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Plane Wrecks in Mid-Wales and CAD West/East - August 2018 | Other Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Plane Wrecks in Mid-Wales and CAD West/East - August 2018

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Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
An impromptu trip to mid-Wales because my son has been expressing an interest to joining the RAF and I have no problems with that as I am becoming more and more disillusioned as a parent with the costs and value of sending the kids to university. Anyways so with minimal planning we drove to CAD West/East which is the viewpoint on a mountain on the Machynlleth to Dolgellau road where, if at the right time, you can watch the jets fly past very close at 500mph and below you. (I think a 28DL photography meet was arranged here once - was that you @The Kwan).

Took the opportunity whilst in the area to seek out some hilltop WW2 plane wrecks:

1. BRISTOL BLENHEIM Mk.IV L4873
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L4873 of No.90 Squadron RAF flew into Foel Wen in the Berwyn Mountains on the 23rd March 1940. Having departed RAF Upwood in Cambridgeshire, as one of three Blenheims on a cross-country training flight, the aircraft broke formation after entering cloud and subsequently flew into the hillside. A considerable amount of airframe wreckage, including several large sections of the wing main spur, is still scattered on the site with much of the paintwork in good condition.

The Bristol Blenheim Bomber
28946882797_163555bf6b_b.jpg


43165690174_a065e51275_b.jpg


28947164107_b6d17510bf_b.jpg


43883905171_fc057897ab_b.jpg


The paintwork is in good condition
43166377084_a91ec70afd_b.jpg


28947053887_17bd668a73_b.jpg


Lots of small pieces were being reclaimed by the peat/bog which makes me think that a lot is now under the ground
43883799411_02334bca84_b.jpg


Away from the main topmost pile, wreckage was scattered down the hillside for about a hundred metres
43834816702_66527059ee_b.jpg


42979121245_4d512de322_b.jpg


43883724421_6420d91d01_b.jpg



2. REPUBLIC P47-D THUNDERBOLT 42-75101
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 42-75101 of the 495th FTG USAAF, crashed on Mynydd Copog near Dolgellau on the 4th May 1944. The pilot was performing authorised aerobatics and local flying from Atcham near Shrewsbury, he had flown west across mid Wales and during a series of rolls drifted over higher ground. He lost control of the aircraft which entered a spin, he managed to recover from the spin but had insufficient height to regain level flight before the aircraft struck the top of the hill and broke up. It nows lies alongside the edge of a forestry plantation. Seen here are the remains of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Twin Wasp engine.

The Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
42074481450_5abdf9c771_b.jpg


28946881487_28b2326427_b.jpg


43883644361_a48b5974dd_b.jpg


28946820337_4662c5b445_b.jpg


The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Wasp Engine
43834848392_2a85eb2673_b.jpg


43166059914_07a907fd01_b.jpg


43883506891_a6dea0eeac_b.jpg


Training the next generation...
43166011744_9c42c211c2_b.jpg


The oxygen cylinder that would had once been behind the pilot in the cockpit and with the labels on it still legible is said to lie deeper within the plantation. We spent an hour looking for it with no joy. I can assume that somebody has swiped it. We did find small bits of wreckage up to 150m into the forest.
42074536790_6597ae802b_b.jpg


Of note:

3. GRUMMAN AVENGER Mk.1 FN821
Of the No.848 Naval Air Squadron and crashed on Trum y Fawnog on the 3rd February 1944. As of a few years ago was said to have been lying deep in a forestry plantation that was planted in the 1980s. Had caused issues among the aviation enthusiasts community as somebody had been doing unauthorized and illegal digging here without the appropriate license from the MOD. Well on my visit, the site has been cleared of the matured trees, and the ground landscaped and replanted. No trace of the wreck could be found. Could be that the forestry people had destroyed the whole plane.

Finally what we saw at CAD West/East: passes by of USAF F-15 Eagles and F-16 Falcons and RAF passes of the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 and Tornado GR4. Not bad only had to sit for 4 hours to see all that. Apparently it's possible to sit on that hillside all day and not see anything (the RAF does not publicly advertise in advance precise and detailed flying information).

Tornado GR-4 (well aware that the photo is not well framed but in my defence it was travelling at 500mph at less than a 100m from me) - so close that you can make out the colour of the gloves of the crew
28946642117_0124696886_b.jpg


And the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4
43883354461_499a125b52_b.jpg



Thanks for reading
 

The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Really interesting (fascinating actually) report Berty, I think I am going to check out those other crash sites!
Your Lad could do a lot worse than a career in the RAF I reckon.
Myself and Lenston Did try to organise a little meet / camp over at cadwest but it ended up being just me and Lenston :), however we have been a few times since and on one occasion sat there all day and saw nothing, but how lucky were you and your Lad to see all of those different fast jets....envious here :thumb
Great photos BTW.
 

Brewtal

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Nice work once again mate, great bit of history there. And you clearly have ninja like reflexes getting those last two shots!
 

Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
@The Kwan I am aware of more than a 100 plane wrecks in Wales with extant wreckage, of which I have visited 27 this year - but that really is it from me for this year at least. There will be some much closer to where you live than the ones I have done. A mountain pass called World's End near to Wrexham sounds close to you and has several wrecks. Seek for a book called "Aircraft Wrecks - a walkers guide" to gain the grid references, but note that the listed grid references in that book are often out by a few hundred metres.

