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Will Gibbs

Will Gibbs

Conservation Engineer at the Fleet Air Arm Museum (National Museum of the Royal Navy), leading the rebuild of the world's only surviving Fairey Barracuda DP872.

Aug 4, 2026

18:05
Tell us a little bit about how you go about preserving and sifting, for whatever, for want of a better description, through those parts to see what's usable, what's salvageable, and what you can then put into DP872.
18:20
Uh, yeah, I mean, uh, uh, two different scenarios.
18:24
So you got the, the, the Solent wreck's obviously been in the sea- For, you know, nearly 70 years.
18:31
Um, and that had been, um, partially buried in, in, uh, uh, thankfully muddy conditions.
18:39
Um, but had also been encrusted with, with, um, with cr- crustacean-type material.
18:45
Um, uh, and that had, um, preserved, uh, a lot of the, the metal, uh, components.
18:54
Um, uh, and, uh, quite a lot of the, uh, aluminum structure from the Solent wreck, um, had, had taken the brunt, uh, o- of the co- corrosion, thus saving the metal parts.

29 MINS LATER

48:27
What's the plan for the wings?

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