In reply to a couple of your questions Centaurus, the throttle and RPM controls were duplicated at the F/E station and the cockpit. You probably remember that the F/E traveled backwards in his own little world behind the Co-pilot's seat. This was a curious quirk that seemed peculiar to Handley Page aircraft; the Halifax was much the same whereas the Lancaster had the F/E much more involved in the flying.
For take-off in a Hastings the Captain would open the throttles, leading with number four, until he had directional control with the rudder at which point he would call "Your power Engineer" or as one North Country Captain that I often flew with would say "You have the power Engineer but I have the glory" from which point the F/E would further open the throttles to full power aligning the boost as he went. From then on until touch down the F/E handled the power. At least, that's how it was done in the RAF, the RNZAF may have done things differently.
However, in the event of an emergency that required an engine being shut down the pilots would handle the throttle, pitch lever, and the feathering/fire button.
Now for some pure speculation. Like you I'm very doubtful that bird strikes, even big Aussie Northern Territory birds, would cause all four big radial engines to fail. There would probably be a lot of overheating but the engines would have continued to run. My suggestion is that the windscreen would probably have been covered in blood, guts, and feathers and outside reference would have been lost. There might then have been an early example of somatogravic illusion in which aircraft acceleration is sensed as a pitch up, leading to the pilot lowering the nose and causing further acceleration. The length of the debris trail would be very interesting to see.
Pure speculation of course, and were we allowed to have any illusions back then?
Last edited by Lancman; 27th May 2013 at 08:40.