B25 Mitchell Parts

[ajay16]

Been lurking for a few months since I found out the man who would have been my Great Uncle flew on Mitchells for the RAF. Last weekend while attempting to locate the exact crash site so a memorial can be placed, we came across these two parts.
They are both badly corroded after spending exactly 74 years, 4 months and 27 days in the ground. Both are pumps, that much is obvious, but for what and where would they sit on a B25?

One has small, dual inputs the second is similar in shape buy more corroded. This has a single screw threaded input that has broken away at the bottom.

 

[MiTasol]

Been lurking for a few months since I found out the man who would have been my Great Uncle flew on Mitchells for the RAF. Last weekend while attempting to locate the exact crash site so a memorial can be placed, we came across these two parts.
They are both badly corroded after spending exactly 74 years, 4 months and 27 days in the ground. Both are pumps, that much is obvious, but for what and where would they sit on a B25?
One has small, dual inputs the second is similar in shape buy more corroded. This has a single screw threaded input that has broken away at the bottom.

I presume by inputs you are meaning plumbing (pipe or hose) connections.

There are a lot of pumps of various sorts on the B-25 aircraft in various systems such as fuel, hydraulic, icing and vacuum/pressure.

It is over 40 years since I worked on a B-25 and I cannot remember if the B-25 used a single large anti ice pump or multiple small pumps but the smaller pump could be one of the small anti-ice pumps used on the carburettors, props and the bomb aimers windscreen.

All the other pumps have far higher volumes and therefore larger plumbing connections.

Hopefully one of the others may be able to help.

If you can find any small aluminium parts with a number stamped into it that would be a much better indicator - the number will start with two or three digits followed by usually five digits

 

[YGBSM]

I tried to provide contact details of a source who would most likely know the answer to your question, but my post was automatically flagged. The only reason I can think of is that I included a publicly available phone number for a business, but perhaps that is a rules violation.

In any case, search for "B-25 parts" online and look for a company which shares a name with a popular aircraft trading magazine. Those are the people you want to contact.

 

[Wurger]

If you want to send him a phone number and other persoanl details like addresses etc.. please use th Conversation ( Private Message ) option.

 

[ajay16]

I tried to provide contact details of a source who would most likely know the answer to your question, but my post was automatically flagged. The only reason I can think of is that I included a publicly available phone number for a business, but perhaps that is a rules violation.

In any case, search for "B-25 parts" online and look for a company which shares a name with a popular aircraft trading magazine. Those are the people you want to contact.

I can't seem to find the site, could you DM me the info?

 

[YGBSM]

If you want to send him a phone number and other persoanl details like addresses etc.. please use th Conversation ( Private Message ) option.

Understood. Thank you for the explanation.

I can't seem to find the site, could you DM me the info?

I'm sending you a DM now.

 

[ajay16]

Right, so the mystery has been solved. Bear with me on this one...

Firstly I contacted a guy who was rebuilding a B25 in Michigan, this was before I posted the parts on here. He thought it was a vacuum pump that run the avionic but couldn't be sure as there were no part numbers. It's always good to get a second opinion, so I posted on here where YGBSM suggested I contacted the B25 world experts.

A Skype phone call from the UK to the US and contact had been made. An email later and the mystery grew, it appeared as though the pump was a hydraulic one but of the type that belonged to a Merlin powered plane, not a B25. That made no sense as the area the parts were found in is far too small and remote for any other air crash to have happened there. Also, local records back up that there was only one air crash in that area. We then thought that maybe the RAF had swapped the pump for some reason.

Another couple of emails back and fourth and I asked if they had an image or drawing of the pump it should have been. Trawling through the parts manual the pump shown above was miraculously found, it's labelled as an 'alternative' part. One that can be fitted optionally. In the 40 odd years the guys have been rebuilding B25's they've never seen that pump fitted, hence why it threw them totally.

The hydraulic pump sits directly on the back of the engine, so we're in the right area for the crash site. We still don't know what plane this was from, as two collided in mid-air. Hopefully with further investigation around those known locations we'll be able to determine if it was from my great uncles plane, or the one that they collided with.

The second, more corroded pump with just the single large connector is still a bit of a mystery. Even though the outline of it is identical to that of the hydraulic one, it's too badly corroded to make out what it could be.