Aircraft disposal and scrapping

The Scotsman - Wednesday 19 February 1947
SALE OF SURPLUS WAR EQUIPMENT
Landing Graft Used as Highland Ferries
FLYING-BOATS AS SCRAP
By Our Own Reporter
London , Tuesday
The versatility of a Scottish business man in buying the hulks of 181 Sunderland and Catalina flying-boats at Wigtown and Larne and breaking them up for scrap purposes was commended to-day by Mr Arthur Woodburn . M . P ., Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply, at a conference covering the entire range of disposals handled by the Ministry .
Mr Woodburn stated that the Ministry had considered towing the shells of the flying-boats out to sea and sinking them . However , they had been sold for £ 5000 to the Scotsman for breaking-up purposes .
Landing craft and "ducks" (amphibious craft) had also been sold to Scottish buyers , and were being used to ferry passengers , vehicles and sheep in the Highlands and elsewhere .
It was learned after the conference that Mulberry Harbour equipment had been sold to Iceland and Holland . There had been a number of inquiries from Scotland .
Some time ago the City of Edinburgh made Inquiries through the Baths Department with a view to finding out if part of the Mulberry equipment could be used for outdoor swimming pool purposes . This was not practical .
There had been a tentative inquiry from the owner of an island off the West Coast of Scotland for Mulberry equipment for a jetty , so that barges and small steamers might call to collect the potato crop and convey lime to the island .
A total of £ 330,000,000 worth of material had been disposed of by the Ministry of Supply and other Government Departments up to the end of last year , said Mr "Woodburn . Of this £ 70,000,000 worth had been sold to foreign buyers .

Dundee Courier - Tuesday 14 December 1948
GERMAN BOMB LEFT SCRAP HEAP, FLEW OVER
A guided projectile, the type launched from German aircraft, was being broken up at the Clyde Bridge factory of Cofville's, Ltd., yesterday morning, when it took off, and travelled for almost a mile.
It crossed the Clyde, ricochetted off the main road at Carmyle, and narrowly missed a number of houses before falling to earth.
Two workmen received slight injuries and suffered from shook. None of the factory equipment was damaged.
Bomb disposal experts who examined the missile afterwards discovered was harmless apart from the propellant charge.
This had ignited when two applied oxy-acetylene burner ' to it.
Workmen scattered the rocket yard, flames leaping from its exhaust pipe. Three of the men had remarkable
One of the men said he dodged downwards as the rocket zoomed into the air. it scorched his face. "If I had been taller," he said, " I would have had it"
The projectile struck a slag heap on the fringe of the steel works, careered about, then flew into the air across the Clyde, cleaved its way through some trees and landed in a field.
It narrowly missed a passerby on the main road.

Liverpool Echo - Monday 03 February 1947
METAL SCRAP. Tenders are invited for the REMOVAL of several tons of METAL SCRAP composed of unserviceable aircraft parts. ex-German aircraft. All materials can be viewed at Speke Airport by arrangement with the Supplies Superintendent. British European Airways. Terminal Buildings. Speke . Airport. Liverpool 19. Phone Garston 1871.

The Sphere - Saturday 15 December 1945
THE OLD SAUCEPANS RETURN TO THE HOUSEWIFE A scene at a dump at Cowley, in Oxfordshire, where old aircraft are being broken up for their metal and com ponent parts. Do you remember the days when we were asked to turn out all our old aluminium ware to help provide fighters and bombers The wheel has now turned full circle, and dumps of a different kind are springing up all over the country here, old aircraft, their duties done, are being systematically broken up in order to recover the precious aluminium they contain. One such dump, is at Cowley. It is handling something like 40,000 tons of scrap, and there is a regular intake of a further 2,000 tons every week. The dump covers many acres and is probably one of the largest scrap-heaps in existence. Everything has been patiently sorted out. Here you will pass a stack of petrol tanks there a pile of tail fins or ailerons farther on you will find great clusters of engine cowlings, and so on. Cleaner metal, known to have a high content of pure aluminium, goes to what is known as the half bake-out furnace," where it is reduced to a molten state, and poured into moulds. The resulting ingots, weighing 28 lbs. each, are in turn stacked in great dumps which stretch as far as the eye can see. From there they are shipped to factories in all parts of the country. Some will be used for the manufacture of prefabricated houses