Spade Grip ID help

Later Tempests use selectric. I have the remains of a stick from an aircraft that was brought down by the V1 it was attacking. The brass button is there.

The typhoon column and that of the tempest were almost identical. Though I have only seen green painted sticks on the latter.
Not seen the knurled part of the ring in black before

Typhoon grips

The AH 8005 was used in the Typhoon and Tempest (which also used the AH8090) but i think with that type of firing button it was more likely to have been used in a Typhoon.I believe Tempest`s used the selectric type button.Rocketeer would be the best person to ask to confirm or deny this.

With regard to my Typhoon grips, the one in the centre of the picture is in it`s original configuration with the added button whereas the one on the right came from an unknown crash and was missing the plastic covering. The fact i have no specific history to it i decided to replace the plastic covering to improve the look and i added the extra button housing as this is in keeping with this type of grip. I have a couple of these type of button housing`s with different button configurations. Although not visible in the photo the remains of the sheared off control column are still attached to the grip and the fire/safe ring is seized in the fire position.

Hurricane grips were all pneumatic.

BS

just to copy a couple of your pics…

Bananasplits – are you saying that Hurricane grips were not electric – as per yo pic below?

As for a Typhoon stick, your other pic below (RH side), looks identical to mine…

Hi

Is the fire button made of bakelite yes
and is it wired yes
rather than pneumatic pipes which it looks like in the photo and also is the back of the firing button made of brass yes
rather than bakelite as this would definitely make it Typhoon/Tempest. I`m not saying they were but the camera and GGS buttons could have been added on by someone later on so this could be a bit misleading.

BS

As I know the person that removed the grip from the aircraft (he was 9 at the time ;)), so I am 100% sure that they were fitted on the aircraft rather than added later.

Is their any difference between Typhoon & Tempest sticks? As the romantic?? side of me would rather it was a Typhoon. I am not old enough to remember them in action, but old enough to remember all the small comic books with pics of them strafing railway lines & tanks etc…..

as others have rightly said….a very nice Tempest column…..you can imagine him bouncing along in the wake of a V1 before popping a 2 sec burst of 20mm and bunting to avoid most of the debris

Grip

Hi

Is the fire button made of bakelite and is it wired rather than pneumatic pipes which it looks like in the photo and also is the back of the firing button made of brass rather than bakelite as this would definitely make it Typhoon/Tempest. I`m not saying they were but the camera and GGS buttons could have been added on by someone later on so this could be a bit misleading.

BS

thanks

thanks for the replies, guys.
following on from your info, a further search seems to imply it is from a Hawker Tempest II, or similar….

Very nice! Tempest possibly as I don’t think Hurricanes had Gyro gunsights (GGS) and the bottom knuckle is definitely not Spitfire. I’d happily swap for magic beans etc!

you beat me too it, definitely a Hawker type with that radias stalk.

Very nice! Tempest possibly as I don’t think Hurricanes had Gyro gunsights (GGS) and the bottom knuckle is definitely not Spitfire. I’d happily swap for magic beans etc!

I dont know if this is Ok to resurrect an old thread, but I am asking the same Q.

I have a Spitfire/Hurricane Spade grip, complete to the first knuckle.
I always believed that it was a Spitfire unit, but it has a tubular shaft, rather than the fork type that I have seen. Unfortunately any ident on the unit appears to have been worn away. There is an inspectors stamp on the brake lever, but none of it seems to be readily decipherable. I enclose pics for your perusal.
The Fire button is, under the paint, the reddy bronze colour that I know it should be.
The two buttons on the left hand side are marked “GGS Caged” & “Camera” respectively.

My questionm is – Can anyone decipher whether this is from a Spit, or a Hurricane, from this info?
Also, how difficult is it to find out provenance?

The AH and AHO numbers are Dunlop drawing numbers.

Roger Smith (ex Dunlop apprentice 🙂 )

Spade grip part# – AH8068
Brake lever – AH016068 made by JD&SB
Fire Button – AH016041
Cam Button – Ref No 5D/534 made by A(crown)M

I’ve purchased this about 15 years ago in a box of “junk” with items from the late 1950’s, early 1960’s, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Thanks

What you have there is a beautiful later Spit/Seafire spade grip old chap…a real peach too!
Look on my website and you will see the same grip fitted to my Seafire cockpit and also destined for my Spit too!!! You will also notice that it is immaculate compared to mine!!!

These grips are becoming rare and do command high prices. The 8068 was fitted to MkV onwards (when the cannon wing came in). The big unbutton has three selections: guns only, cannon only and the middle guns and cannon (heaven can’t wait as the late great Don Healey ex 17 Sqn told me!!).

Spitenfeur…

Looks like a Cannon armed Spitfire grip to me.Getting quite rare these days.Good find..:eek:

Spade grip part# – AH8068
Brake lever – AH016068 made by JD&SB
Fire Button – AH016041
Cam Button – Ref No 5D/534 made by A(crown)M

I’ve purchased this about 15 years ago in a box of “junk” with items from the late 1950’s, early 1960’s, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Thanks

Hi there hopper, looks very much like it’s from a spitfire, from the ones that i’ve seen. Obviously from airplane with guns & a camera like BBMF MKIIa spit has. But then i guess this type of grip could be common to various aircraft.