An item recently donated to the museum in foul condition. It was covered in spores of every known fungus and other assorted by-products of creepy-crawlies after being stored in a damp cellar for many years but it’s cleaned up reasonably well. Post-war black boxes are a mystery to me particularly when they don’t have a stores reference number and Google doesn’t seem to want to help much with this. Can anybody tell me anything about it? Its serial number and the prototype marking suggest to me that it’s a bit out of the ordinary but as I say, these things are a dark art to me….
By: Terry Parker - 21st January 2025 at 19:51
By: Terry Parker - 21st January 2025 at 19:51
Variously these units were termed Pilot’s Selector, Control Unit, Flight Control Panel, Switch Unit and perhaps other names. They just had different arrangements of controls and shape. Your prototype would seem to be closest to Ref No 6T/207 Control Unit Type A, Smiths “Code” (ie: part No) 118 EAP. Similar to those fitted to the Beverley, Valiant and Victor Mk1 I think, but not Vulcan. The later Victor Mk2 had some different knobs and the Vulcan Mk2 version was a smaller size without the turn control or pitch switch.
By: BrooklynBond - 20th January 2025 at 02:15
By: BrooklynBond - 20th January 2025 at 02:15
Hi there, Do you guys know what exactly the panel that I attached is called ? I tried googling everything its described as here but all I get directed to is this page. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
By: TerryP - 19th March 2015 at 20:58
Autopilot Mk 10 Series
Apart from the prototype marking it would appear to be one of a range of available control units for a Smiths Mk 10 Automatic Pilot as fitted to a wide range of 50s-60s RAF aircraft, eg, Valiant, some Canberras, Vulcan Mk1, Victor Mk1. Similar units were fitted to the Mk 10A, 10B & 10C Autopilots fitted to Argosy, Vulcan Mk2, Victor Mk2, and Hercules (C130K for the RAF).
Sign In
March 19, 2015 at 4:40 pm