G’day, I have a bomb selector panel 5D/656 that has EM501 painted on it, the selector is definitely from a post war Aussie aircraft but I was wondering if we used second hand components from wartime aircraft and that maybe this was one. On the other hand it could mean something completely different.
Paul
By: Bruggen 130 - 5th January 2014 at 14:59
If that is a bomb sequence selector panel, btw I don’t get involved about these sort of things because I am way out my depth here so Please don’t laugh at this but EM was a 207sqd code so could the last numbers just be a Lanc serial as in EE-501 and painted on so it goes back in to the same aircraft?
By: 12jaguar - 5th January 2014 at 14:24
Just a thought…could the EM refer to ‘Electrical Mod’? The marking looks similar to others I’ve seen on electrical eqpt e.g. STI/Elec etc.
John
By: powerandpassion - 5th January 2014 at 13:44
Paul, looking at that pic, it looks like there was another digit after the 1 (traces of yellow paint).
It is possible that they may have started to serial number track these items like we do now.
May be a wiring circuit reference, lot of Brit WW2 circuits were alpha numeric, eg could mean Auxilary Ordanance circuit 50. Lots of circuits being chopped into as all sorts new ordanance brought in and the electrical fitter slopped it on, as you do when wiring in new stuff and parafrags are dropping nearby or it’s close to beer o’clock.
By: jeep1943 - 5th January 2014 at 01:56
Paul, looking at that pic, it looks like there was another digit after the 1 (traces of yellow paint).
It is possible that they may have started to serial number track these items like we do now.
By: ozjag - 5th January 2014 at 00:56
Hi Don and Tim
Thanks again for the information. I am 100% certain this is not from a Martinet, it is a 16 way bomb selector from something like a Halifax or Lancaster and has ended up in Australia post WW2, I just thought the EM501 may have been from its original aircraft but could in fact be a reference to almost anything, I’ve attached a pic.
Cheers Paul
[ATTACH=CONFIG]224244[/ATTACH]
By: No.2 A.A.C.U. - 4th January 2014 at 20:13
Hello Paul,
Early production Martinets carried two of the four way bomb selector switches reference 5D/553, in later production the two apertures were just blanked off. I believe this was a throw back to the Master production but stand to be corrected on this. just out of interest do you have a photo of your panel?
Kind regards,
Tim
By: ozjag - 4th January 2014 at 07:54
Hi Don
Thanks for the info. I agree that it is not from a Martinet.
It must mean something else then, we’ll probably never know.
Cheers Paul
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January 4, 2014 at 6:18 am