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Halifax DG226 was built in June 1942 by Rootes at Speke, Liverpool. It was taken on charge on 28th June 1942 with No 35 Sqn, Linton on Ouse, carrying the code TL as above. It later served with No 10 and 158 Sqns, then 1658 HCU and finally 1652 HCU. Its final flight was on the afternoon of 24th August 1944. Having just taken off on a training flight from Marston Moor, and at an altitude of about 1000ft, the port outer engine was seen to be on fire. The aircraft turned slowly onto its back, and dived inverted into the ground at Wetherby Ings, killing all the crew, four members of the RCAF, and RAF flight engineer and wireless operator. If anyone is interested, I have quite a lot more information about this. Please e-mail me if you wish to know more. The site was excavated, and the offending engine removed for investigation, upon which it was discovered that the A3 connecting rod was broken, and the piston apparently missing. It was concluded that the pilot would have been unable to feather this airscrew, and the subsequent drag was probably outside his ability to control as a trainee pilot. The Halifax was known for having difficult asymetrical handling characteristics. The airframe had a total of 643 hours 35 mins. The crash site, now Wetherby Golf Course was excavated between 1976 and 1992, and the remaining three engines recovered. |
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Usually the gudgeon pins can be pushed out by hand, or with the aid of a small press tool if there is a lot of carbon in the engine. When they have been underground it is a different matter! Some of the oily ones moved fairly easily, but the dry pins took considerably more than the 8 tons this hydraulic puller is meant to give! I have the complete engine, except for the reduction gear and prop hub. The wheelcase and supercharger have been deemed too badly damaged to run again, so regretfully I have opted to replace these, but everything else will be repaired. The biggest job here will be for Robin to cast and weld on a new rear half for the reduction gear, something he has done very successfully berfore, and a new front cover and shaft will be fitted to this. |
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This was the Port Inner engine of DG226. I also have Merlin XX, 126031, the Stbd Outer engine. It was not uncommon to see different XX series engines on one airframe. 163771 was built by Ford at Trafford Park, Manchester in August 1943, so was a replacement engine, not fitted when the aircraft was originally built. The maximum hours between overhauls for Merlins in bomber operations was 500 hours, so all four will have been changed at some point. |
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Here is the complete engine after dismantling the main sub assemblies. The cylinder liners are not very pitted, and the rotating mass, ie rods and crankshaft are similarly okay to re-use. It is a testament to the compactness of the Merlin that it takes up about ten times the floor area when stripped down! There is a big hole in the front of the "sump" or lower crankcase (it`s a structural member on the Merlin), which is easily repairable. I am hoping the cylinder blocks will pressure-test without leaking, if so, then I will not remove the heads, but that might be asking too much! |
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