Identify This Mystery Aircraft Piece:

[CamAero]

The piece in the pics attached was found by a prospector in the Yukon last summer. I have been tasked with identifying it and I'm out of ideas. It appears to be part of a scoop or a fairing. It has a 'track' inside of it, as if that held a filter and there's a control linkage that looked like it could have operated a door for alternate air, cabin heat or venting, etc. The measuring device in the one picture is a yard stick, so 36" long, for scale.

Ideas??

Cheers All,

CamAero

[CamAero]

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[PilotDAR]

First off, I don't know. But, I'll add some thoughts:

I think that the "track" is actually a seal, which would reconnect an air passage so as to be reasonably air tight, when that cowl was reattached.

An arc can be seen stamped into one of the inner side panels, with a pivot point. Obviously, a door opened and closed in that arc, with some desire that it be air tight (so not a cowl flap, 'cause they're a "who really cares"). The door is obviously moved by the arm. That arm and the side panels are too light to carry any air loads for a fast plane were it to be a forward opening door, so it is aft opening. And, the shape of the cowl suggests a more blunt forward, where perhaps there was an intake air filter. So, my guess is that it's an alternate air outlet door, or particle separator outlet, if it was a turbine plane.

[linecrew]

Sort of looks like the extended intake on top of a C-47 or C-54 engine.

[CamAero]

All good points Pilot DAR.

I highly doubt turbine. Most likely 1940s-50s USAF, probably a piston pounder. Too lightly built to be a jet anything.

One of my thoughts has been the scoops on the top of the cowlings on most Martin B-26s..

[CamAero]

Sort of looks like the extended intake on top of a C-47 or C-54 engine.

I didn't quite think so but there were many variations.

Perhaps one of our friends at J4 can confirm or deny.

[CID]

Top scoop from a Bristol Orion engine from a CP-107 Argus or a CL-44 or CC-106.

[CamAero]

I have looked at, (only by pictures on the interweb), but not eliminated:
B-17
B-24
B-26
A-26
A-20
P-39
P-40
P-47
P-51
C-123
C-119

The olive drab paint should be a hint also. It won't be navy or a type that was always bare metal, like the B-29.
There are parts of the B-25 engine nacelle that are suspicious, but I haven't been near one for years.

[frozen solid]

Got to be from an oil cooler, radiator, or carb air intake fairing. The first two would have an adjustable door and the last would maybe have a manual alternate-air door. Lots of planes had a spring-loaded alternate air door but some had a manual one.

It almost looks like the aft portion of the carb air intake fairing from a Spitfire. I'm not suggesting it IS from a Spitfire (of course) but I was originally thinking it could only be an oil cooler fairing, with that manually-adjustable door in it, but then I recalled that some piston engines have a manually-operated alternate air door on the carb air intakes. So I searched for pictures of carb air intake fairings. It's amazing how few pictures there are of the bottom of aeroplanes. But look at his picture of a model Spitfire bottom fairing:

cool1.jpg (45.62 KiB) Viewed 3429 times

The rounded back end of your piece as well as the straight edges at the front suggest it's the back half of whatever fairing it is. I suggest it's the back of a carb air intake fairing. Maybe not from a Spitfire!

I haven't been much help. I've looked at c-47s, p-39s, p-51s, p-40s, and I can't find a fairing on any of those that looks like that. The top of the A-20 cowl has a carb intake scoop with a rounded trailing edge, but I can't find any photos that are high-res enough to make out if there's an alternate-air door in it!

Fun mystery!

[CamAero]

Top scoop from a Bristol Orion engine from a CP-107 Argus or a CL-44 or CC-106.

OK ~ Not a bad guess.

Got any details regarding the linkage or any close up pictures of the top of the nac's?

CA

[CID]

Could also be from a Convair 580. Top scoop on cowling.

[iflyforpie]

Definitely not off a Convair 580... I have intimate knowledge of that nacelle. The vent door opens outward with a different kind of linkage and is far forward of the wing (so no fairing like that would be near it).

Painted black says round pounder to me.....

[CamAero]

Painted black says round pounder to me.....

I think it's more olive drab with mould or lichen growing on it, causing it to look a bit black.

[Moose47]

G'day

"Top scoop from a Bristol Orion engine from a CP-107 Argus or a CL-44 or CC-106"

Canadair CP-107 Argus - Wright R-3370 TC981 Turbo-Compound

Canadair CL-44 - Rolls-Royce Tyne R. Ty.12

Canadair CC-106 Yukon - Rolls Royce Tyne II

My best guestimation is the Bell P-39 Aircobra. Tons were ferried to Russian during the war.

Cheers...Chris

[SeptRepair]

First off I can say with 100% certainty it is not off a Spitfire. Can you see any part numbers on the linkage/control arms? The rounded hat section used as a stiffener looks like something Glenn L. Martin used.

[frozen solid]

Sorry, I feel stupid for even bringing up the Spitfire. I did not intend to suggest the piece was from a Spitfire, it's just that when I was searching for pictures of cowls and fairings for WW2 aircraft, I found that picture of the back end of the carb air intake on a model spitfire and it reminded me of the piece in question. I only meant to suggest that as well as oil coolers and radial engine cowlings, the carb air intake might be a place to look in photographs of old planes to try and identify the piece.

I do not, nor did I ever think the piece was actually from a Spitfire.

I've been looking at pictures of P-39s and can't find a fairing that looks like that one.

[SeptRepair]

Hey no worries Frozen, dont feel stupid, it was an honest observation on your part and you shared. I see what your getting at about a lower intake cowl. Its all good.

[CID]

Moose, Bristol Orion was used on some CL-44. My mistake on the other two.

[CamAero]

I don't have the piece in my possession at the moment but I will have a better look at the hardware, rod-ends, etc. I don't think any of it was British. I am fairly sure it is all AN.

CA

[Moose47]

G'day CID

The only aircraft to use the Bristol Orion was the first prototype Britannia G-ALBO. It was used as a flying test bed for the development of the Orion in 1956. The engine however did not go into production after cancellation circa 1958. Various versions of the Bristol Proteus were the only power plants used on the Britannia. Rolls Royce Tynes were used on all CL-44 models (i.e. CC-106 Yukon) right up to the swing tail CL-44J.

Cheers...Chris

[Waldo Peppar]

It looks very much like the "Desert Kit" air intakes on some of the C47 Daks I have flownt
If I remember correctly, a lever closed the front and opened the aft , used when there was blowing sand.
On several occasions , I have seen the front ram intake get iced up and the rear bypass was very usefull as an alternate air source. I would have to consult my books to see if there was a preformance penalty using the bypass.

[iflyforpie]

Pretty close but not quite. It would be a similar installation though....

[ScudRunner]

Where in the Yukon? I know up near snag and crap forgot the name there was pieces of a few Aerocobras laying around since WW2 trust me the glint off one of them save my bacon one day in well lets say marginal weather following a river.

[GyvAir]

. and Moose47 may be onto something, although I don't see a door anywhere on the scoop in that particular photo and if wiki and other sources are to be believed, very few were built with that supercharger setup.

Bell XP-39

[CamAero]

iflyforpie, hats off my friend. While this is not an exact match by any means, it is the closest anybody has come so far. Even the inspection hatches are reminiscent. There are so many versions of Dak' nacs. This is very likely one of the, or at least off of another sort of Douglas..

The hardware, I can confirm, is all AN. No British or Russian and the inspection stamp, according to this website, appears to be Douglas.
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/astamps.htm

.., it was found in the bush south of YXY. I may well have been hauled there as it has been hacked up with tin snips. I doubt that it fell off of the airplane.