new guy with a mystery..

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S

shazzam

Recruit
9
0
Sep 24, 2008
Okay, just found this site. Pretty interesting and a great resource.

I have a mystery that I could use some help solving.
My uncle has a panel from an wrecked airplane, it is aluminum with zinc chromate paint, and has the following holes (not sure if they held switches or indicator lamps) in this order - left to right:

Recognition Lights
Gunsight
Emergency fuel pump (above) Oil Dilution (below)
Pitot
Radio
Radio
Remote compass

I assume this was a fighter (gunsight) and supercharged (oil dilution). I am not sure if any of these features narrows down the era of this plane.

This panel was found in the Mojave desert, not too far from Mojave Air Base (WW2 ?Marine? air field - not sure when it closed) and also not too far from Edwards AFB.
I know there are a bunch of wrecks out there from training accidents, but might also be some type of drone for target practice?

Any ideas?

Thanks!
 


Hi shazzam;

There's several F4Us and F4F wrecks east of Mojave air port - I used to work there - do you have photos?
 
Sure thing.. should have done that first.
I can post a picture in the next day or two...
There is another piece he has... it says "Bendix" and has a # on it.
Stay tuned...

and thanks for the quick replies!
 
shazzam said:
Sure thing.. should have done that first.
I can post a picture in the next day or two...
There is another piece he has... it says "Bendix" and has a # on it.
Stay tuned...

and thanks for the quick replies!
Click to expand...

Bendix - a brake or magneto. Looking forward for the pics!
 
Joe is your most likely source for ID on these. If I rattled off any series of numbers, he would probably tell me what part on an airplane it is. But I have seen the fruits of his labor and have flown once with him. He knows his stuff.
 
Okay, here are some pics:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/wreck001.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/wreck002.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/wreck003.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/wreck004.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/wreck005.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/wreck006.jpg

There were found together... can anybody ID the aircraft?
The words in the original post correspond to the holes in the panel:

Recognition Lights
Gunsight
Emergency fuel pump (above) Oil Dilution (below)
Pitot
Radio
Radio
Remote compass

BTW, what is the "s" shaped thingee in the last pic?

Thanks!
 
Hey folks -

Eric, thanks for the kind words.

Thorn - If you're ever in Colorado or if I'm in Texas I'd love to fly with you. BTW in 2003 I spent a month in Grand Prairie. I flew out of there a bit.

Shazzam - I think the Bendix item is a cover that might go on an electrical device or magneto. As far as the instrument panel - are there any numbers on the reverse side? It is from a single engine recip aircraft that required oil dilution - radial engine, probably large.

How far from Mojave air port did you find this? Was it directly east? Again I know there were numerous wrecks of F4Fs and F4Us around the airport and there were also some from out of Muroc (Edwards). If I knew where you found it I might be able to match it up to a crash locator index I have somewhere.
 
Shazzam, the plot thickens...

While I wasn't able to ID the panels, I was able to get a hit on the first pic you posted (http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...a/wreck001.jpg) that has Bendix assy. 54835 on it...

The inspection stamp that shows the anchor and US is a "customer inspection" stamp, usually associated with USMC and USN aircraft.

The inspection stamp, seen upside down (HT/23) is being a little more difficult...

I've used aviation archaeology a number of times with great results, but this time around, I'm coming up empty!

Perhaps someone else has a better resource than I do
 
Great work Grau - the HT is probably a "Heat Treat" stamp. BTW I forgot to mention - the last photo, that rusted s shaped item is the retaining part of a Dzus fastener.

I get most of my info from that site as well.
 
Great info - so the anchor indicates Navy/Marines. I didn't even realize it was an anchor!
I thought the big piece was most important, but I see the #'s are key.
Apparently there are no #'s on back of large piece.

However, here are some other small pieces that do (this is all there is):
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/IMG_1725.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/IMG_1726.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/IMG_1727.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/IMG_1728.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/IMG_1729.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/mich_427_cobra/IMG_1730.jpg

The first item is some sort of dial or wheel, with markings from 0 -100.

The second item is heavy (cast?) aluminum. Back side has markings: "alcoa 25419-4290".

Wreck is 8 miles due east of Mojave, and 3 miles north of highway 58.

Does the gunsight switch/indicator give any clues? I would assume they were not on early aircraft?

Thanks for all of the help!
 
Thanks FlyboyJ, I agree, the HT seems most consistant with the Heat Treat test/inspection marks.

"Does the gunsight switch/indicator give any clues? I would assume they were not on early aircraft?"

I had first thought the panel's paint had worn off, as most panels had a matt or non-glare finish, but I see what looks to be the apple-green zinc chromate paint on parts of it, and no remains of any switches or perhaps indicator lamps in the holes...that struck me as odd...
 
Okay, I will spend some time tomorrow looking for cockpit photos/switch layouts for Corsairs. Hopefully I will find one with the same panel.

Is there any sort of "standardized location" (left/right side) where these switches/indicators would have been?

Any clues from the second set of photos?
 
A guess but I think its from an F4U. I circled the area where I think it came from. Anyone have any other Corsair cockpit photos that are real detailed and close up?
 

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