Recovery of Mustang FX876
August - September 2007
By
The Aircrew Remembrance Society in conjunction with Wings Museum.

See here for the loss article: Pietrzak P.A.F. 1945

CRASH SITE ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2007

Investigation by the "Aircrew Remembrance Society" and the "Wings Remembrance Museum" Balcombe, West Sussex. Research & archaeology team for the recovery of Mustang III Serial No. FX876 at Gouldís Farm, Rayne, Essex on the 13/15th September 2007.
Aircrew Remembrance Society: Melvin Brownless (Northamptonshire) David King (Buckinghamshire) and Kelvin Youngs (Norfolk). Wings Remembrance Museum, Daniel & Kevin Hunt (Balcombe, West Sussex). (See link page)

MoD Licence No.1566
Issued 13th September 2007

Kelvin Youngs, half brother of Stefan Pietrzak, visits the crash site of Mustang FX876 for the first time. A few years after the death of Aleksander his widow remarried and Kelvin is the son from the second marriage. We are delighted to announce that Kelvin has now become a member of the Aircrew Remembrance Society and is in fact our webmaster.

The crash site of Mustang FX876 was located in a field at the rear of Goulds Farm using deep seeking metal detectors in an area pinpointed by the landowner Mr. Roger Jiggins. Luckily for us Roger had previously given permission to a local metal detector enthusiast to search the field.
It was whilst searching the large field he came across some exploded .50 calibre ammunition and what looked like an aircraft instrument!
These small parts were all found in a relatively small area and Roger marked the spot using his GPS system.
We began our search in this area and before long we found many exploded cartridges scattered on the surface of the field together with a definite RAF pattern seat harness buckle. With the use of the deep seeking detector we soon scanned the area and had readings up to 80% + which were very promising in determining the exact position of the crash site. Armed with our six figure map reference and Rogerís permission we applied to the MOD for a licence to excavate the site.

This Carb Temp Gauge found by a local metal detector enthusiast is in the landowners possesion


Damaged 0.50 calibre cases & heads discovered on the surface, these were disposed of.

First Finds!

One of the first surface finds was this seat harness buckle - presented to his son Stefan Pietrzak Youngs


(left) Melvin Brownless in conversation with landowner Roger Jiggins at the crash site. The stubble was removed to obtain better metal detector readings.

Excavation:

Using the deep seeking detector Melvin confirms our previous readings

The group arrived early at the crash site and proceeded to carry out another scan of the area to confirm the previous readings. The JCB excavator was not due to arrive at the site until 9.00 a.m. so the team decided to start digging by hand in the hope that we can find some small interesting parts, one of the first finds of the day was the remains of an instructional label which is found on the right hand side of the pilot's instrument panel, following this delicate find we found a fragment of an instrument face marked "Sperry gyroscope". The detector still was giving a very strong signal in this area so we decided to dig on, another 12 inches and we found the remains of one of the undercarriage legs with remains of the tyre, not burnt but in good condition the tread was like new!

Cockpit instructional label


Remains of Sperry Gyroscope instrument face

   
Main undercarriage leg and remains of tyre


The JCB digger arrives!


The JCB excavator starts the dig


Remains of one prop blade discovered


Remains of smashed Packard Merlin engine


Engine part with makers label


After cleaning


Set of six exhaust stubs


Con rod and other assorted parts


Landowner Roger Jiggins with prop blade


Battery top



     
Oxygen pipe connector. Makers label


Plastic instruction cockpit label


From Stromberg carburettor


Cockpit lever


Gun camera film

   
Throttle controls. Throttle control close-up

   
Left: How it would have looked in 1945. Right: In July 2009 Stefan Piatrzak Youngs presented with the throttle controls by Melvin Brownless.


The Team