Fake Historical Aviation Collectables

Many thanks

Dear all,

Many thanks to everyone for all the above posts and links. Thanks also to those who have got in touch.

If you recall any more examples of fake B of B relics or other counterfeit military items please do get in touch. Particularly if you or the person in question still has the fake item.

My email address is [email]bensanderson@screenchanneltv.co.uk[/email] and my number 0207 021 0014.

Best wishes,

Ben

Many thanks

Dear all,

Many thanks to everyone for all the above posts and links. Thanks also to those who have got in touch.

If you recall any more examples of fake B of B relics or other counterfeit military items please do get in touch. Particularly if you or the person in question still has the fake item.

My email address is [email]bensanderson@screenchanneltv.co.uk[/email] and my number 0207 021 0014.

Best wishes,

Ben

its American not German?

I’m going for probably a Pratt & Whitney piston.

I’m pretty sure that it is a piston from a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine.

The sad thing for me is that the original history for this artefact has been lost (or thrown away) because somebody, somewhere, thought that a piston from a German aircraft that was shot-down during the Battle-of-Britain would be worth more money than a piston from an American aircraft that (probably) crashed.

I collect these artefacts because I’m interested in aircraft, particularly piston aero-engines, but I’m also interested in history; and the history of these artefacts is inseparable from the lives, and far too often the deaths, of the men that flew the aircraft that they came from.

The tragic side to the ‘faking’ of this artefact is that it provided a tangible reminder of the human cost of war. Fortunately the crew of the Bf110 it was purported to be from both survived the shooting-down of their aircraft; possibly the crew of the American aircraft that it actually came from did not survive the shoot-down or crash of their aircraft…

…and now a chance to remember them, in some small way, has been lost forever.

Anyone else remember the bloke on Ebay a few years ago trying to pass a wooden table leg off as a Sopwith Camel control column?

Yes, exactly, that’s what tipped-me-off that this must be a ‘fake’!

There would be four cutouts instead of two?

The original answer, that the DB601 (and DB605) didn’t have any valve recesses, was quite correct but I didn’t know that at the time I discovered that this was a ‘fake’ so something else tipped-me-off that it wasn’t from a DB601. And the DB601 valves are not inclined (much)…

…but if a DB601 did have recesses for the valves…

The valves on the 601 (and many other inline engines) appear to be parallel to the centre line of the cylinder. Those recesses are set for inclined valves, like those on radial engines.

I’m going for probably a Pratt & Whitney piston.

Kind of helps that you posted a photo of a P&W piston of the same design two years ago CD (http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=101445&page=2), see post 49.

reversed scoops on German?

Correct again…..but something to do with the valve recesses.

its American not German?

would it be that the DB601 would not have valve recess in the top?

Correct, it didn’t…..but even if it had…

Looks like it.

Moggy

would it be that the DB601 would not have valve recess in the top?

This is a piston that I bought at an Aerojumble several years ago.

The seller claimed it had come from Bf110 C-4 ‘werk nummer’ 3246 that was shot-down on 7th September 1940 during the Battle-of-Britain…

…it can’t be…..but it took me a while to find-out.

Anybody care to guess why it can’t be what was claimed…..there is a dead-giveaway clearly visible! 😉

(Can the ‘experten’ hold-fire for a while to allow others to have a go!)

Genuine ‘fake’ Artefacts!

I have a small ‘black museum’ of genuine fake WW2 German aircraft parts that I bought in the early (and not so early) days of my collecting career; they are all genuine parts from crashed wartime aircraft…..just not the aircraft they were claimed to be from!

The curious thing is that although they came to me by different routes I suspect that they may be from the same aircraft.

They are not particularly valuable but they’d be available (for a small fee) for rostrum shots if anybody is interested! 😉

I think you underestimate the seriousness of legal action, don’t forget it protects the injured party, how many times have we heard people getting let off because evidence was disseminated in public?

I don’t doubt that for one moment Graham… but in this instance, the original question concerning the faking of post-war grips to resemble wartime Luftwaffe grips is one that should (a) be of interest to members of the UK premier historical monthly magazine/forum and (b) as a warning to others who wish to spend their hard earned cash on something that isn’t all its supposed to be and what to look for when thinking of buying such items.

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

Plenty of “fake” Spitfires! (joke) 😉

Ah yes but the grips are real!

You wouldn’t have the HOTAS stick from Goering’s little Fokker would you?

Moggy

Absolutely! Painted white too

Richard

You wouldn’t have the HOTAS stick from Goering’s little Fokker would you?

Moggy