Misc. RAAF ww2 maintenance records and documents

[MiTasol]

I have been tossing up for weeks where to post this one. It was in the Anson collection but it is a standard record used on all two and three engined aircraft by the RAAF in Jun 43. Apparently there were two copies (or more) in circulation at any one time - one for the maintenance staff and one for accounting as a minimum.

To avoid confusion I must point out that in the RAF and RAAF Schedule relates to lists of parts, etc, not maintenance actions. This is not a maintenance schedule as you would expect from the title.

This document is a record of all Rotable/Line Replaceable parts used on this particular aircraft during its service life.

You will note a reference to RAAF publication 2. That is the RAAF Schedule of Spare Parts and & Repair Components which is a single publication covering every type of equipment (Group N is clothing from memory) held by the RAAF. For engines and most, if not all, other materials Schedule was replaced by Vocabulary just to keep everyone on their toes.

RAAF 2 was broken into volumes with A indicating aircraft then the aircraft type number so RAAF 2 Gp A Sec 9, is the A-9 Beaufort equivalent of the IPC/IPL used by the Americans and Canadians.

For the A-4 Anson and A-20 Wirraway it is RAAF 2 Gp A Sec 4 and Sec 20, etc. For a list of A numbers applicable to ww2 go to RAAF Series Two. Also to keep people on their toes many of the Ansons and Oxfords kept their original RAF call signs but the Spitfires first used RAF call signs then switched to A58-nnn.

While using the RAF serials Spitfires were called Capstan aircraft and in many RAAF documents the Beaufighter was referred to as the BD43 throughout the war.

Engines were Group B so RAAF Pub 2 Gp B Sec 22 is the RR Merlin 102 engine - Vocabulary of Spare Parts

RAAF pub 148 is Gipsy Major One Aero engine - Schedule of fits and clearances

RAAF pub 205 is Schedule of fits and clearances - Aero engine carburettors

 

[MiTasol]

This document covers all the instruments used on RAAF aircraft at the time it was last amended. As many aircraft were RAF on consignment many of the RAF codes are included as well as the RAAF ones.

The file has been OCR'd but the quality of the original makes the results pretty crappy

 

[MiTasol]

This is the RAAF Maintenance Org manual from 1941.

Those members in any modern maintenance organisation will be working to MOM that is typically A4 or letter paper and about 25mm or 1 inch thick.

This document is just 37 pages sized 150 x 240mm (about 6 x 8 3/4"). Modern aircraft are more complex but the scope of this manual is far wider as we no longer have wooden, rag and tube and mixed construction airframes or piston engines in straight, flat, SR radial, TR radial, V and inverted configurations with regular and sleeve valve models, multiple fuels, multiple oils, multiple hydraulic fluids, etc.

Most manuals have the pages aligned with the left margin and the cover overlap by some 5mm (3/16) so that they are easy to open. This is one of several RAAF pubs in 41>43 that do the opposite. I am guessing this an unintended consequence of poorly trained staff at the Government Printers replacing of the regular staff who left and joined a military and the massive increase in the printers output.

Note also that this edition of the publication is based on all aircraft being of British or Australian manufacture so there is no mention of the USAAC/F Technical Orders such as used on the Kittyhawks and other US aircraft that arrived en mass in March 42. That would have required a substantial rewrite of this document. Unfortunately I can find no examples of the later manual.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks Mi