Dornier 17 - Goodwin Sands to be raised on 4th May 2013

[Vegard T]

The Royal Air Force Museum's facebook page:

Dornier 17 Update - Thursday 6th June

On Sunday 2nd of June the Royal Air Force Museum attempted to lift the Dornier 17 off the bottom of the English Channel, just off Goodwin Sands. After two years of planning, the Museum came within 40 minutes of success when a sudden increase in winds around the Goodwin Sands area made the sea too choppy to lift the Dornier 17. Regrettably, and with the safety of the crew and the aircraft in mind, the lift was called off.

Since this aborted attempt, the Royal Air Force Museum has been hugely encouraged by the support we have received from across the globe. Not only has this taken the form of messages of goodwill, but the Museum has received substantial additional funding from private individuals and organisations in both Europe and America.

After studying the long range weather forecast, the Museum will make another attempt at raising the Dornier 17 late next week (the week ending 16th June), as soon as an appropriate weather window presents itself. As soon as the Museum is confident that it can make an attempt we will inform the public via our social media platforms and website of this.

To help us reach our 41st minute please make a donation here @

https://support.rafmuseum.org/dornier-17-appeal

[big ned]

They secured another hundred grand's funding yesterday.

[António Fragoeiro]

They secured another hundred grand's funding yesterday.

That is great, i really hope this plane has a bright future.

[kiwiwreckdiver]

Will be in for 5 days from the 18th lets hope she is lifted safe and sound and taken into shore in one piece.
Where is she being taken for preservation ??

[big ned]

Will be in for 5 days from the 18th lets hope she is lifted safe and sound and taken into shore in one piece.
Where is she being taken for preservation ??

Two miles down the road from me at RAF Cosford. And before you ask, I can't get down there at the mo as i'm nursing a badly broken leg and there's no one to push me around!

I believe the port(?) engine is already detached and lying at 90 degrees to the mainplane, but other than that it's hard to say what the structural integrity of the airfame is. The biggest worry I guess is the fact that the original recovery frame couldn't be used as intended and something akin to a big kebab skewer has been shoved down the middle of the aircraft to use as a lifting point.

I personally think it'll be very fortunate if this aircraft can be lifted without incurring some damage/failure during the lift, but hopefully if it does occur it won't be too devastating. You've only got to look at the slenderness of the design and wartime photo's of the damage caused to successfully belly landed Do 17's to see that at best the design was structured around speed and lightness rather than strength and robustness. Fingers crossed for the recovery team, i'm sure they know what they're up against, and also what they need to do.

Regards, Ned.

[Scout]

I wish you a speedy recovery, Ned.

Hope you'll mend fine and get back to your former self.

(I told you not to buy that Wingsuit!)

[big ned]

I wish you a speedy recovery, Ned.

Hope you'll mend fine and get back to your former self.

(I told you not to buy that Wingsuit!)

Thanks bud!

It's becoming a bit of a regular occurance, I just get a kind of shock and go down like a ton of bricks!

TBH it's only gonna get worse. I'm slowly getting paralysed from the chest down due to a disease that causes my spinal chord to become compressed, it's practically unheard of in people under 70, so i'm a bit of a hobby for my neurosurgeon.

Only fractured my ankle and fibula in 2 places this time, last 18 months it's been 4 places in the other lower leg and foot, and a chondral lesion of the ligaments in my one knee. Long gone are my days of Cricket, Rugby, Horseriding and Motorcycles i'm afraid, that's why I collect militaria for a hobby now. Still, it could be worse, I could have AIDS..., and I definitely don't wanna catch that again....

[Scout]

So sorry to hear this, Ned!
I had no idea - thought you had had a nasty spill and that was it.
I applaud you for your spirit in the face of this.

[big ned]

So sorry to hear this, Ned!
I had no idea - thought you had had a nasty spill and that was it.
I applaud you for your spirit in the face of this.

Thanks Scout,

Gotta make the most of it, I thought I was bombproof.You just never think it could happen to you. The bad luck and misfortune, to put it mildly, i've had in the last few years, makes me think I must have shot a Robin I tell ya.

I'll be O.K. though, thanks for the kind words. Let's get back on topic!!

Regards, Ned.

[big ned]

Recovery team reports (9 a.m.) they will attempt to lift the airframe this afternoon. The salvage barge has left port and is en route to the wreck site.

Good Luck everybody!