The website Peak District Air Accident Research documents over 500 plane wrecks in the UK (but does not list grid references) and it seems that the webmaster on that site has visited them all over the last 20 years! As some of my sites do not feature on that website, I have sent him an email allowing him to put my reports/photos onto his website in order to consolidate everything together into one place.
 

The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Cheers for the info Bertie, I know worlds end but not about the wrecks, I will check out the book :)
 

mikecawood

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thank you for the excellent report. So sad for the crew of the two aircraft even if it was many years ago. Great photos of the Tornado and the Typhoon.
 

deteriation

moldandasbestos
28DL Full Member
An impromptu trip to mid-Wales because my son has been expressing an interest to joining the RAF and I have no problems with that as I am becoming more and more disillusioned as a parent with the costs and value of sending the kids to university. Anyways so with minimal planning we drove to CAD West/East which is the viewpoint on a mountain on the Machynlleth to Dolgellau road where, if at the right time, you can watch the jets fly past very close at 500mph and below you. (I think a 28DL photography meet was arranged here once - was that you @The Kwan).

Took the opportunity whilst in the area to seek out some hilltop WW2 plane wrecks:

1. BRISTOL BLENHEIM Mk.IV L4873
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L4873 of No.90 Squadron RAF flew into Foel Wen in the Berwyn Mountains on the 23rd March 1940. Having departed RAF Upwood in Cambridgeshire, as one of three Blenheims on a cross-country training flight, the aircraft broke formation after entering cloud and subsequently flew into the hillside. A considerable amount of airframe wreckage, including several large sections of the wing main spur, is still scattered on the site with much of the paintwork in good condition.

The Bristol Blenheim Bomber
28946882797_163555bf6b_b.jpg


43165690174_a065e51275_b.jpg


28947164107_b6d17510bf_b.jpg


43883905171_fc057897ab_b.jpg


The paintwork is in good condition
43166377084_a91ec70afd_b.jpg


28947053887_17bd668a73_b.jpg


Lots of small pieces were being reclaimed by the peat/bog which makes me think that a lot is now under the ground
43883799411_02334bca84_b.jpg


Away from the main topmost pile, wreckage was scattered down the hillside for about a hundred metres
43834816702_66527059ee_b.jpg


42979121245_4d512de322_b.jpg


43883724421_6420d91d01_b.jpg



2. REPUBLIC P47-D THUNDERBOLT 42-75101
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 42-75101 of the 495th FTG USAAF, crashed on Mynydd Copog near Dolgellau on the 4th May 1944. The pilot was performing authorised aerobatics and local flying from Atcham near Shrewsbury, he had flown west across mid Wales and during a series of rolls drifted over higher ground. He lost control of the aircraft which entered a spin, he managed to recover from the spin but had insufficient height to regain level flight before the aircraft struck the top of the hill and broke up. It nows lies alongside the edge of a forestry plantation. Seen here are the remains of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Twin Wasp engine.

The Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
42074481450_5abdf9c771_b.jpg


28946881487_28b2326427_b.jpg


43883644361_a48b5974dd_b.jpg


28946820337_4662c5b445_b.jpg


The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Wasp Engine
43834848392_2a85eb2673_b.jpg


43166059914_07a907fd01_b.jpg


43883506891_a6dea0eeac_b.jpg


Training the next generation...
43166011744_9c42c211c2_b.jpg


The oxygen cylinder that would had once been behind the pilot in the cockpit and with the labels on it still legible is said to lie deeper within the plantation. We spent an hour looking for it with no joy. I can assume that somebody has swiped it. We did find small bits of wreckage up to 150m into the forest.
42074536790_6597ae802b_b.jpg


Of note:

3. GRUMMAN AVENGER Mk.1 FN821
Of the No.848 Naval Air Squadron and crashed on Trum y Fawnog on the 3rd February 1944. As of a few years ago was said to have been lying deep in a forestry plantation that was planted in the 1980s. Had caused issues among the aviation enthusiasts community as somebody had been doing unauthorized and illegal digging here without the appropriate license from the MOD. Well on my visit, the site has been cleared of the matured trees, and the ground landscaped and replanted. No trace of the wreck could be found. Could be that the forestry people had destroyed the whole plane.

Finally what we saw at CAD West/East: passes by of USAF F-15 Eagles and F-16 Falcons and RAF passes of the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 and Tornado GR4. Not bad only had to sit for 4 hours to see all that. Apparently it's possible to sit on that hillside all day and not see anything (the RAF does not publicly advertise in advance precise and detailed flying information).

Tornado GR-4 (well aware that the photo is not well framed but in my defence it was travelling at 500mph at less than a 100m from me) - so close that you can make out the colour of the gloves of the crew
28946642117_0124696886_b.jpg


And the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4
43883354461_499a125b52_b.jpg



Thanks for reading
Fun fact, my local mortuary (Report - - Wrexham Cemetary Mortuary - Wrexham, North Wales - september 23 | Other Sites) may have had the pilots of these planes go through it. Although the mortuary closed in 46'
 

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