Chrome plating on Superfortress lasts for 50 years

When walker Keith Stevens found the wreck of a Boeing Superfortress on Bleaklow Moor in Derbyshire, he noticed the hard chrome plating on the landing gear had survived almost intact

Keith Stevens, a keen walker and R and D director for surface treatment specialist Poeton Industries, came across the wreck of a Boeing Superfortress recently, whilst walking on Bleaklow Moor in Derbyshire - said to be the most remote area of land in England.

Unable to resist a look at the USAF plane, which crashed in 1948, he noticed that the hard chrome plating on the landing gear had survived almost intact, despite spending over 50 years at 2,000ft in extremely hostile conditions.

Says Keith: "Hard chrome is a much maligned surface treatment yet it remains one of our best engineering coatings for wear and corrosion resistance.

This example has withstood everything that nature could throw at it, including 150 inches of rain every year! "With such compelling evidence it's surely worth preserving this vital technology, especially for the aerospace industry." Anyone wishing to examine the evidence should hurry.

Keith tells us that the Superfortress is slowly sinking into a peat bog.

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