It’s from a Whitley Jeff – we are rebuilding one and need one of these.

You should find it covered with AW and SP prefixed part numbers.

Do you think your friend would be perpared to part with it?

PM sent.

Elliott,

I have surplus to my needs:

6 or 7 oxygen bottles in good condition
Automatic pilot (elevator)
automatic pilot (aileron)
3 automatic pilot servo motors + spare

Interested? Perhaps we can discuss this.

PM me

Cheers

Cees

I agree that there is a fascination with recovery wrecks like these. I am one of those who cannot get enough from this:)

Regarding recovery of wrecks I would like to think that it’s best to recover those wrecks that have priority. Wich means IMHO that we should recover wrecks of rare or unique aircraft types to plug holes in collections. An example would be to recover as many Whitley or Stirling components so that a complete example can be reconstructed. There are plenty of unique types still out there and these deserve to be recovered instead of yet another of the mainstream types. But then again it all has to do with who is paying the bills and that’s the catch. They fancy a high profile type such as a Mustang or Spitfire instead of a Blackburn Shark. And who is interested enough in recovering a twin or fourengined aircraft (apart from the Canadian Hally) which increases everything problem by a third or fourth.

Cees

Indeed Herbert,

But hey it’s Luftwaffe and that’s make makes it expensive. I can’t understand these prices but with an open market economy (and e-bay) it’s just what people are prepared to pay for it. If someone has dozens of these sitting in a box in his shed and reads this, he should fall off his chair.:p

Cheers

Cees

Andy,

Don’t know but Mark 12 must be travelling again otherwise he would have been on this thread faster than you could say: snobberglopjevirtuoso:)

Cheers

Cees

24 volts, so late war

Used in the Lancaster (figures) and the Halifax. Standard bomber issue?

Cees

Second attempt.

The twin tail was also the achilles heel of the early Hally’s because of inadequate finarea in combination with two engines out on the same side, the rudders locked over with predictable results. So two small fins were not a good proposition as opposed to one large fin.

CB

Didn’t the Hampden have a serious rudder locking problem before the Halifax?

Not that I know of but the Hampden is a smaller aircraft with less powerful and two engines. The Harrow also had similar rudders.

Then again, I am not an aerodynamicist (or whatsit).

Cees

With bombers it was felt that a clear field of fire astern was desirable. And to prevent shooting of your own tail, the twin tail was a logical answer. Mind you that is what I might consider the reason behind this.:o

The twin tail was also the achilles heel of the early Hally’s because of inadequate finarea in combination with two engines out on the same side, the rudders locked over with predictable results. So two small fins were not a good proposition as opposed to one large fin.

The Hastings (being developed from the Halifax) was originally designed with a twin tail as well but that was quickly changed into a single tail. Stability was the reason probably.
The Lib (or PBY-4) was more stable with a single tail than with twin tails as well. The B-32 Dominator, same story.:rolleyes:

Cheers

Cees

JDK

You’re right, of course, codes were re-allocated, but I’m assuming that Simon is only interested in the Chastise Lancasters ie the Dams Raid aircraft.

Simon

ED825 was AJ-T and was flown to the Sorpe Dam by Flt Lt McCarthy (of which more anon).

ED877 was a perpetuated typo! It was a 156 Sqdn aircraft, never modified for Chastise, never with 617 Sqdn and was lost on 5 May 43, over a week before the Dams Raid.

ED887 was AJ-A, Sqdn Ldr Young’s Lancaster, lost on the return flight from the Mohne and Eder Dams.

ED923 was never modified for Chastise, never served with 617 Sqdn and is shown as on operations with 97 Sqdn in that unit’s Operations Record Book.

It seems that the sequence of events was thus:

ED825 arrived at Scampton and was immediately prepared as the reserve aircraft, (although whether there was time to apply the allocated letters AJ-T is another matter). McCarthy boarded his favourite ED915 AJ-Q Queenie only to have it go unserviceable. He then transferred to ED825 AJ-T with all the well-reported difficulties, and flew the operation. Now we get to the conjecture. The 617 Sqdn ORB was presumably then written up from the Order of Battle and showed McCarthy’s original aircraft, but somebody, in their infinite wisdom ‘corrected’ this by scoring out the original serial number and pencilling in ED923. It’s likely that this was done with ED933 in mind, a Chastise Lancaster on charge to 617 Sqdn as AJ-X, but sitting in a hangar undergoing Cat AC repairs after damage on a practice drop at Reculver. So even if he/she had got it right, they would still have got it wrong, as it should’ve been corrected to ED825!

There, Simon, aren’t you glad you asked? Simple, really, ain’t it!

Regards

Allan

A- for Apple was shot down by coastal defences on the Dutch Coast. The aircraft crashed in the sea and was washed ashore and the wings had lain on the beach near Egmond aan Zee until 1953 when the stormflood of that year washed them away. It’s still somewhere under the sand but we have been searching for it for decades but still nothing substantial has been found apart from an aileron hinge. One of these days …..

Cheers

Cees