Lancaster parts to identify

[Ian]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum although have been researching WWII stories since 2006.

I recently came across several relics of aircraft from one of the missions I've been working on and would be really grateful for help in identifying them.

- A control lever with heavy steel counterweight or knob.
- Panel with access hatch labelled 'engine slinging attachment' (top engine cover cowling ?)
- Hydraulic pipe, approx 3/43 outside diameter, rubber with textile reinforcement and alloy connector (inside male connector snapped off).
- Fan ventilator disc from a motor, compressor or other.

Thanks again,

 

[Ian]

Sorry couldn't attach multiple files for some reason so have split them up

CH]

 

[stona]

I'm not an expert on the Lancaster but your " control lever with heavy steel counterweight or knob" looks a lot like a mass balance, several of which were fitted to the various control surface of the Lancaster.
Steve

 

[Ian]

Thanks Steve, that seems a much more logical use for it !

 

[vikingBerserker]

Welcome aboard Ian, great collection!

 

[Airframes]

Not sure that the item is a mass balance - they tended to have a 'tubular', aerodynamic shaft, with the balance itself more streamlined, almost egg-shaped, and a lot larger. That said, the actual size looks like it might match the balance on the rudder or elevator trim tabs, which, if my memory is correct, did have a 'flat' shaft, and a 'round' balance.
It also looks rather like one of the pitch or mixture levers, found on the throttle quadrant, although just going of the photo is not a very scientific way of judging!

 

[Ian]

Thanks for the input. I'm pretty sure that it isn't a control lever of any kind. It's heavy and very basic in design. I presume that a heavy steel ball would only be incorporated in an aircraft for a specific reason. The shaft is made up of two thicknesses of alloy riveted together, I think that most of the cockpit levers have a one-piece shaft. That said, it really isn't aerodynamic, were any of the mass balances actually inside the wing or tail structures ?

 

[Ian]

Thanks, have a look at some of the other fragments found on the same day.

 

[Crimea_River]

I vote rudder trim tab mass balance:

 

[Ian]

Looks like you won ! Perhaps a slightly different assembly method but there seems little doubt.
Thanks for that and to all for the suggestions.

An ideas about the panel location or the fan spinner ?

 

[Ian]

Hi there,
I have unearthed more Lancaster parts, several of which I've been able to identify but a couple that are giving me problems. First, this one. A large brass, bronze or copper ring. There are the remains of 8 fixed nuts on the underside, riveted to the ring, so something was fixed to the upper side of it, bolted onto the ring.

Next, some kind of filler cap, made of an assembly of what appears to be a brass ring with screw thread on the underside. Above it is a riveted copper plate with a copper tube coming out of the middle of it. I know that the Merlin coolant systems used copper tubing, perhaps this was part of the circuit ? Thanks again for everyone's help on this.