Glass-breaking hammer in B-24 Liberator

[Thumpalumpacus]

Great Thanks for those useful informations. I am not good at listening but he said that he pulled out the chopper axe which was in each sections strapped to the wall and he left through perspect and aluminium frame of the nose. What is a perspect or something like that?
Was Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express modified of B 24?

Perspex is the plasticized (?) glass used to cover the nose.

Planes would sometimes have crash axes for emergency egress, some still do to this day. A crash axe has a semi-standard axe on the main blade, and the secondary on the backside has a solid metal spike ... like so:

According to Worthpoint.com where I fetched this photo, this model was used dating back to WWII and was standard for both B-17 and -24 equipment. You can wreck a lot of stuff with it.

 

[MiTasol]

The chopper axe is what some called the crash axe which was a common unit in both civil and military aircraft.

"Perspex" is the transparent plastic sometimes called acrylic glass used instead of glass in most older aircraft because glass when broken has sharp edges that can cut air and ground crew. It also had other common trade names.

These days it is usually replaced with cyanoacrylate, often called Lexan.

And yes the C-87 was a B-24 derivative.

 

[ciszu]

The chopper axe is what some called the crash axe which was a common unit in both civil and military aircraft.

"Perspex" is the transparent plastic sometimes called acrylic glass used instead of glass in most older aircraft because glass when broken has sharp edges that can cut air and ground crew. It also had other common trade names.

These days it is usually replaced with cyanoacrylate, often called Lexan.

And yes the C-87 was a B-24 derivative.


Could you or are you able to confirm it comes from Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express(type Liberator II LB-30A)?

 

[Airframes]

"Perspex" is the trade name of the company who manufactured the clear "glass" panels, with "Plexiglass" being another name.
The clear material is basically a type of plastic, of varying thickness depending on its role, and sometimes made in laminated form, with a clear "polythene" sandwiched between the layers, to provide a type of "semi-armoured" clear panel or moulding.

 

[MiTasol]

Could you or are you able to confirm it comes from Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express(type Liberator II LB-30A)?
View attachment 850075

I do not have a parts catalog for the C-87 but most aircraft of the period did have a crash axe.

 

[GrauGeist]

In the vast majority of aircraft used in WWII, the windows, turret canopies and astro-domes were made of perspex (acrylic) since it was lighter than glass, didn't shatter when impacted and was able to be easily shaped to conform to various angles needed in an aircraft's design.

Actual glass panels were mostly found in fighter windscreens and were heavily laminated in layers to create a bulletproof barrier.

 

[ciszu]

Thank you very much for yours help, you're lovely.
This is what I am going to show you
These pictures (5 pics) comes from news reel and presents Liberator C-87 Express(type Liberator II LB-30A) underwater.
You can clearly notice the fish is swimming into the cockpit from outside.
So conclusion must be, there is no glass(perspex). So this is the way of the escape pilots from liberator after water landing?
Is good size? big enough for person or there is a better way of escape, ?

 

[Airframes]

The glazing has probably dropped out, due to the frame seals rotting away, or the "glass" totally destroyed due to impact damage
Although it was maybe possible to escape through the sliding side windows, with a lot of effort, why even try, when there's a perfectly adequate, and large, hinged hatch immediately behind the pilot and co-pilot seats ?
The hatch "door" hinged down inwards, quickly opened by pulling a lever on the hatch cover, as seen in the photo below, indicated by the white arrow.

 

[MiTasol]

Excellent. Do you have a serial for the aircraft?

The main framework for the cockpit glazing is alloy, not steel, but the screws that hold the strips that retain the glazing are ferrous so dissimilar metal corrosion probably dissolved the screws and that would have released the perspex that had survived the landing. If properly ditched all the cockpit glazing would have survived but the lower nose on a B-24 would have suffered. The C-87 should ditch better than the B-24 because of the "solid" nose and because there are no bomb doors which would likely have torn off on the bombers.

