mystery object

Thanks for the replies. I don’t t have the item to hand at the moment so I can’t say if it’s magnetic or not.

Ben, I thought the same and as it’s curved considered maybe from a turret?!

Looks very much like armoured plate of some sort-

TT

What material is is made of…does a magnet stick to it?

It looks very much like a 10lb. Mk.1, or an 11½lb Mk.1 Practice bomb… minus the tail tube and fins.

I was going to suggest dummy bomb. In fact, I just did! :eagerness:

A practice bomb?

If you are up for a wild guess, it looks a bit similar to the batons that are sometimes used when displaying aero engines in the static park at airshows today. So could it have been used when needing to test engines without the inconvenience of refitting a full propeller?

Moggy

Thanks redhill, but I don’t think it’s ordnance. The bulbous end is completely solid with no openings of any kind, so there is nowhere for a fuze to go. There’s also no trace at the other end of stubs for any fins, so unless these were completely removable, there’s certainly not been anything welded on at that end either. Without an opening for a fuze, I don’t see how this could be a bomb.

At a guess some kind of early air dropped bomb?? If you put a tail on the tapered end and a fuze on the bulb end it would kind of resemble a ww1 bomb? But I have no reference material to check.

Flying Pencil,

Thanks for that. Do you know which aircraft type this would be from?

Haven’t the foggiest, but not too large. 4000~10,000 lb aircarft I guess.

To be clear, I am fairly certain its gear related, but I could also be completely wrong. Could be a constant speed prop piston too. There simply is not many places a large heavy cylinder would be used in a 1930~1950’s aircraft.

Flying Pencil,

Thanks for that. Do you know which aircraft type this would be from?

Main landing gear strut internal.

For its size there is very little it can be used in, and weapons are not one of them, nor an engine.

The way the slot is cut is most telling.

Thanks for the suggestions. I’m still not sure. I must say it reminds me of the slide valve on Corliss steam engines – I know this is not what it is, but it is a similar looking thing, if a lot smaller. Any more suggestions would be very welcome.

To me, assuming that it is a tool, the ‘working’ surface is the recess turned into the larger end; notice how intricate the different turned diameters are (and how free from corrosion). If this bit doesn’t ‘do’ what it does, why so intricate; surely no accident?

The ‘slots’ down the sides of the smaller diameter seem, to me, to be to allow clearance to some external obstruction rather than to allow something to pass through, or inspection to take place within, the central diameter. Notice that the central bore produces a ‘knife-edge’ where it meets the slot; if something was intended to work on this part of the tool then this, surely, wouldn’t be there (the slot would be milled at 90° to the way it is milled).

Just speculation, but that’s what it ‘says’ to me.

I would of said its something to do with props, Is it like some kind of centre balance weight?

Just a guess:
Size sounds about right for a prop hub puller, used with wooden props. You fasten it to center thread on front of prop hub (after removing the serrated nut), then insert a bar through the slot, and keep slamming it forward until hub breaks loose from front of engine, tapered or splined prop shaft. Or with the length involved, there seems to be enough room to insert a bar through the slot and possibly hammer on rear of each side to break it loose. On a prop hub like the one below…after you remove the serrated nut.

It looks like some sort of special tool to me; possibly a press-tool or a jacking adapter.

The finish seems too crude for part of a weapon or vehicle.

[QUOTE=spitfireman;1933050rest of it can be seen here:

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=119478

Baz[/QUOTE]

She’s lovely, Baz – is she airworthy?:diablo:

Seriously, you don’t know until you ask – as aeronut 2008 has shown!

Adrian

[QUOTE=spitfireman;1933050rest of it can be seen here:

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=119478

Baz[/QUOTE]

She’s lovely, Baz – is she airworthy?:diablo:

Seriously, you don’t know until you ask – as aeronut 2008 has shown!

Adrian

it was an eye opener to see so many tractor fans on here

To be fair I wasn’t convinced that this large lump of steel wasn’t something agricultural rather than aeronautical but it turned out to be part of the rudder trim for a Hamilcar glider.
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