wreckage id

[heinkel]

Hi all. New to the forum so hello to everyone.Would like to start by asking for help indentifying this piece of wreckage i have had for many years.

 

[Capt. Vick]

DC-3? Mind you that is just a guess.

 

[Airframes]

Could be. The design of the stringers is also similar to a B-24.
Maybe someone can identify that part number ?

 

[MiTasol]

Welcome to the forum Heinkel

It is from a PBY5 Catalina.

Not a guess - refer the 28 part numbers

The curved edge is almost certainly the fillet between the fuselage and pylon

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Our new friend's IP is from the UK. Even though the part numbers shown follow the Consolidated codex indicated on Aviation Archaeology, I see no smoking gun there and sometimes the codex numbers aren't accurate, especially if the aircraft or assemblies were built by a subcontractor. I've been on board a PBY and although it's been several years, that structure doesn't look familiar. I would find it very unlikely for this item to be from a PBY from what I'm seeing.

There are some fluid line fittings in pairs at the curved section. The way they're paired I would guess hydraulic lines, one set out, the other return.

The corroded fasteners in the 2nd photo look like huck pins and are used in high shear loads.

The opening has 2 hinge looking items that look like they would support a prop rod rather than being structural hinges.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Well now I'm going to back peddle a bit;

After looking at some interior photos, there was a hatch on the top left fuselage just forward of the pylon. A clear shot of this area would certainly be the smoking gun to solve this.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Hmmmm.....

 

[GrauGeist]

I don't see a small hatch on the fuselage, at the base of the pylon, on either side.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I don't see a small hatch on the fuselage, at the base of the pylon, on either side.

 

[GrauGeist]

Ahh yeah, that would be it, then.

In the photos first posted, it's hard to gauge the size...it appered to be much smaller than it is.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Ahh yeah, that would be it, then.

In the photos first posted, it's hard to gauge the size...it appered to be much smaller than it is.

I know, and that's what's throwing me off a bit

 

[GrauGeist]

After some looking and comparing, it does seem to be the Navigator's hatch on the port side of the fuselage, ahead of the pylon.

The longirons on the wreckage are facing the right way and the radius seen on the wreckage looks to be the right diameter.

Here's a pretty good photo that I was using to compare:

 

[heinkel]

Thanks lads for the replys i will try and get some more identification numbers if possible and post the pics .ps i removed the skinning some years ago and applied some nose art, the camoflage is grey and green,

possibly Coastal Command.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Where was this wreckage found?

If this was from a PBY, there was either some major repairs done or this aircraft was quickly disassembled. In the photographs there were some rivet holes that were elongated indicating rivets were drilled out (I doubt they left the factory that way).

 

[heinkel]

Hi Flyboy, wreckage found by my father on the embankment of a busy mainline railtrack some forty years ago in North East England.I drilled out rivets to remove skin. Black inner surface puzzles me as all photos of PBY show green interior.

 

[Airframes]

The inner surface looks like Bronze Green in the posted photos, which was a colour used by Consolidated, as in their B-24.