It’s the thread which will not die!

Awolspitfire, good news for you. The blade is for a R19/5F5/1 prop used on Griffon Spits Mks XIV to XIX.

Daneby2/Andrew. Sorry, somehow I missed your second post. You may need to do a bit more digging as the numbers I’m looking for are actually in the wood and not the metal.

The bit you want to look at is the section in red below.

Anne

But then again we had two drivers on 43 [F] Sqn in 1982 with Mk 10a helmets.
Admittedly only 1 of them used it. the other preferred his issue USAF helmet !!
Plus the various aircrew with 1a’s, including 1 black with stars made out of reflective tape:eek::eek:

Sure they weren’t Mk.4 helmets? 1982 sounds a bit early even for the ALPHA Helmet which became the Mk.10 but it was around then that the Mk.4 helmets were starting to appear. Having said that…I wasn’t there and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been wrong.

FMK.6JOHN, I’ve got an easy way to tell if your helmet is a converted Mk.2. Does it have lots of holes in the side of it that serve no purpose? I’ve seen a few Mk.3C helmets which have been converted from Mk.2s and all had the holes for the Mk.2s visor cover still showing. I would suspect you’ve got a straight Mk.3A/B which, as MarkG said, uses the same basic shell as the Mk.2.

Anne

Ooh…Aircrew Equipment Assemblies…Minefield!

Lots of bits of kit which look very much the same but have small differences depending on which aircraft or role you’re going to undertake.

Just for instance, there are currently at least 6 versions of the P-type mask in service and that’s not including the Q, T, PR, QR and V types which all look pretty much like each other.

Now I’m no expert but for a Jaguar c 1984, I would guess a Mk.3C Helmet with some sub variant of the Type V Oxygen Mask and probably with a black hose and face piece although the green versions may have been around at that time.

Anne

In my garage I have a single propellor blade, believed to be from a Spitfire MK-IV.

Cor…that would be hen’s teeth as there were only 2 built. More likely to be from a Mk.XIV or later mark. It’s appears to be a left handed blade which is spot on for a Griffon engine.

R6781 is the serial number of the blade and, I think, is a Rotol serial.

What you need to do is have a closer look at the wooden root end as shown in your first photo. Through the black gunk I think I can see what looks like something carved into it which should be the serial (which we know) and the drawing number which is the thing we want to know. For a Spit XIV it should start with RA10130.

Anne

Can’t give you the diameter but the Rotol types are as follows.

All marks, not including the AEW.3: RF104/4-20-4/9 or RF104/4-20-6/9

AEW.3: RF174/4-30-5/2

Anne

Anyone know what the old scheme represented?

Looks like it’s painted up as a Brazilian Air Force 1 GAVCA example to me.

Anne

Maurice’s other Mustang, Janie has them on as well.

Doh…Thanks for the info.

Anne