More Treasures(?) From The Garage...

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Member for

9 years 9 months

Posts: 85

Wow, now that one is obvious!

is it for sale AM?

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

Yes, a fairly simple one!  And like just about everything else on this thread it is for sale, although I'll probably have to let it go cheap as there are one or two knobs missing.

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

Here's a less simple one.

 

Awful condition.  Such a shame, it's a rare beast.

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Member for

16 years 5 months

Posts: 5,999

That has a lot of similarities - lever wise, with the Bristol Freighter quadrant, but it looks too narrow!?

Member for

14 years 1 month

Posts: 5,088

That Lanc/Lincoln quadrant is a lovely thing! Just scratch building the top half to go in my Lincoln panel...

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

Back to the mystery panel for a mo, I think this clinches it.

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Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

That has a lot of similarities - lever wise, with the Bristol Freighter quadrant, but it looks too narrow!?

 

Not a Freighter, Rob.   Not a bad comparison in terms of size and weight etc, but a different role (and about a decade earlier in terms of original design).

 

Member for

14 years 10 months

Posts: 181

Hello Air Ministry, I've sent you a PM. 

Member for

14 years 6 months

Posts: 2,172

So that panel was indeed Merlin engined Halifax (Mk I or Mk II?). Very nice item.

Member for

14 years 1 month

Posts: 5,088

Is the mangled and poorly throttle quadrant Warwick...?

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

Yes, Vickers Warwick.  Like I said, must be a rare item even tho' it's in poor condition.

 

I'm so pleased I cleaned the Halifax navigator's panel to reveal the stamp and part number, otherwise it might have ended up at a 'jumble as a miscellaneous piece for a fiver!

 

 

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 10,168

now thats a fine peice  in your collection Alan.. Damn!!

Member for

14 years 6 months

Posts: 2,172

Halifax W1048 at Hendon has a similar panel.

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

I've turned my attention back to this small quadrant and am pleased to say that a gentle clean up of the least corroded surface on either of the levers has revealed a number and a stamp.

 

The number is 55208 and the stamp is an oval with three characters of which the first two are SD#.

 

There is also another string of characters beneath the first number and I'm doing my best to reveal them but they are very faint and could be lost by too vigorous a clean.  Stay tuned.

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Member for

14 years 6 months

Posts: 2,172

It looks similar to the Blocktube throttle box as used in the Halifax. It seems the middel lever is missing. May I suggest that it could be the bottom row of levers of a

Halifax throttle box?

Member for

16 years 5 months

Posts: 5,999

I was going to say something similar Cees, as it seems not all Halifax’s had the middle lever. It also makes sense why one lever on AM’s box is shorter and throwing a bit of a red herring - as it would of originally been longer than the remaining one!

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

I'm leaning towards Halifax, having pretty much dismissed the other, obvious candidates.

 

The problem is I cannot come up with a match to the layout of the levers, even though I have photos of most variants.

 

There is space on the quadrant for three levers but there is a spacer on the shaft where the third one would be.

 

Meanwhile, I've continued to clean the levers and have exposed about as much of the smaller number as I' m going to get.

 

As best I can make out it is:-

 

CG#2#088

 

And the oval stamp is probably SDF?

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14 years 6 months

Posts: 2,172

The only other throttle boxes I know that are similar were used in the Hampden and Wellington.

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

Yes, Hampden, Hereford, Wellington and Harrow.

 

Like I said, I'm leaning towards Halifax but cannot establish a proper match with the layout of these two levers.  Here's a compilation of engine pedestals from various Halifax Marks, from which you can see that the middle lever was deleted from some of the later, Hercules engined variants.  Even then, none of those shown match this one.

 

The nearest match I've found is in NA337, a Mk. VII as you will well know.  The similarity is that the two levers are of approx. equal length but the quadrant differs in that the two levers seem to have been pushed closer together by deleting the middle slot - it looks like a mod. to me.  (Thanks to the original photographer for this pic.)

 

I guess it will be down to which Mark of Hercules was fitted to this particular aeroplane and if I can summon the courage, I may have a go at trying to work it out.

 

Meanwhile, I had a flash of inspiration last evening.  It occurred to me that if the levers are from a Halifax, then the width of the quadrant should match that of the propellor control levers I've already identified as being Halifax (see illustration above).

 

I'm pleased to say they match exactly, which must be a good indication of what they are from?

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Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 1,911

Just a quick post, illustrating a couple of components from the Automatic Pilot, Mk. IV.

 

In all my years of collecting, I've come across very little from the Mk. IV A P.  Both these items were lucky finds at aerojumbles (many years ago).  

 

The steering control is mounted on a strut and this suggests to me that it probably came from a bomb-aimer's position.  I've ruled out Whitley and Stirling but the rest - Wellington, Halifax, Lancaster etc, remain a possibility.  Has anyone got illustrations showing this control fitted in the bomb-aimer's compartment of these aeroplanes (or any others)?.

 

I have a digital copy of AP1469C covering the Mk. VIII Automatic Pilot and would welcome a swap with anyone who has the Vol. I for the Mk. IV?

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