WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

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Wingnutt
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WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Wingnutt » Fri May 26, 2017 5:28 pm

All,

I picked up these five (5) WWII vintage avionics instruments at an estate sale today.

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They all have markings and/or data plates that made it easy for me to identify and date them to WWII. What I’d like to know is:

(1) Which aircraft they were used in, and whether it’s possible that they all came out of the same aircraft?

(2) Is there any danger of radium poisoning handling these (it’s my understanding it may have been used in some of the glow paint)?

I poked around a little on a few “Warbird” type sites, but I could not find any information. I’m hoping someone here who is an expert WWII Army Air Forces/Air Corps equipment hobbyist will be able to help me, or at least point me to a good reference.

Here’s the inventory, with additional photos:

1942 US Army Signal Corps Sparks-Withington Radio Compass I-81-A (PL-118), marked Order No. 12033-WF-42 (*$2.6M, “RADIO EQUPMENT”, 11/41-8/42) with an “SC44” inspection stamp

1942 US Army Air Corps Kollsman (Square D Company) Altimeter, marked Order No. AC-26969 (*$8.069M, “AIRPLANE INSTRUMENTS”, 3/42-8/43) on the data plate, last patent 2154273 (April 1939)

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1942 US Army Air Corps Ternstedt (General Motors) Directional Gyro Indicator, marked AN-5735-1, S/N: AF 42-20061, and Order No. W535 AC 25804 (*$7.081M, “GYRO INDICATORS”, 9/42-12/43) on the data plate, with a “MAR 11 1943” inspection stamp

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1942 US Army Air Forces Allen Calculators Type C-1 Bank & Turn Indicator, marked “A.A.F. U.S. ARMY” and “BANK & TURN IND.” on the dial, marked S/N: AAF-42-24692, Order No. AC-28784 (*$95K, “AIRCRAFT PARTS”, 9/43-12/43), and last patent 2749914 (July 1941) on the data plate, with an “AN OCT 44” inspection stamp

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1941 Bendix Aviation (Pioneer) Pitch Indicator, marked “A.C. U.S. ARMY” and “SERIAL NO. AC-41-1446” and “TYPE A-B” on the dial, marked Order No. AC-20662 and Spec No. 94-27955 and Mfgr No. 1718-2S-A2, last patent 2215570 (Sep 1940) on the data plate

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* U.S. Civilian Production Administration, Alphabetic Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, HD3858.U53.1945
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Mark Jesic
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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Mark Jesic » Sat May 27, 2017 4:15 am

Total guess, a B17 maybe ???

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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Joe Gopan » Sat May 27, 2017 5:57 am

8 Day Aircraft Clocks are a prize find. They had a way of disappearing from aircraft flight lines. Would imagine there are none to be found in this liquidation sale.
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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Wingnutt » Sat May 27, 2017 7:06 am

Mark Jesic wrote:Total guess, a B17 maybe ???
Mark,
Between fighters, light bombers, bombers, transport and utility, there were close to 100 different aircraft in the US arsenal during WWII. That's a lot of "maybes"! :D
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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Mark Tombleson » Sat May 27, 2017 7:25 am

Looking up the part numbers and such does not give you any real information...

Here is a site with 6 of the I-81-a made by Sparks Withington and Bendix... just no info on what they were off of, for $25.

http://www.historicalmilitarycollectibl ... mpass.html

You know i looked at a couple of cockpit photos of bombers and fighters, you may be able to pick out equipment that way.

Some of this type of equipment has several mfg and multiple uses... you may get better action in the warbirds section viewforum.php?f=83
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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Mark Jesic » Sat May 27, 2017 8:23 am

I didnt realise there were that many Wingnutt, in England our main ones were Spitfires, Hurricanes, and Lancasters, oh and Mosquitos, i think. Not really into aircraft, but seeing the film "Memphis Belle", well that hit the right note, a classic. :D

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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Wingnutt » Sat May 27, 2017 8:24 am

Mark Tombleson wrote:Some of this type of equipment has several mfg and multiple uses...
I figured they might be standard to a few and perhaps many, Mark, and a kind gentleman (and retired USAF full bird) answered me on the General Discussion board.
Mark Tombleson wrote:...you may get better action in the warbirds section viewforum.php?f=83
:lol: Ya think? (That's a big duh on me - I didn't know we had one!)
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Radiation

Post by W. Winget » Tue May 30, 2017 5:43 am

Guy out West had a huge stockpile of them, EPA declared it a superfund site as it was radioactive (large piles clumped together added up) I think he was able to sell off a lot of them to fight the multi-million dollar cleanup fee he was facing.
An individual owned (small collection) your fine, but a hoarder or surplus dealer has to be careful of the cumulative totals.
Easy to have any local college Lab use a Geiger counter to let you know what your dealing with.

WWII and 50's era dash instruments and radio meters / dials can be hot as well, the Army had a small disc about three inches across that looked like the top of a meat can, it was a glow marker for individual wear, HOT as Hades, not sure how many might be out there floating around.

Modern Side note: I took a Barium (or some sort of) radioactive swill for a stress test, they told me it was only hot for a few hours...came home that evening, tossed batteries in the old CD Geiger counter I had for displays just for kicks, it went off the scale at every level I could set it to. Two days later I was still hot, mainly the kidney area, but it was fun to see that the CD tool worked, even if it was a little thought provoking.
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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by Raymond Smith » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:28 am

Take them in a dark room and see if they glow.
If they are coated, and they likely are, it is the best way to tell if you don't have a Geiger Counter.
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Re: WTK: Air Corps cockpit instruments

Post by AZ Jeff » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:15 pm

A dealer friend of mine who had several WW2 gauges on his website was contacted by the NRC regarding this issue. No sh*t... They finally settled down but when he asked them how to properly dispose of the gauges they refused to offer any guidance.

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