Identify old machine part - possibly aircraft?

[lkasdf]

Hi all,

Came across an old machine part while walking in the hills in Ireland.

Not sure what it is.
Possibly an old aircraft part? Seemed to be made of quite light and well worked metal for a piece of farm/forestry machinery.
Was high up in the hills, and very well entrenched in the ground, like it had been there for some time.

Could be barking completely up the wrong tree though...
Any clues on what it might be?

Thanks!

 

[pbfoot]

It looks like an exhaust ring from an aircraft radial engine , there are guys on here that can be fairly precise but need info from the numbers stamped or placarded on the part

 

[FLYBOYJ]

It looks like a radial engine collector ring

 

[B-17engineer]

What kind of plane is what I am wondering

 

[lkasdf]

It looks like an exhaust ring from an aircraft radial engine , there are guys on here that can be fairly precise but need info from the numbers stamped or placarded on the part

I took some other photo graphs with more detail on the serial numbers - will see if I can dig them out, and will post details.

 

[Matt308]

Looks like a small engine.

 

[lkasdf]

Looks like a small engine.

To give an idea of scale, the part was approximately 1 - 1.2 metres in diameter.

 

[B-17engineer]

That is pretty small...from the engines I've seen

 

[FLYBOYJ]

That is pretty small...from the engines I've seen

Oh really?

And engines have you seen?!?!?!?

 

[B-17engineer]

no...like in photos I don't know the exact dimensions but they looked bigger then 3 ft...well whatever sorry.....

 

[wilbur1]

Kinda makes you wonder....if that exhaust is in that good of shape theres gotta be more stuff around...........

 

[SoD Stitch]

Looks like a radial engine induction ring; notice there are nine "outputs", which would mean 9 cylinders. Lots of 9-cylinder radials out there (R-1340, R-1820, etc.) . . . . looks like a low-temp metal (aluminum, magnesium, aluminum alloy, etc.), so it's probably not the exhaust ring. Also, the connectors look too light to be subjected to high-temp exhaust.

 

[lkasdf]

Ok guys,

Some serial numbers... On the outer part of one end of the ring, etched directly into the exhaust:
A66827

On the middle of the exhaust, etched onto a tiny welded on plate:
A71 353 DG222 Followed by a minor detail in a circle, I think the minor detail (which you can't read in the photo) says GALRAD (or something very similar to that, don't 100% remember)

Elsewhere on the exhaust, edged onto another welded on plate:
A71 340 DG 189

So, can anyone do anything with these? A time period? A model? A nationality?

 

[Crunch]

I can't be of any help, but it sure looks to be in great condition...

 

[GrauGeist]

Stupid question, but was there any other parts or debris nearby?

Just seems odd that there's be a manifold lying out by itself without other parts in the area.

It definately looks as though it was torn from the engine.

* I just found this site Radial Exhaust Systems that has some real good images of similiar manifolds, though none of the photos in thier gallery match it exactly, there are some that are close.

 

[Milos Sijacki]

Cool pics of a really interesting find. That is possibly a radial cooling ring.
I agree with others, there is probably more parts in the area just waiting to be discovered. Maybe they all had been already found?

 

[lkasdf]

Didnt search the area extensively for other wreckage - might go back and try again later...

We found details of a Ju-52 which crashed in Wicklow, in Ireland, where this was found. The ju-52 has three Pratt Whitney Hornet radial engines, 9 cyclinder, which would seem to match this part. However, that crash site was over 20km away, and apparently all engines were accounted for, details here:
French Plane Crash, Djouce, Co. Wicklow, 1946

Unless someone perhaps carried this piece of wreckage over 20km across multiple mountains and valleys, the case is still open...

We also found a list of aircraft quality control stamps: Aviation Archaeology - Aircraft Inspection Stamps
which look very like the detail on this piece of wreckage - however, none of them match it exactly.
If anyone out there knows of a more comprehensive list of stamps, that'd be a big help?

The number A71, which turns up several times on the part, was apparently used in manufacture of an old Canadian plane known as the Noorduyn Norseman, which also used Pratt Whitney R1340 Wasp nine cylinder radial - we're wondering if that was a possible link, but running out of information to go on!

Does anyone out there on the forum have either a more comprehensive list of quality control stamps, or any source of information that we can use to map from the serial numbers to the aircraft manufacture, that we wouldn't be able to come across searching on the internet?
We're also complete amateurs at this sort of thing - any techniques used for identifying aircraft parts we are missing out on?

 

[seesul]

think this is not an exhaust ring but the air inlet ring.dunno the right english word for it but I mean the engine aspiration piping. exhaust pipe would be pretty rusted...