ID of WWII crash site relic with serial number

[ClémentH]

Hi there from France!

I'm new to this forum and it looks like I'm in the right place for this little mystery that needs solving.

This piece of aircraft was found by a farmer in Normandy. Unfortunately she does not remember where she picked it up exactly...

I don't know much about aircraft but there is a stamp that looks like a construction number: "BRO 533" and "FB74156".

Do you know what airplane model this relic comes from? Is is possible to identify the plane with these numbers?

Here are a few pictures, thank you very much for your help!

Clément

 

[ClémentH]

Hi! So I guess this is a tough one...

 

[kalani]

I find the part # and inspector's stamp unusual. The "BRO533" is not a stamp that I'm familiar with, and usually the # would have a prefix of 2 or 3 numerals
a hyphen and further numbers. Does anyone else know the stamp? Could this be a British manufactured item?

 

[ClémentH]

Oh so those are a part number and an inspector's stamp, that's already something I didn't know, thank you for the information!

If that helps, here's a zoom on the stamp:

 

[MiTasol]

That zoom helps a lot but I cannot add much except that some Bristol engine parts had FB (Filton Bristol) part numbers.

 

[ClémentH]

Interesting... So we're looking at a British aircraft then... That can narrow down the search! Thank you!

 

[MiTasol]

I must respond in two parts.

Firstly to clarify that you have a part number - not a serial number. That is why you will find thousands of aircraft parts catalogs available but never a serial number catalog.

Secondly to clarify that some part numbers are used by multiple companies. Manufacturers other than Bristol may have used FB part numbers but none that I ever came across.
For examples of how part numbers can confuse. 75- part numbers were used on the Curtiss P-36 all versions, P-40 all versions, B-17s most if not all versions and Stearman PT-13/17/N2S all versions. Now throw in the odd North American part from the NA-75 Harvard used on later Harvards and Texans (and maybe Mustangs - there are a lot of Harvard/Texan parts in the Mustang and even some in the B-25) and you can understand why part numbers are helpful but can also lead a person astray.

As a start though I would be looking purely for Bristol engine documents. The part is more likely from a later engine like the Pegasus, Mercury, Taurus, Perseus, Hercules or Centaurus.

Some on line manual suppliers offer access by subscription but read the fine print. Many here use WWII Era Military Blueprints & Manuals | AirCorps Library and similar suppliers however Air Corps do not have any Bristol manuals at present.

Watch out for companies who put heavy watermarks on their manuals. I understand why they do it (to stop scum from selling on their products) and I do it on the manuals I post to this site - again to stop scum selling copies of manuals I want people to be able to read free. Some watermarks are truly obnoxious.

I am fairly sure the Polish air museum at Cracow has some Bristol manuals for free download - search by engine name eg Jupiter as well as by Bristol. Several Bristol engines were built under licence so you may find non English manuals. They are heavily watermarked - look at Polish Aviation Museum Cracow Click the flag in the top right corner to get the English version of the page. IF you find a page there that appears to have what you are looking for send me a PM and I will create you a watermark free version of that/those page(s).

 

[MiTasol]

Here is a sample page of a Pegasus manual with some part numbers - as you can see there is no instantly discernible pattern to them. The page is from a document I was given with the restriction I cannot post it.

The page below is from the Australian Beaufort parts list and shows parts of the Bristol Taurus Accessory Gearbox fitted (to the Pratt engined aircraft which had mountings for all the items this gearbox carried). In this case the part number has a dash but that may be an Australian thing. With all US aircraft supplied to the RAAF in WW2 the RAAF recorded the serial with a slash instead of a dash so 41-12345 became 41/12345. Likewise they called the Spitfire the Capstan and the Beaufighter the BD43. Presumably Military Intelligence directed this because they thought it would fool the Japanese.

 

[ClémentH]

Wow, thank you for all this MiTasol! If I understand correctly, we now know this relic is part of a British-made engine that was most likely on a P-36, P-40 or B-17 aircraft, but the part number is not sufficient to identify the exact plane it belonged to. I guess without the location of the crash it will be impossible to get a match... Thank you for your help!

 

[Crimea_River]

No he did not say that. He said that those aircraft carried part numbers with the "75" identifier. None of those aircraft flew with Bristol engines. You are correct though that the part number stamp will not, in itself, lead you to a specific aircraft serial number. To do that, you need to investigate crash records or find the aircraft's manufacturer data plate.

 

[MiTasol]

Wow, thank you for all this MiTasol! If I understand correctly, we now know this relic is part of a British-made engine that was most likely on a P-36, P-40 or B-17 aircraft, but the part number is not sufficient to identify the exact plane it belonged to. I guess without the location of the crash it will be impossible to get a match... Thank you for your help!

No.
Sorry to confuse you.
The part is almost certainly from a Bristol Engine but definitely not from an American aircraft. I was using US aircraft to demonstrate how part numbers can seriously mislead in some cases.

If you go to Bristol Aeroplane Company - Wikipedia and then click on an engine that will lead you to the page on that engine and which aircraft it was fitted to.