Simviation Forum - Spitfire Mk1 brass plate adjacent engine hand cran

May 16^th, 2007 at 7:54pm

Springer6 Offline
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Has anyone got the text or a photo of the legend on the brass plate fixed to the starboard engine cowling on early Mk 1 Spits . The plate is just to the rear of the engine hand crank aperture. This plate can be seen on X4590 in the Battle of Britain Hall at Hendon. I think it says something about using a safety rope when hand cranking. I wish I had photographed it during my visit last year to Hendon, but the light is very poor in the BOB hall

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Reply #1 - May 17^th, 2007 at 1:21pm

Mictheslik Offline
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Springer6 wrote on May 16^th, 2007 at 7:54pm:

Has anyone got the text or a photo of the legend on the brass plate fixed to the starboard engine cowling on early Mk 1 Spits . The plate is just to the rear of the engine hand crank aperture. This plate can be seen on X4590 in the Battle of Britain Hall at Hendon. I think it says something about using a safety rope when hand cranking. I wish I had photographed it during my visit last year to Hendon, but the light is very poor in the BOB hall

Ill just go and check my very dark BoB hall pics Wink

.mic

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Reply #2 - May 17^th, 2007 at 1:27pm

Mictheslik Offline
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Sorry...got a pic of it but cant read it....for anyone wandering where it is heres the pic;

.mic

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Reply #3 - May 17^th, 2007 at 1:36pm

Hagar Offline
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With credit to Matt in the ARC Air forum.

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Reply #4 - May 17^th, 2007 at 3:03pm

Björn Ex Member

Interesting...an auxiliary starting device.

So could Spits start their eninges all on their own?

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Reply #5 - May 17^th, 2007 at 4:13pm

Hagar Offline
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Björn wrote on May 17^th, 2007 at 3:03pm:

So could Spits start their eninges all on their own?

Yes. I'm sure Ozzy will correct me if I'm wrong. The Merlin-engined variants (except for Seafires) had electric starter motors. On the early marks at least, these were combined electric/hand-cranked units. I think the hand-crank would only be used when away from base as a 'trolley acc' (standard RAF accumulator trolley) could be plugged in if the battery ran low. The starter is located directly behind the cowling in the above photo. Apparently all Griffon engines were originally fitted with Coffman cartridge starters. These have since been replaced by electric starters on most airworthy aircraft.

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Reply #6 - May 17^th, 2007 at 5:17pm

Springer6 Offline
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Hagar ,

Thank you very much for turning this up. It has been bugging me for ages.

I think that this hand crank mechanism was used mainly in practice for turning the engine over during maintenance etc as trolley accs appear very frequently in photos, both with and without the charger motor and dynamo. Indeed several photos show the use of just a large "Dagnite" battery or accumalator on it's own , without the wheels or charging system.

I think that the substitution of the electric start system for the Coffman cartridge system was one of the features of most of the Castle Bromwich manufactured Mk 2 s but never mk 1s . A bulge on the cowling betrays the existence of the Coffman device.

The legend on this plate I think appears quite quaint to modern eyes. I think that it was probably fitted by Vickers to early Spits at the behest of the Air Ministry as it does not seem to be present on the prototype or on later Marks ( perhaps as the result of an accident? )

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Reply #7 - May 17^th, 2007 at 5:49pm

Hagar Offline
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Springer6 wrote on May 17^th, 2007 at 5:17pm:

Hagar ,

Thank you very much for turning this up. It has been bugging me for ages.

Glad I could help. The alternative was to go up to Hendon & try to get my own photo of it. Wink

Quote:

I think that this hand crank mechanism was used mainly in practice for turning the engine over during maintenance etc as trolley accs appear very frequently in photos, both with and without the charger motor and dynamo. Indeed several photos show the use of just a large "Dagnite" battery or accumalator on it's own , without the wheels or charging system.)

I'm sure you're correct. The wording on the nameplate states FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY. This was the best illustration of a trolley acc I could find. I was surprised there were no decent photos of one.

Quote:

I think that the substitution of the electric start system for the Coffman cartridge system was one of the features of most of the Castle Bromwich manufactured Mk 2 s but never mk 1s . A bulge on the cowling betrays the existence of the Coffman device.

You would know more about that than me. What I don't know about Spitfires would fill several large volumes. I learn a little more every time one of these questions crops up. I'm sure most airworthy Spitfires were retrofitted with electric starters long ago. I could be mistaken but don't recall seeing one fitted with a Coffman starter, even the recently restored Seafire Mk.XVII.

Quote:

The legend on this plate I think appears quite quaint to modern eyes. I think that it was probably fitted by Vickers to early Spits at the behest of the Air Ministry as it does not seem to be present on the prototype or on later Marks ( perhaps as the result of an accident?)

This type of wording was still commonly used on British-built aircraft & components until a few years ago. Unfortunately new British-built aircraft are rare animals nowadays.

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