Help wanted on some Spitfire parts

thanks for all the info guys its a great help 🙂
regards Sam

Hi all, the panel in the first picture looks simelar to one fitted on under side of port wing where pitot mast sticks through, but with out hole cut for the mast. Its definately not the aileron drum access hole panel.

Steve

They do not foul, obviously, the protruding magazine.

Fair enough?

Mark

Yes, seems fair (obviously)

The stiffeners are original.

I dont think it is the aileron pulley panel; it looks too wide, and not enough screws (bitter experience!!).

Bruce

my guess on the stiffeners was that they where either added later on after the a/c had been de-milled or that by looking at photos it fitted over only part of the cannon an there for the rest of the “bubble” was just for aerodynamics, as for the access panel, radio hatch was only a guess of mine however it is curved not flate as it appears in the picture only the back is photographed, thanks all for you comments and usefull info i would be lost without you all!
regards Sam

Is there any point in having a cannon fairing with top hat stiffeners crossing the raised section, surely that would render the fairing pointless.

They do not foul, obviously, the protruding magazine.

Fair enough?

Mark

Is there any point in having a cannon fairing with top hat stiffeners crossing the raised section, surely that would render the fairing pointless.

The gun panel is from an ‘e’ wing – outer station cannon on the port side.

This part may or may not be interchangeable from Mk IX through to Mk XVIII

Dimension of the panel with the rounded corners would help but it looks like the airleron pully acces panel on the cockpit floor to me.

Mark

Sorry, to clarify; I dont think the Cannon fairing is US either, but in the past, it was not uncommon to dispose of them to fit fuel tanks in the wings. 20 years ago, the restoration business was a very different beast – these days, you wouldnt chuck this sort of thing away, but it was done routinely at the time.

If the panel fits the access door hole, and I cant tell from the picture, then I stand by my statement. Why? Well, the radio and battery access panels just aren’t made like that – and have a hinge at the bottom or the top.

Bruce

hi bruce,
i understand the ammo bit being un-useable as even a traniee aircraft merchanic i can see is past its best!!! the access panel i beleve the person who i brought it off (bearing in mind i brought each peice seperatly) it has worn numbering on one side and the frount (not pictured due to techinal difficultly) has no paint on this make me inclinded to believe it was not just fitted to a staic a/c as a tempory measure, i find it hart to believe the cannon fairing is u/s (obviously would require apropriate checks and all) do correct me if im wrong on any of the points i have raised being only 18 i have not as many years experence as many other people on this forum
regards
Sam

Yes, thats a wing rib from the ammunition bay.

I think however, that you have been spun a line – the main panel is missing all of its location studs, and the ‘radio bay panel’, if it is one, has been made to cover a hole in a static aircraft.

I strongly suggest that these are parts that have been discarded from a restoration, as unusable.

Bruce

hi guys thanks for the info the access panel came from the rear fusalarge near the tail, i think it was for the radio bay, The information I have on this item is as follows, sometime around 1943/44 a Spitfire crashed or crash landed in a farmer’s field in France the pilot bailed out and survived the crash, shortly after the Germans came to inspect and cart away the wreckage this and a couple of other items were salvaged from the wreck site by a member of a French family who had seen the aircraft come down, then the panel was hidden in a cellar and there it stayed till sometime after the wartime the panel then ended up in the hands of a Frenchman who collected WW2 items found in the region and was stored in his barn with all his other items, sometime in the 70s, the guy who i purchased it off then purchased it off the farmer. all i new about the cannon fairing its from the port side and that it was a cannon fairing and because i think only mkv’s where fitted with the hispano 20mm my guess was it was a later mark spit, unless any one can tell me anything more than FIREBEX so kindly said i wont bother posting the numbers, one final favour to ask you guys attached is so photos of what was descrided to me as a spitfire wing ammo bay part has anyone got any photos of it in situ or any further info on it,
As always thank you all for your help so far
kind regards Sam

It is very rare that any information relating to a particular aircraft will be present and this is only normaly found for example when someone has recovered items from a particular aircraft crash and has marked the items as such.
Therefore sorry but you will not be able to connect parts to any particular aircraft

In my experience detachable panels have been a prime source in building the picture of an Spitfire’s military serial provenance.

As the Spitfire was a ‘file and fit’ aircraft, interchangeability of detachable parts was an issue. It was very common practice to paint the ‘last three’ of the RAF serial or stencil the complete serial on the underside of said items so that they ended back up on the same aircraft in a maintenance or repair situation. Post WWII Air Forces equipped with Spitfires also continued this practice using their own military identifiers.

Some caution required as one serial doth not a provenance make, but one case in point, an Israeli orphan machine, had its IDFAF serial daubed on two gun panels and under the top fuel tank, sufficient to track its service records in Israel and reveal its RAF serial.

It’ll all be in the book. 🙂

Mark

A gun panel that had once been fitted to MH750 but changed by the Czechs, or possibly the Israelis, and fitted to SL653. The peeling red 28 the Israeli identifier.

I think its a wing access panel – the angle at which the picture was taken has thrown me a bit, so I cant immediately see which one!

Cannon covers sometimes have the aircraft serial on them – careful removal of the internal paint might pay dividends.

Bruce

Your IMG_0004 and IMG_0008 look like a weapon cover from a ‘C’ type wing. You will find numbers on them that will not give the actual aircraft idendity, but will reveal the Spitfire Mark. The first 3 digits of the number will be in the 300 range and refer to the Mark. The next 2 digits will most likely be 08 for the wing, then there will be a 3 or 4 digit number that are the actual detail number for the part.

I don’t know what the other part is, but it is also some kind of cover panel.

access panel from under cockpit floor I think is the rectangular access panel possibly the one from under the bottom of the control column.

Your IMG_0004 and IMG_0008 look like a weapon cover from a ‘C’ type wing. You will find numbers on them that will not give the actual aircraft idendity, but will reveal the Spitfire Mark. The first 3 digits of the number will be in the 300 range and refer to the Mark. The next 2 digits will most likely be 08 for the wing, then there will be a 3 or 4 digit number that are the actual detail number for the part.

I don’t know what the other part is, but it is also some kind of cover panel.

The numbers on the panels and parts stamped into them are normaly the drawing number and part number of the component and also the inspection stamp.
It is very rare that any information relating to a particular aircraft will be present and this is only normaly found for example when someone has recovered items from a particular aircraft crash and has marked the items as such.
Therefore sorry but you will not be able to connect parts to any particular aircraft