aircraftengine

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This would appear to be a Liberty L-12 aircraft engine. Over 20,000 of these V-12 engines would be manufactured between 1917-1919 by various manufacturers as part of the war effort. So many were built that its use would be specified for a number of aircraft through the 1920s. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_L-12

Curtiss V8 engine.

Thanks a lot for the information!

More precisely, I think this is a *segment* from a Curtiss OX-5 V8 like the one in your other photo: Another of your photos shows a different segment of an OX-5: In the photo here, the view is facing what would be the engine's rear end, opposite where the propeller would be mounted. (The little wooden "propeller" visible isn't a real propeller and is mounted on the engine's water pump.) Only two cylinders are visible in the photo, rather than the eight which you should see; the engine seems to just "stop" after that pair of cylinders. Several parts which should be closed have sections missing to show their internals. It looks like this couldn't run, but was used as a training tool for engine mechanics.

Thanks a lot for that information!

I suspect these guys might be working on the motors from a Lockheed P-38 Lightning...the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk/Warhawk had a very different air intake, etc...I'm guessing, but I suspect they're USAAF rather than RAAF...possibly the 49th Fighter Group...someone who knows about their operational history might be able to confirm this or add info re a possible location...they were briefly at Darwin in 1942...

Pic 25 of this series shows a row of P-38's lined up...if you zoom in you can see the match-ups...

collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YezElR29/gpLqLxERm44ye

www.flickr.com/photos/193158484@N02/51754273338 - couple of P-40's here...as you can see, they're a different animal...

🔥 😮 ~~

covid convict I'll update with a ? on the P-38s for the moment. Thanks for helping out.

Nice detail of a P-38 that looks like a good match - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning#/media/File...
And see main article - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning

I tend to agree with 'covid convict', the US 49th Fighter Group were equiped with the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk while stationed in Australia before moving to New Guinea in Oct 1942. In September 1944, the group was re-equipped completely with Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft, providing a possible date for the photo, and following the same train of thought, the location is likely to be Port Moresby. Although only a month later they were located to the Philippines - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/49th_Fighter_Group

The other observation that may support covid convict's USAF ID is the head gear, Aussie aircraftsmen would probably be wearing the standard issue slouch hat not a baseball cap.

All looks plausible - I will update the entry and thanks for the links.