Warbird Information Exchange

Squadron listed as ASTB, I think that is ACCELERATED SERVICE TEST BRANCH.

Discovering the ID of a wreck site using just a few clues is what I do all the time. For more on wreck chasing see http://www.wreckchasing.com/ and its message board at http://pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com/

DaveT

I asked 'SHAY' to post about my find and he has come through like a champ! I'm the fellow that found the piece shown at the beginning of this thread.
How that came about was in April of this year, I crossed the road from my house into the field looking for arrowheads. I crossed the field and found a small birdpoint almost at the edge of the field (farthest from the road). I started back across and almost smack dab in the middle I started to find small pieces of aluminum. Then I remembered that a prior owner of my house had mentioned that a 'bomber' had crashed in the field during WWII! So I scanned the field and between that day and today, I have found about 18 pieces that I think belong to an aircraft. Here are photos of the latest piece I found about 1 hour ago. I washed it off and although it looks rusty, it is non-magnetic (except for one of the nuts) so I figure it is aluminum too.

Latest piece looks like it came from the engine case maybe.

I recommend that you get a metal detector and really check the field.
Also I recommend that you obtain a copy of the accident report for more info.

There is a parts identification forum on the wreck chasing message board at this link
http://pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com/?forum=199306

DaveT

Thanks to bunch of individuals. Also to CMAC aka "Chris" for sending over copy of the accident report. Adding up all the varibles it does seem highly likely that this the crash site of 2LT H.P. Posey's P-38. So I updated the title. From the report (and as mentioned earlier) it looks as though 42-67127 stalled out at an altitude between 800 to 1000ft and nose dived into the ground. Cause undetermined.

Regarding the new peice the Kfields has posted. To me, having held the piece in my hands, it seems to me like cast aluminum. Which immediatly makes me think engine or associated part. It almost looks like it is a corner od something with a thread boss adjacent to it. I think a clue may be in the fastener used to hold what's left of the aluminum flange. It appears to be a Hex nut tightened down over a stud with an aluminum Hex "Cup" threaded down on the nut. Anyone seen fastners like this before?

We may have to run over to the NMUSAF and look at their V-1710s on display and see if we can place the part.

Also does anyone know of a resource to help cross ref the 231077 part number?


Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Those are PAL Nuts, currently MS27151, formerly AC356. They are a locking device used to positively secure a fastener. Think jamb-nuts reduced to bare bones.
They tended to be used on engines and other hot items before all metal locking nuts became common.

I love the look of them for authenticity's sake, but they can be a bitch compared to newer fasteners

_________________
Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

I have a copy of the P-38L Erection & Maintenance Manual but it does not have a part number index in it.
I'm sure someone has a P-38 parts manual somewhere. Who has restored one lately?
DaveT

Good point. I've been out of the Warbird water cooler network for awhile. But last one off the top of my head would be Ezell with Lefty's White Lightning. Have there been anymore recent since then?

Thanks shrike for the good intel. I've pouring over enlarge photos of allisons and would think I'd seen those PAL nuts but it wouldn't be the clearest picture. Then on another engine in the same spot that is a clear picture the nuts would be different. So to expand on what you were saying perhaps in the years since the were bright shiny and new engines the fastners have been changed out.

One case and point where I could swear I saw those PAL nuts was on the 10 perimiter bolts on the gear reduction unit encircling the prop shaft. But the surround casting doesn't match the contours of the piece that kfields found.

Pretty amazing to hold something like that in your hands and know the tragedy behind it and to know that the nut was torqued into place over 70 years ago and it's still doing it's job. It's the physical representation of someone's wartime work.

On a related note: Can anyone tell me what the assemblys attached to the ends of each valvecover are? They look as though the take input from the camshafts. Are the related to spark? And does anyone have any closeup pictures of one?

Thanks

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Agree with you, a metal detector can let you know where the crash site located.

The magnetos mount to the back of the cylinder banks/valve covers.





The gear to the right in the photo below is how the camshafts are driven via a bevel gear on a shaft from the crankcase:



Photos linked from various places on the world wide web...

Hello everyone.

I haven't had a lot of time to search the field since I first found the crash site. Last year the farmer had corn, this year soybeans. They were harvested about two weeks ago and now the field is level like a table top with very little residual plant growth. I've used an old hand-me-down metal detector and have now found about 40 - 50 pieces of the aircraft to include some plexiglass and glass pieces. I also have the crash report which included a photo of the local fire department spreading water or foam on the cracked up plane. What is really interesting are the buildings in the background in the photo - the neighbors barn, my barn and my house! I did a "now" photo from the point where I have found the parts and pieces and everything appears to line up so I'm pretty sure this is the spot. This is about 100 yards from the road, about 175 yards from my house in the background, far right. If interested, I can continue to show some of the parts I have found. Here is one aluminum piece that probably had some more easily identifiable specific purpose.
Any ideas?
I also checked out the archives of Wright State University and now have a copy of an article written in December 1943 telling of the crash.
Thanks!
Kim

Here are the bits and pieces I found this morning. Shattered cast aluminum pieces on the left, aluminum tubing in the middle and aluminum aircraft "skin" on the right,

Sorry for my poor photography skills. Here is a copy of a copy of a copy of the crash scene 72 years ago and this is what it looks like today (actually last year). My house is behind trees at extreme right.