Unknown aircraft bulkhead

[torch42]

Hi there,I was wondering if anyone could help me identify this aircraft bulkhead I found at the old Kalgoorlie WW2 airfield in Western Australia?

It's approx. 1850mm high and approx. 1350mm wide,it looks as though it is made from stainless and is quite hard to bend given its thickness,I have a few more pictures but unable to load more than one,the tophat ribs seems to mostly be spotwelded to the bulkhead skin which makes me doubt WW2 era,have looked all over this item and can't find a single marking of any kind..any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks Sean

 

[Airframes]

Hard to say, but it looks rather like the fire wall engine bulkhead from a DH Chipmunk.

 

[nuuumannn]

Like Terry says, it looks like a firewall, probably titanium. RAAF Kalgoorlie was an aircraft depot during WW2, it had links with RAAF Pearce, which is still active, the PC-9s and Hawks are there. It might be worth looking into which types were scrapped at Kalgoorlie and go from there. Good luck.

 

[torch42]

Thank you both so much for your replies...very interesting for sure,just as an added note the bulkhead has been exposed to a fair amount of heat as an aluminium(I believe)item is melted and the skin material itself has deteriorated quite badly in places...ill keep in touch about whatever I unearth! Thanks Sean

 

[gumbyk]

Hard to say, but it looks rather like the fire wall engine bulkhead from a DH Chipmunk.

1.85m (6 ft) is too big for a chippie.
How heavy is it? If its pretty light it is likely titanium, and a turbine engine. Heavier and its more likely stainless.

 

[nuuumannn]

1.85m (6 ft) is too big for a chippie.

Yeah, I was going to say that it's unlikely that it is a Chippe; the RAAF has never used them. It's probably been on a fire dump if there's charred ali bits. Just looking at the pictures again; it looks more like stainless, rather than titanium.

 

[Airframes]

Oops! I missed the dimensions - was just going off the shape and the stress ribs !

 

[torch42]

Hey guys,thanks for all the extra comments,have had no reply back from the RAAF as to what if any planes were scrapped here..as for weight the panel is heavyish but not overly,what tests if any can I do on the material to ascertain whether its titanium or stainless,only some types of stainless are magnetic so certainly doesn't confirm nor deny it being fabbed from stainless...