I have a magneto for a 9 cylinder “radial” engine, there are no markings or labels giving the type on it.
It looks to be fairly early “WW1/1920’s” at a guess.
I believe that it is off of an aeroengine, as I can’t think of any other vehical etc, that would have been fitted with a 9 cylinder engine, other than a tank, but they were later types & had American made engines.
Can any one please help to identify which type it is, & to what engines it may have been used on ?.
Cheer’s.
Bob T.
By: Evzen Vsetecka - 12th January 2013 at 11:23
It really is magneto Salmson.
I saw the same in plane Anatra DS (Salmson engine) in National Technical Museum Prague .
By: sopwith.7f1 - 4th January 2013 at 12:52
Hi P&P
Many thanks for your input.
This mag’s ID is certainly a bit of a puzzle to me.
The only markings I have been able to find are-
SFA in a small square on the side.
& the following individual letters & number stamped at various places on the bottom of the mag- H, something that looks a bit like an @, D, 16, & F.
No other markings on it, not even an A.I.D stamp.
Jean, the chief engineer at Shuttleworth, thought it might be off of a French Salmson engine. but wasn’t certain. The other engine possibilities are the Jupiter & ABC Dragonfly.
Cheer’s.
Bob .
By: powerandpassion - 4th January 2013 at 11:57
BTH Magneto
Bob, you sure like to dig in the Jurassic…
This magneto has bits that look like BTH series A from late WW1, particularly the central casing and bakelite distributor cap. It has other bits that look like BTH SC series from the thirties, like contact breaker cap and nuts. A real BTH thing are the oilways above the spindle bearings. From my observation of BTH magnetos there was a lot of evolution happening all the time, like there were a lot of chaps drinking tea around a BTH table and making suggestions about improvements all the time. I am still waiting, with probably five other people on the planet, three probably dead, for the definative BTH magneto book…
My guess is very, very early Bristol Jupiter, or Cosmos Jupiter from the 1919 Schneider Trophy Sopwith racing seaplane. It has a tricked up look about it, like somebody took the guts of standard BTH A series magneto and hotted it up, with senior management turning a blind eye as long as the company name was not on it. It’s a nice piece, not from a tractor.
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December 24, 2012 at 11:50 am