye Director General of the Royal Air Force Museum stated :

‘Today as the Royal Air Force Museum takes stock of its success in raising the Dornier 17 from Goodwin Sands, it is appropriate to remember those who gave their lives during the Summer of 1940. In honouring a fallen German airman, we commemorate all those young men, from across the world, who died in the service of their country. The freedom defended by Britain at great cost in 1940 was built on tolerance, compassion and understanding. In remembering the sacrifice made by the airmen of both sides, we demonstrate our enduring belief in a future based on reconciliation, cooperation and shared values.'

Of the other 3 aircrew in the Dornier 17 : 2 survived and saw out the war in Prisoner of War Camps in Canada, the other member of the crew Wireless Operator Sgt Helmut Reinhardt died of his injuries and is buried in Ysselsteyn, Holland.

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 2:34 pm
by Mad Sam
IT HAS NOW ARRIVED AT ITS NEW HOME FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS;

"A German World War II bomber salvaged from the English Channel has arrived at an RAF museum where it will undergo the first stage of conservation.

The badly-damaged Dornier Do-17 aircraft was transported from Ramsgate to RAF Cosford in Shropshire.

It was lifted from the seabed more than 70 years after it was shot down during the Battle of Britain.

The project is believed to be the biggest recovery of its kind in British waters.

The fuselage and wings were escorted on the 200-mile journey from Ramsgate to the museum on two low loader lorries.

Delighted members of the public and museum staff welcomed the Dornier as it arrived on site.

Alex Medhurst, general manager at RAF Museum Cosford, said: "After all the hard work, planning and setbacks, it's great to know the Dornier is finally here at Cosford.

"It will be a rare and exciting opportunity for visitors to get up close and personal to a unique piece of aviation history and the chance to view it in its salvaged state."

The aircraft will stay in RAF Cosford's purpose-built hydration tunnels for the first stage of its conservation."

Re: Dornier Do-17 Recovery Updates

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:54 am
by blitzhazed
this has just been on bbc news today looks good you can go see it from this saturday