Hi all,
Ive been trawling through th Net ,and the superb Spitfire spares website ,
to try and find out what this instrument face is that i have found, and what types of aircraft it was used on???.
It is made of brass, and is only the bottom half of the face, It is Double sided
and has Outer on one side , and Starboard on the other,
then the Kings Crown, and then a
serial No 6A/1548
I imagine its from one of the engines ??, ie RPM or something simaler ??,
I just cant find a Pic of one anywhere, It was found on the old scrapping site at Hullavington, where STirlings,Lancasters, etc etc were broken up in 1947-48,
Piccys Below for your perusal;)
By: bazv - 5th October 2008 at 20:24
Hi Merkle
Just a small point but the 6A number is not a serial number…it is the section/reference number for the RAF stores system.
6A is the section( 6A = instrument or elec )
1548 is the reference number which identifies the actual item.
If one googles 6A/1548 it does come up with a pic of the instrument even though its description may be ‘iffy’
cheers baz
By: merkle - 5th October 2008 at 20:12
many thanks lads !!
i was unsure, but now youve solved the mystery I love bits like these, (they look nice in a frame ) the area it was found in was the Main Lancaster scrap facilty was, aparently there was row upon row, in the late 40s awaiting scrap, and we met a guy in his 90s who said it was a 24 hour operation, constant for a few years, Tow em in, Tick em off the check sheet , and cut it up, Pretty Brutal from what I can gather ,
thanks for the help
😉
By: Arabella-Cox - 5th October 2008 at 11:41
What camlobe says!
By: Camlobe - 5th October 2008 at 11:14
Hello merkle.
The remanent you have appears to be the bottom half of a ‘Gallons gone’ indicator. These instruments didn’t change much over the years in presentation. There are two windows above each other, each with four digit-drums behind, displaying up to 999.9. The labels above and below the windows were either ‘Inner’ and ‘Outer’ or ‘Port’ and ‘Starboard’.
For twin-engined aircraft, you would use ‘Port’ and ‘Stbd’. For four-engined aircraft, it would be ‘Inner’ and ‘Outer’, two being fitted to the aircraft.
Over the years, I have come accross both. What I never realised until your post was the instrument face was reversable. Very sensible. One instrument with reversable face keeps costs down for the end user (or profits up for the manufacturer).
Stirling’s, Lancaster’s, and many, many other types (but AFAIK, not Spitfires) were equipped with these instruments.
Hope this helps.
camlobe
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October 5, 2008 at 9:58 am