Unstoppable Merlins - and empty oxygen bottles
Hi - I am a recent joiner who last night discovered, and read through, all thirty five pages of this thread since Cliff started it way back. I only have a PPL but have looked with interest at the Lanc (natch - and other wartime machines) for years. It has been fascinating to read your experiences, Cliff, and those of others (Regle - some fascinating stuff!), and to find out what really happened in the air as opposed to what the book said should happen.
Re. the unstoppable Merlin, it is of passing interest that at Lancaster Finishing School one of the drills practiced after engine start was for the pilot to explicitly tell the wireless operator to set the ground/flight switch to flight. Interesting to know what might prevent a WO from doing so at a time of low workload for him; and might he not have alerted the pilot if the pilot forgot to tell him?
Re. the empty emergency O2 bottle mentioned at one point, again LFS placed the responsibility for checking the supply in these (10 minutes min) firmly on the pilot and FE as they made their way up the fuselage on their way to the cockpit. They were also to check escape hatches closed, fire axes in position, emergency air pressure, hydraulic accumulator slack oil pressure, cat put out etc. etc.
So, looks like someone tried to cover every eventuality, but then Burns once mumbled something about mice and men...
So, thanks again to you Lanc crew - your memories are indeed a treasure!
Best regards,
Dave