Alloy is used wherever possible due not only weight but also because steel near electrical wiring becomes magnetised which destroys the accuracy of the compass and that instrument is one of the most critical in the aircraft for navigation. RMIs (remote magnetic indicators) were developed because in some cases steel had to be used in the cockpit in locations that could not be isolated from electrical circuits. Electronic nav aids in those days were very limited and ADFs, although fitted, depend on ground stations transmitting and on the navigator knowing the exact location of that ground station.

 

[Airframes]

The pic is of the CAF's "Witchcraft".

 

[ciszu]

serial for the aircraft AL 523 , catastrophe happened 23:06 and the film was recorded probably next day.

 

[MiTasol]

Do you have a link to the film that you can share please?

 

[mjfur]

The photo that you are showing does not resemble the cockpit of a B-24/C-87. The throttle quadrant is all wrong. The description and photos of the wreck show it inverted in the water. If that is the case the cockpit windows would be facing the bottom of the ocean. It would not look light thru the windows.

 

[MiTasol]

That last photo is a totally rebuilt panel with fairly modern avionics and many other changes so only the items aft of the panel are similar to the original. Even the windshield is totally different.

I do agree the engine controls are not the same as the LB30 and later B-24 aircraft though. My eye pressure is down at present so my vision is poor but that looks more like a twin engine panel to me at present.

Given the maingear is extended it is no wonder that the aircraft is broken in what appears to be three sections. The moment the mains hit the water the nose would drop violently somersaulting the aircraft and probably break free as they often broke in front of the wing in a heavy normal landing. It has also clearly broken behind the wing. Was it on approach to land when it crashed? Does anyone have its RAF history card?

 

[Wurger]

Was it on approach to land when it crashed? Does anyone have its RAF history card?

The AL 523 is the Consolidated B-24 Liberator ( C-87 Liberator Express ) aircraft, which crashed in Gibraltar on July 4, 1943, resulting in the death of Władysław Sikorski, the Prime Minister of Poland in exile and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. The carsh happened while taking off.

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

As noted AL523 is the Sikorsky crash at Gibraltar, the aircraft was an LB-30/Liberator II from the original French order, taken on charge 2 September 1941, the LB-30 were accepted between August 1941 and January 1942, the 9 B-24A were accepted June and July 1941, the 9 B-24C December 1941 to February 1942, the B-24D started production in January 1942, the C-87 was a transport version based on the B-24D, production starting in September 1942.

The crash was on 4 July 1943, just after take off, the aircraft ended up inverted and was officially written off the next day, only the pilot survived.

 

[ciszu]

Hey
Thank you for yours comments. I uploaded an extensive fragment of the film on yt.
I was not aware of,, You can see damage of that aircraft underwater expecially at 00:19 to 00:23

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx5Q8337inA

 

[swampyankee]

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, an airline pilot was interviewed about the new inspection requirements for flight-deck crew, to make sure that they didn't bring any knives or guns aboard. The pilot thought the inspection was pointless, due to the axe kept in the cockpit.

 

[mjfur]

Hey
Thank you for yours comments. I uploaded an extensive fragment of the film on yt.
I was not aware of,, You can see damage of that aircraft underwater expecially at 00:19 to 00:23

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx5Q8337inA

The video is not a B-24/C-87. The control yoke for a B-24 pulls out of the instrument panel and the video shows the yoke mounted to the floor.

I'm not sure they had underwater cameras in 1943 either.

 

[MiTasol]

Hey
Thank you for yours comments. I uploaded an extensive fragment of the film on yt.
I was not aware of,, You can see damage of that aircraft underwater expecially at 00:19 to 00:23

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx5Q8337inA

Unfortunately that is a recreation, possibly using abysmal intelligence. There is no way that the encrusted cockpit control columns would still be movable after all this time and there is no way the ailerons would be still covered with fabric after all this time. If, as you suggest in an earlier post, this film was shot next day there would not be any corrosion or marine growth in the cockpit.