Former 8th AF bases dump site digs...

B-17 Buff · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:32 pm

I think a few of you guys may be interested in whats going on 'over the pond' here in the uk at a few select old bases.... :wink:

http://www.usaaf.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=481&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Jerry O'Neill · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:30 pm

Wow!
There's some neat stuff buried there.
Some of it is certainly restoreable for display.
Jerry

retroaviation · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:35 pm

Wow...with a capital "W"!!!!! That's a heck of a cool find there.

Two questions though...

1. Even though I'm sure they talk funny on that BBC special they're filming, which'll make it hard to understand, I wonder if anyone here in the States, such as the History Channel, Discovery, etc., will air it over here? Maybe they can use subtitles. :-)

2. I'm guessing that the first tree-hugger that sees that picture of the "oily muck" in a few of those pictures, will have a come-apart. What are the crews gonna do about the "environmental hazard" they've uncovered? :roll:

Gary

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:47 pm

Glad to see there's an interest in our "ruddy great 'ole", guys.
It was a great weekend at the end of a LOT of research

Any questions, ask away and I'll do my best to answer them.

Thank's for the link to our forum too, it's been the busiest night for visitors ever, and had generated a fair few new members.
Please have a browse through the other sections while you're there, I'm sure you'll find something else interesting as well.

The "oily muck" was where we hit the water table in one of the trenches, so has been there for at least 60 years. :wink:

With any luck the BBC program will be online eventually, but whether it will be viewable in the US isn't known. (The BBC website gets funny about non-UK IP addresses viewing certain content sometimes I'm afraid.)

All the best,
PB

retroaviation · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:55 pm

Thanks for the input, Paul. Neat lil' project you've got going there. If y'all need a place to store some of that "junque," don't forget Austin Acres over here where the water table is nooooo problem. ;-)

Gary

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:07 pm

Ta Gary,

While I think about it, you're probably one of the best people to ask....

An awful lot of the stuff we pulled out were effectively NoS unused components, particularly some of the stainless/Inconel exhaust collector ring sections.
Would they be potentially Yellow Tagable (after suitable testing and inspection, naturally) after being buried in fairly anaerobic conditions for 60+ years?

Other than that, a lot of the non-structural items could be potentially useful for flying restorations I'd guess. After all, who has a functioning B-17 oxygen system these days when empty, unplumbed, cylinders would look great in their racks? :wink:

All the best,
Paul

Holedigger · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:07 pm

WOW! Bunch of great stuff coming out of the earth there! I wonder about bases here in the States? Was the protocol for discarded bits organized and efficient in scrapping and getting the usable metals back to the factories to make more AC, or was there a bunch of this,"Just bury it in a hole and forget about it" mentality going on, especially at the end of the war when people just wanted to get back to their lives?

A2C · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:10 pm

They dug a burial site out here, but the soil was very corrosive, all left were some jagged strips from a wing!

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:14 pm

Holedigger wrote:

WOW! Bunch of great stuff coming out of the earth there! I wonder about bases here in the States? Was the protocol for discarded bits organized and efficient in scrapping and getting the usable metals back to the factories to make more AC, or was there a bunch of this,"Just bury it in a hole and forget about it" mentality going on, especially at the end of the war when people just wanted to get back to their lives?

The majority of surplus US materiel in the UK at the end of WWII (when most of this stuff was collected and put in the hole we found it in) was not allowed to be returned to the USA, so as not to affect the market price of raw and scrap metals.
Hence a program of destruction and dumping commenced, with the engine blocks of those vehicles that didn't have a buyer from one of the European governments were normally smashed with sledgehammers, wrenches were bent at right angles to make them unuseable etc.

All the best,
PB

retroaviation · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:32 pm

Paul,

Actually, I'm not really the best guy to talk about what it takes to "yellow tag" something since I don't know those particulars that the FAA requires. :oops:

There are several others here on WIX who know the rules far better than I do. However, with that being said, I think that if you have a very nice and clean set of exhaust stacks, for example, they could certainly be sold as New, Old Stock parts. A yellow tag really isn't necessary.......I think. Let's just put it this way, if I had a pile of fancy new exhaust laying around here, I'd be making some phone calls and doing my best to sell that stuff to folks I know that could use it......OR finding a suitable museum that would appreciate having the parts in their collection.

Gary

N3Njeff · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:37 pm

Holedigger wrote:

WOW! Bunch of great stuff coming out of the earth there! I wonder about bases here in the States? Was the protocol for discarded bits organized and efficient in scrapping and getting the usable metals back to the factories to make more AC, or was there a bunch of this,"Just bury it in a hole and forget about it" mentality going on, especially at the end of the war when people just wanted to get back to their lives?

There are dumps at former USN bases all over South Fla................yep lots of stuff!!!
This was found at NAS Ft lauderdale. Thats dad using is former USAF EOD skills.

N3Njeff · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:39 pm

retroaviation wrote:

Paul,

Actually, I'm not really the best guy to talk about what it takes to "yellow tag" something since I don't know those particulars that the FAA requires. :oops:

There are several others here on WIX who know the rules far better than I do. However, with that being said, I think that if you have a very nice and clean set of exhaust stacks, for example, they could certainly be sold as New, Old Stock parts. A yellow tag really isn't necessary.......I think. Let's just put it this way, if I had a pile of fancy new exhaust laying around here, I'd be making some phone calls and doing my best to sell that stuff to folks I know that could use it......OR finding a suitable museum that would appreciate having the parts in their collection.

Gary

Hey gary..............maybe that certin museum in Ohio is seeing this thread!!! They might want their parts back!!!! :hide:

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:40 pm

retroaviation wrote:

Let's just put it this way, if I had a pile of fancy new exhaust laying around here, I'd be making some phone calls and doing my best to sell that stuff to folks I know that could use it......OR finding a suitable museum that would appreciate having the parts in their collection.

Thanks Gary,

You'll be glad to know that both those options are being persued at present.

I hope there's enough left over for me to complete my B-17 complete Collector Ring/Fixed Cowl display. :wink:

TTFN,
Paul

hang the expense · **Posted:** Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:20 am

The base at framlingham had a dump as all bases I'm sure did.We heard stories of the stuff that is buried there.Unreal if true.Base commander to the troops: clean this place up and I dont care how you do it.Troops reply:Yes Sir and the quickest way to make it disappear was to bury it.All of it.

Second Air Force · **Posted:** Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:53 am

I visited with two servicemen who had experience with overseas equipment at the end of the war. One was a lieutenant in Alaska who worked in Quartermaster Supply. He was ordered to dig a hole large enough to hold the remaining material in their warehouse and to bury it. The second gentleman was a B-29 radar mechanic on Tinian. Same thing--load all the black boxes in the storehouse on a truck and run the whole thing into the sea. In both cases the logic was that: 1. The logistics of loading the material on Liberty ships for return to the States cost more than the stuff was worth, 2. There were warehouses of the same goods still in the USA, so who needed the excess out in the former combat zones?

As far as CONUS dumps, the Midwest airfields shipped most serviceable goods to depots as the stations were closed down. We've done a few digs at a couple of Nebraska fields and found damaged exhaust rings, lots of warped 3350 valve covers, spoons, bottles, and the other stuff you'd expect to find in the dump. No engines in cans, complete turrets, or the other things that legends are built around.

Paul, PM on the way.

Scott

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Former 8th AF bases dump site digs...

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