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Frozen Under the Stars

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buzyg
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by buzyg » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:51 pm

Left work a bit early today to take advantage of the fabulous weather again. Had a swift walk on the moor in mind, after reading there is a Liberator bomber crash site close to Meldon resovior. Forgot to take my walking trousers to work, so had to grab them from home on my way past. As I was there it seemed only natural to swap cars too. :wink: So the little Mazda was parked up and out came the ///MR :D :evil:

The run up on to the moor was ok, but interrupted by the 3pm school mums in their Chelsea tractors .

I parked up at Sourton and headed off up Branscombs loaf to warm up :lol: After dropping down off the ledge into the West Oakment valley and a bit of tooing and frowing I spotted a small depression in the ground, full of bits of WW2 Liberator. Much smiling was had I wasn't really expecting to find it. :D
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So with the sun allready set, the temperature dropping like a stone and me still in the middle of Dartmoor, I grabbed a quick chicken butty got my head touch out and headed back towards the Zed.

Safely back in the heated driving seat, roof down, hat on, stars glinting like Diamonds above and no sign of the moon, it was time to start back. Pretty cautious at first, I sat behind a late evening bimbler for a few miles, while every thing came up to temp on the dash. Once past him the tyres still felt a little twitchy for another mile, but then they came too and the magic began.

There really is nothing to beat it. The MR is just one of those cars that gets better the harder you push. The engine from gentle growel through mid range zing and then on to top end tyrannical scream time after time. Breaking hard into each cornerz suspension loading perfectly into the smothering depressions, then rolling genly over onto throttle, feeling the front end biting then starting to push wide, a touch more right foot to keep her turning and then squirt up over the next crest, finest touch of opposite lock as the back goes lite and back and do it all again for the next dipping camber chasing bend. What a machine what a road and what a drive home. :driving: :thumbsup:

Till the next time. :wink:
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by ErrErrminator » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:06 pm

Nice write-up of what sounds like an enjoyable and interesting excursion.

I love driving top down at night and Dartmoor is a great place to do it. Very little light pollution up there, so the night sky can be seen in all its glory. I must take a trip up there again soon.

Well done on finding the Liberator crash site. I’ve not been to that one, but did take a yomp out to the location where a Sea Vixen came down on the moor in the 60’s. The site is a water filled crater/pool, with a few small fragments of aluminium lying around the edges. Bizarrely, when I went, someone had left a gnome fishing at the edge of the pool. Random!
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Vonlipvig
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by Vonlipvig » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:08 pm

Sounds amazing. Got me wanting to find that liberator too now :thumbsup:

Ooo and a sea vixen, will have to bring my dive kit
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by Marlon » Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:20 am

Sounds wonderful :thumbsup: :driving:
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buzyg
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by buzyg » Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:40 pm

Vonlipvig wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:08 pm Sounds amazing. Got me wanting to find that liberator too now :thumbsup:

Ooo and a sea vixen, will have to bring my dive kit
May be I was lucky, but it did n't take too long once I found a few photos. You can just make it out on the aerial photos on Google. If you know where to look. Not ovious on the ground though. I was 30 yards away above it with a clear view and it still took me a few minutes to spot, in the dimming, evening light. Well worth the shortish walk. :)
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by firebobby » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:28 pm

buzyg wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:40 pm
Vonlipvig wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:08 pm Sounds amazing. Got me wanting to find that liberator too now :thumbsup:

Ooo and a sea vixen, will have to bring my dive kit
May be I was lucky, but it did n't take too long once I found a few photos. You can just make it out on the aerial photos on Google. If you know where to look. Not ovious on the ground though. I was 30 yards away above it with a clear view and it still took me a few minutes to spot, in the dimming, evening light. Well worth the shortish walk. :)
I had a look on Google maps and couldn't find it
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Post by patriot66 » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:03 pm

Interesting article about this crash/site here :
http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/lost_liberator.htm :thumbsup:
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buzyg
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by buzyg » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:08 pm

firebobby wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:28 pm
buzyg wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:40 pm
Vonlipvig wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:08 pm Sounds amazing. Got me wanting to find that liberator too now :thumbsup:

Ooo and a sea vixen, will have to bring my dive kit
May be I was lucky, but it did n't take too long once I found a few photos. You can just make it out on the aerial photos on Google. If you know where to look. Not ovious on the ground though. I was 30 yards away above it with a clear view and it still took me a few minutes to spot, in the dimming, evening light. Well worth the shortish walk. :)
I had a look on Google maps and couldn't find it
Try looking here on Google earth. 50°40'41"N 4°01'45"W :wink:
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by buzyg » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:25 pm

patriot66 wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:03 pm Interesting article about this crash/site here :
http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/lost_liberator.htm :thumbsup:
Great article, explains where all the big bits have gone. Would have made it easier we to find too. :thumbsup:
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Frozen Under the Stars

Post by firebobby » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:42 pm

Thanks for the info, such a sad story when you read it :(
BMW Z4 30i 2003 auto 107's Whippy Toledo Blue
Beige M sport seats, wood dash
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Triumph GT6 1972 (project)
Land Rover Discovery 1994 TDI (Tow car)
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