Hello All
This is my first thread on this forum. I have viewed the various threads regarding Spade grips with some interest, Hurricane, Spitfire, Harvard, Post war, copies, composites, etc, etc and am intriqued what members think of this one I have.
It has seen a lot of “work” it is not a new find and may well have done the rounds. The left hand grip has been rewhipped. It has three stamped codes on the casting as per image and list. It weighs 550g. The Gun button seems to be (or has been converted to) electric. It works smoothly and appears not to be composite
AH2040 on stem
CCG2924 on stem side
178 with arrow near gun button. All seem to have been done at one time during manufacture
Any ideas or thoughts….Thanks
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th October 2009 at 13:00
Tangmere, still no room at the inn(box)….
Try now…..!!
It fills up with fond messages and adoring missives from certain internet traders! 😀
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th October 2009 at 12:37
Tony – Your keen eye spotted what I had missed….the shaved off Bowden cable guide! I knew Rocketeer was the man!!
By: JDK - 19th October 2009 at 12:23
Just a note, and not evidently related to this grip, but another one ‘out there’.
The IWM Swordfish had the spade grip stolen by some determined but unscrupulous individual when the aircraft was under restoration at Duxford some years ago.
Sadder still is the certainty it would have been stolen to sell as a ‘Spitfire’ grip, rather than acknowledging the equally brave young men who used it in Swordfish.
By: Rocketeer - 19th October 2009 at 12:04
PS welcome to the forum!!
By: Rocketeer - 19th October 2009 at 12:04
What you have is a Canadian made spade grip in magnesium alloy. The AH2040 number was intended for Hurricane/Swordfish/Battle aircraft. They would have been stored in stores for use on various types (listed above) sans brake levers/pivot posts/brake catch. The Harvard did not require the latter items as the brakes were on the pedals.
However, later, AH2040 grips were re-worked to cater for the gun button being made electric…..hence the requirement for string on the grip. The reworking also shaved off the bowden cable guide as it was not required on the Harvard (this made it essentially a AH2242)
So, in conclusion, you have a Canadian Harvard grip, modified post war to have an electric gun button.
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th October 2009 at 10:58
Well, Rocketeer is really you man but I rather think you may have a Harvard spade grip top that has been “doctored”. I may be wrong. Either way, it is a later type AH2040 with the almost base-metal casting with (I think) high magnesium content as opposed to the earlier AH2040 “Dunlop Patent Applied For” stick tops. No trace of brake lever or fixing and I cannot see where (if!) the air pipes go to from the gun button.
Here is a photograph of a genuine one. I can do some close-ups later.
The photo of the stick top posted by Conservator also shows that the rubberised gripping down the side of the grip that holds the channel for the air pipes has been stripped off and replaced with string, which has then been painted black. To me that rings alarm bells straight away! I do know, by the way, that dummy/reproduction gun buttons of this type have been manufactured.
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October 19, 2009 at 10:45 am