Hello RedHillWings:

I’m by no means an expert, but what follows is an amalgam of information I’ve picked up from some a couple of gents who are quite knowledgeable.

First, some conjecture. While this is the first time I’ve heard the C-1 autopilot disengage switch referred to in the context of an “8th Air Force Autopilot Switch Mod”, it would not surprise me if this was accurate. Fact: The 1942 and early 1943 American daylight bombing raids inflicted heavy losses. Curt LeMay (Commanding General – 8th Air Force) personally led the in-flight test and evaluation efforts to develop defensive flight formation tactics for dealing with the highly competent German fighter threat. Among the innovations LeMay and his team developed was the “defensive box” formation. As you (especially the pilots) can imagine, flying large numbers of heavy aircraft in close formation churns up the air mightily. Add some flak to the mix and the task of maintaining formation flight was quite a strain.

I don’t know exactly when they were introduced (I suspect the back half of 1943), but at some point both B-17s and B-24s started to be equipped with “Formation Sticks” for both the pilot and co-pilot. They were introduced to encourage autopilot use amongst the bombers in box formations. The C-1 was good on its own, but formation flying requires constant jockeying to maintain position. So the lead pilot of “box” would use the C-1 autopilot without sticks. Those those formating on him would select either gyro-assisted or servo boosted (direct) control via a panel switch.

A Formation Stick basically consisted of Guardian Electric B5 grip mounted to the top of a box that, when engaged, provided pitch and roll control, but with modified gains to reduce pilot workload. They were installed outboard of pilot’s and copilot’s seats, so they’re normally out of the field of view for most cockpit photos. On a formation stick the ‘trigger’ was the mike button for aircraft communication. The push-button on top was the ‘take control’ button. When the Formation Sticks were energized, either pilot could press their top button to assume control. In the event both were pressed simultaneously, the control relays were set up so that control defaulted to the left (aircraft commander’s) seat.

C-1 Autopilot disconnect buttons were mounted on both wheels. If the pilot needed to take urgent evasive action, it saved seconds over reaching across and disengaging the autopilot via the control panel. When the system was switched on, one touch of either disengage button (they were normally closed and wired in series) interrupted the current to an electrical latch, instantly disengaging the servos. The main switch on the autopilot control panel then needed to be cycled to re-set the latch.

That’s probably more than you wanted to know…but what the heck. Later on in the war, B-29s used the same setup. And I’ve seen cockpit photos of a B-36 Peacemaker with the C-1 autopilot disengage switches. No idea if they also had Formation sticks.

Swifter

Yadda Yadda

Hello All:

Not too much activity on the yokes thread in recent weeks. No doubt, at least in part, due to the Christmas season and all that goes with it. So, I just thought I would put in a brief note here wishing all of you the best for the holiday season and that we (the planet) have a great 2015 !

Attached are a couple of photos of an early P-38 yoke I recently acquired. Fabricating original looking switches will be the next challenge.

Nick

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When I did mine I had the bare metal grip in slightly worse condition than the one you have. I fettled it to a state that I was happy with, remove corrosion etc. I rubbed it all down and spraye the metal grip black. Then did the twining and body putty. Whenn the whole lot has set. I masked off the gun button I sprayed the grip again with the same black spray paint. I handle it from time to time but not excessively and so far it has stood up very well.
JDH

Thank you sir, much appreciated.
Nick

I would be interested to know the difference between the Convair 240 and 340 yokes.

The 340 and later Convair variants had an extended housing to accomodate an autopilot release switch the 240 didn’t have (in its yoke).

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That Sabreliner yoke is very well buttoned for a civil craft, or is a military one? Lovely job anyway. Your mantelpiece looks a treat in the background too Nick!

I know what you mean Ian. It’s a nicely sculpted design, very reminiscent of the Convair 880/990 that I know Fly.Buy is very fond of. It was designed soon after the Convair yoke. Both were produced by Adams Rite. From an ergonomic standpoint the yoke has a great feel to it. It fills the palms very nicely. The Sabreliner is a contemporary of the Lockheed Jetstar and Learjet. And it was indeed produced for the military (both Navy and USAF) as the T-39. Based on the data plate on my yoke it was installed in a civilian aircraft.

The fireplace mantle holds my overflow. I need to build more shelves. I now have 73 unique yokes in my collection. What you see on the mantle are the following: Convair F102, Lockheed Jetstar, Lockheed P3 Orion (late), Convair 340, Convair 240 (Yes, there is a major difference between the two) Beech “Starship” (actually a very rare yoke because Beech bought back nearly the entire fleet of Starships 6-7 years ago and destroyed them all!), Boeing KC-97, Lockheed C-130, Beech D-18, Grumman Albatross, Grumman Widgeon, Aero Commander 500, Aero Commander 560, Aero Commander 680, Jet Commander.

Nick

Thanks Darrell. Are you happy with the JU52 yoke? That was a nice buy. Perhaps I should have gone higher………:dev2:

Darrell:

I agree with Ian….that F13 yoke is a great find and some good research on your part too !! I sure screwed up with my guesswork on post 703..:confused:

And that’s fine. We learned something new…. In hindsight, perhaps the pinched ends on the spokes should have been a give-away to the corrugated external skin construction technique on the F13 and that is so well known on the follow-on Junkers “Tante Ju”…the ubiquitous JU-52.

Nick

Evening all,

Been a while since I’ve posted here but I’m proud and happy to share my latest project with you all,

John.

Hello FMK.6John:

Beautiful job you did with the Lightning grip/column. I’ve done a fair number of such mountings…none as nice as what you have there! You mentioned a spring setup to give the brake lever some action. I did the same thing with a Lancaster wheel I restored. Since the spoke to which the brake lever attaches is hollow, was able to install and old carburator/accelerator return spring inside the spoke that acts to return the lever to where it belongs after deflection. Ahhh…the fun of it all….