Supermarine Walrus question(s)

[Robert Stuart]

This may have been asked before, but I can't see it ...

 

I've just received some seat belts for a Walrus that I'm building, but the placement instructions are, at best, illogical.

 

Question(s):

Did Walrus crew use seat belts?  If so, where were they attached?

 

Landing on choppy water would be uncomfortable enough without added human projectiles, but ... I can see no indication of the belts in photos or my (admittely limited) manual references.

 

TIA

[MilneBay]

Yes, here's one image -

 

[Robert Stuart]

Thanks @MilneBay, that is very useful.

The straps I have are lap straps only, while your photo has a pair of shouilder straps (the left strap is just visible in the photo).

 

Your photo also shows something that could be a radiator control lever?  I thought that was a throttle.

[Ivor Ramsden]

The throttle controls are hidden by the control column. You can just make them out in the photo. Google Supermarine Walrus cockpit and you'll find photos showing them more clearly.

Also, and I could be wrong here, I don't think that the seat in the photo (which is of the Walrus at the Fleet Air Arm Museum) is the correct one for the pilot.

There are a lot of interior parts missing from this aircraft.

Edited September 15, 2019 by Ivor Ramsden

[Work In Progress]

10 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Your photo also shows something that could be a radiator control lever?  I thought that was a throttle.

What radiator would that be, with a very obviously uncowled air-cooled engine? 

More likely a control for cabin heat. They had a petrol-burning cabin heater.

[stever219]

11 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Your photo also shows something that could be a radiator control lever?  I thought that was a throttle.

How about carburettor intake heat (anti-icing)?  There are two smaller words on the body of the control; unfortunately I can’t enlarge the image enough to read them before they pixelate horribly.  There’s no obvious connection between the control and anything else on the aeroplane, see Ivor Ramsden’s comment, but it’s location a little way away from throttle and mixture controls suggests that it might be engine-related but not used that often.

[Robert Stuart]

Guys, thanks.

I've ordered a Sutton harness for the pilot - though a lap strap may still be the correct option, even for the pilot in an early Walrus.

My impression is that the lap straps would have been used by the navigator and wireless operator. 

 

The Walrus had a folding chair for a co-pilot.  The placeing of his harness is still a mystery to me. 

[Work In Progress]

3 hours ago, stever219 said:

How about carburettor intake heat (anti-icing)?

Well, I just resorted to the old Navajo Indian trick of actually looking in the manual and yes, that's it. As on a Swordfish, it controls a flap which dictates supercharger intake air being drawn from a hot air or cold air source

[stever219]

That's splendid, thanks for the confirmation👍👍.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

On 9/15/2019 at 3:02 PM, Work In Progress said:

Well, I just resorted to the old Navajo Indian trick of actually looking in the manual and yes, that's it. As on a Swordfish, it controls a flap which dictates supercharger intake air being drawn from a hot air or cold air source

No doubt with accompanying fumes and stink.  The Sea King cabin heater was like that; most people only ever used it once, before realising that a splitting headache from breathing exhaust gases was not a fun thing, so making sure to wear more layers next trip!

[Work In Progress]

Janitrol heaters and their forebears are generally inventions of the devil and seem always to need maintenance to keep them running right.

 

As to whether you use them, it depends where you're flying, in what season and at what sort of heights. I doubt most Shagbats ever went over about 2000 feet AMSL, and I imagine your Sea King didn't much either, but if you're flying multi-hour legs across the Rockies in winter in a C-310 or Aztec, with no warm engine between you and the ambient -20c, then becoming too cold to operate the controls can become a very real and dangerous thing. 

 

As Ernie Gann wrote in Fate Is The Hunter, the ability to drive the heating system well on a DC-2 or DC-3 was as much the mark of a competent first officer as a beam approach through overcast was of a competent captain.