Ken
April 25, 2011 at 6:56 am

Rate of climb indicator

hello,

Does anyone have any information and a picture of the Pioneer Rate of Climb Indicator that was around in 1934, I have done the usual Google search without much luck. I have just read the book written by Owen Cathcart-Jones, one of the pilots of Comet G-ACSR and he mentions that he had this type of instrument specialy fitted.

With my researches of instruments from the 1934 era does anyone know if there are any books or manuals I should be looking out for which would be useful.

Thanks

Ken

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By: Ken - 26th April 2011 at 18:00

Thanks Mark,

I already have the standard English rate of climb indicator, the early one with the full numbers ie; 1.2.3.4. as used on things like Spifires, but as my post said I read in Owen Cathcart-Jones book that he fitted the Pioneer type and i just wondered how they compared. Seems that they made many different types so may never know, all I can say is that it was fitted in 1934.

Owen was the pilot in a record breaking flight to Capetown in a Lockheed Vega in 1931 which is probably where he used the Pioneer type and impressed with it enough to ask for it in the Comet.

Ken

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By: mark_pilkington - 26th April 2011 at 01:31

Ken,

I have a collection of technical books and think I might have something that will cover pre-war American instrumentation, but will take a while to have the time to look, but the DC-2 first flew in 1934 and if you can track down some panel shots of one I am sure it will carry a Pioneer rate of climb, similarly a boeing 247, lockheed 12 etc, or even a shot of a pre-war DC3?

Here is the cockpit of a restored DC-2, the Pioneer rate of climb is sitting in the bottom RHS of the pilots Blind Flying Panel on the LHS of the photo, (just to the right of the LHS wheel and next to the turn and bank indicator.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alejandroperez/2912435569/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Perhaps the Science museum holds an original lockheed 12 or Boeing 247 Manual in their collection to go with their aircraft, the problem with museum aircraft is that their original factory instrumentation could have been changed out many times over before retirement into a collection with later equivalents of the same instrument, (ie while the size is probably the same, the one in the DC-2 above might have later face dial markings to the original one fitted when built? so in some ways photos and manuals are more reliable than the artifact themselves.

Pioneer have apparantly been making them since 1924!!!

http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19570490000

And are quoted in Flight in 1937 as having have a catelogue of them 9 years earlier!

http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1937/1937%20-%202313.PDF

and of course are available in various models and vintages on ebay etc

http://motors.upillar.com/listings/238914-pioneer–rate-of-climb-indicator

Regards

Mark Pilkington