Gloster Meteor F3 in Canadian Lake

[paulmcmillan]

Has anybod here every visited Helenbar Lake and if so got any photos of how much of this aircrfat there is left.. It must be one of the earliest Meteors in existence..

See:

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:xZN ... =clnk&cd=1


http://www.theweathernetwork.com/featur ... ON1473.htm

The aircraft is

EE311 a history of which is 52 MU 13.6.45; 76 MU 22.6.45; shipped from Liverpool on SS Grey County 4.7.45 to Montreal for trials by Turbo Research Co. and WEE. Engines ran out of fuel due to faulty feed; ditched in lake near Helenbar Lake, Ontario, 29.6.46 Pilot Lt. William "Hugh" Mackenzie

[mrhenniger]

It might be fun to try and find it. It is not even a days drive from Ottawa.

Mike

[Raven]

Your first reference says:

Most of the aircraft was removed by the military, but the wing-tip fuel tanks can be seen at the end of the portage on Helenbar Lake. They are now protected by the Provincial Parks Act.

I'd say that's 'not very much' and 'don't touch'. However there is some confusion as early Meteors didn't have wing-tip fuel tanks.

As to early Meteors, there's a pre-Meteor in the Cosford collection, and an early Mk.III in the RAF Museum collection out on loan to Hawkinge, IIRC.

[paulmcmillan]

From Air Britain Information Exchange

"In the magazine Aeroplane dated December 27 1946 there are two
photographs of EE311 after salvage from Helen Bar Lake, Southern
Ontario, Canada and the accompanying text says...

Survival of the Fittest. Ditched in Helen Bar Lake, Southern
Ontario, Canada, this Meteor III was eventually salvaged and
sustained surprisingly little damage. After striking the water at
approximately 110/115 mph she stayed afloat for about three minutes.
Had not one of the magazine bay access panels been torn off by the
force of the impact, A.I.D. considered that bouyancy would have been
maintained for a longer period. Six weeks elapsed before salvage
operations were undertaken and remarkably little corrosion had set
in. The ditching, incidentally, was through lack of fuel.

"

Might explain the fuel tanks.. Probably debris left by the recovery crew