Roland Pulfrew Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Ladies and Gentlemen I realise that this is a bit of a long shot but I am trying to help out a colleague of mine. He has done a fair amount of travelling in the Balkans and whilst in one of the remoter parts of Albania (north east of the country near the village of Markaj he came across stories of the crash of what was locally thought to be an RAF aircraft. The crash apparently occurred some time during the winter of 1946/47. His only clue so far is of what he thinks is one of the main wheels (see below). Now I have done some research on t'internet but haven't found any reports of the loss of an RAF aircraft in this area in the relevant timescale, so my hope is that someone on here, with all of our accumulated knowledge might be able to identify the "wheel". This would t least give us a start on where and how we might be able to find out more information. Any help gratefully appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Judging from the vegetation that wheel looks quite small. Could it be a tailwheel rather than a main wheel ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Pulfrew Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Georgio I'm not sure at all. It is my supposition that it was a main wheel. It may not be a wheel at all, but it does sort of look like one. As I say the information is very sparse and that is what has my friend intrigued. It might also be a nose wheel I guess. There were apparently 12 people recovered from the crash site, so it may not have been a military aircraft at all. The locals were told that it was RAF but it was 60 odd years ago and at a time when the Iron Curtain was descending across Europe. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 It's rusty, indicating steel, so it's not an aircraft wheel as these are normally alloy, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 That is a 15 stud fixing indicating a military truck wheel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I think it looks more like a truck wheel too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Me too,......truck wheel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Rusty car or truck wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Pulfrew Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Thanks to all those who have commented so far. Feedback from my mate is that there is no way this could be a truck or tractor wheel (unless it fell from a passing aircraft) as there are no roads in this very mountainous area, so he thinks that could be ruled out. Accepting that western manufacturers of the time were most likely using some form of alloys for aircraft wheels, what about no western aircraft? We're Soviet aircraft using the same techniques during this period? What about in Soviet copies of western aircraft? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Just a thought, could this be oxidisation of the coating on an alloy? Not a paint expert here..... Rick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 If you look at the perforations, one hole is larger than the rest, this is to allow for the valve to poke through from the inner wheel on a twin wheel arrangement on a truck allowing the tyre to be inflated. You don't get that arrangement on an aircraft, likewise you don't get steel wheels on aircraft because of the weight penalty. The only place you find a 15 stud wheel is on military equipment, whether it be a truck or a field gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgpw Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I'd generally agree with the truck wheel hypothesis. But and it is a very tenuous but, take a look at the images of B-29 "Over Exposed" that crashed in the Peak District of England. The outer alloy wheel exhibits the usual whitish grey colour of weathered alloy, but the centre of each hub is a rusty brown colour. There are also photos of B-17G 42-102899 that show similar discolouration. The fact that local legend has 12 crew members being recovered would indicate a large bomber or transport aircraft. I'm not saying this is a B-29 wheel, but at a very, very long shot it could be from an aircraft. Difficult to tell from the photo, and if you read other threads on BM, you'll know how unreliable colour photos can be... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV107 Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 One thing occurs to me also, Roland - namely that if a British (or Western) aircraft lost during 1946/47 over Albania, this would have been well-publicised. The Corfu Channel incident (which in fact went on over a period of month) began in May 1946, and the Hoxha government was well-established. For an RAF aircraft to be lost in Albanian territory during this period - either by accident or the result of a shooting down - would probably get you quite a few hits on google, I suspect. One or other of the parties involved would've made something of it because of the tensions that existed. I'm no expert on wheels, but if there was an incident, I'd suggest that it could be one of: 1. A Soviet or Soviet bloc aircraft 2. A civilian aircraft, either off course or which came down on its way somewhere 3. A civilian aircraft on contract to SIS (or other western agency) attempting to supply/insert rebel Albanian forces... There is circumstantial evidence out there that we might have used contract aircraft to do this sort of thing in the relevant time frame, but none which would stand up in a court of law - which, of course, would be the reason that a civil aircraft would've been used, probably with a flight plan for somewhere else and a defective compass... Assuming that it is an aircraft wheel, then finding out what the incident was probably needs to begin with exploring local memory a bit further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Is there anyway that some one could confirm it is actually an alloy wheel? That'd be conclusive if it's an A/C or not.. Rick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Vor!!! Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I wonder could it be from a Mountain Gun ?? Stripped down into mule loads ??You say the area had no roads so all equipment would have to be carried or put on mules Just a thought Bye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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