SwifterCan I ask for some advice from US grip collectors/experts?
Firstly, what is the difference between the B-8 grip and the B-8-A? We have several of each in our collection and at a casual glance there is no difference in size or shape, etc apart from the various buttons which are all in the same place but look to be slightly different in design/manufacture. I can post pictures if it will help.
Secondly, is this a B-5 grip? Can anyone hazard a guess as to whether it’s of wartime manufacture or postwar? There are no stamps, or numbers to be seen on it. Which aircraft types used it?
I seem to recall a web-site that described the various American stick tops but I cannot find it now. Anyone?
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Hello Air Ministry:
I think Martyn is spot-on with his comments. I’ll add that all of the B-5/6/8 grips and other variations were made by Guardian Electric. Others (like Mason) produced some grips that look similar. The photo below shows a B6 left and B5 right. As outlined by Martyn, the B5 was used by many WWII fighters. It was also used on the T6/SNJ series. The late war P-38s (Js and later) used two slightly modified B5s in the yoke design. I think the B6 was post-WWII grip. The Bell 47 helicopter used a B6 on its cyclic control. I know the B5 with the depression on top that Martyn refers to was used on the “Formation Stick” in B17s and B24s…and it was hooked in with the C-1 autopilot system. Don’t know the specifics.
The only US site I can think of is oncealoft.com (airline pilots historical society) that has many photos of control wheels, but no photos of stick grips.
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SwifterThanks for the detailed response Martyn and for the web link. It’s indeed a great source for Canberra photos. The shots there of the B(I)8 show blank plates as covers for both the left stalk and the front hub. they’ll be easy to fabricate.
Have a fine week:
Nick
SwifterAhh, thank you for the tie-in Darrell. I’ll do as you suggest. I’ll look forward to finding out if other books on this topic are available.
I have the following cockpit oriented books in my reference collection (provided here as information for others who may want the references):
Fighting Cockpits 1914-2000 – L.F.E. Coombs
Cockpit; An Illustrated History of WWII Aircraft Interiors – Donald Nijboer
Cockpits of the Cold War – Donald Nijboer
The following books have some excellent cockpit photography and are available cheap on Ebay:
B-29 Combat Missions – Donald Nijboer and others
B-24 Combat Missionis – Martin Bowman
SwifterHi all:
I recently acquired a couple of Canberra yokes including the one in the photos. I think it’s from a B(1)8 model…but I’m not certain. I seen photos of this model of Canberra yoke with either a blank plate installed or with a plate/pushbutton switch installation. But the left stalk of this yoke has never been drilled/tapped for a plate to be installed. My questions are: 1) Can some confirm the specific model of Canberra this yoke is from and 2) How likely is it that, when in service, this yoke had nothing mounted in the left stalk?
As always, thanks for any help.
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SwifterHi:
A couple of the previous comments refer to the “Air Ministry’s greeen reference book”. Can someone provide a formal title and author of this book? As an avid yoke collector (on the left side of the pond), I am unfamiliar with this book. It may prove helpful in acquiring non-American yokes/wheels. Does the book only cover British aircraft? Is anyone aware of other equivalent tomes?
SwifterLove the way you drew out the irony there Darrell! I looked closely at that Nimrod yoke too….ended up passing on it after seller rejected my offer. It’s in nice shape though!
SwifterIan:
Your B52 yoke is somewhat of a surprise. All B52G yokes I’ve seen to date have that outcropping in your photo incorporated into the casting. Yours however, has an add-on piece screwed on to what appears to be the earlier style yoke. If you send me your email address (nixkiks@aol.com) I’ll send you some pix of what I mean.
I would not be surprised if the other wheel doesn’t originate from an aircraft. Reasons:
– The spokes are non-cast thin-wall tubing…from appearances, too thin to be aviation quality.
– The spoke tubes are pressed together at the ends where the handles attach. This doesn’t look robust enough for an aviation application.
– The hole in the center hub is neither splined nor slotted (for a woodruff key) to inhibit rotation on the shaft it mounts to. All yokes with an aviation application (that I’m familiar with) have means of positively inhibiting rotation on the mounting shaft.
With all that said…I’ve been known to be wrong…LOL. :confused:
Have a fine week:
Nick
SwifterHello Ian:
I’m aware of three different production B-52 yokes. That used on all B52s through the E or F model. That used on the B52G. And the completely different (ribless) version used on the B52H. The only real difference betwee the first two is at the top of the stalk with the trim switch. The G model casting deflects 90 degrees outboard approx 1/2 to 3/4 inches. I think it was designed that way for the pilot’s index finger to rest up against the bottom. Your yoke appears to be from a G model, but would need to see a photo from the left of the left stalk. For comparison, my B52D and B52H yokes are in the photo I posted on 5/24.
I would post some photos specific to the B52G but I can’t. I can no longer post photos to this site. I’ve been in touch with the web-master for this site but we have been unable to come up with a solution. A software glitch cropped up somewhere. But it seems I’m the only person having the problem and he is about tired of hearing from me. Beyond spending $$$ for a software professional to troubleshoot the problem, I’m pretty much stuck.
Have a fine weekend!
Nick
SwifterDone and responded to.
SwifterNo More Photo Uploads?
Hello all:
For a several weeks now I’ve tried to make a posting to this site with a photo upload…which I’ve often done in the past. The problem is the photo uploader no longer seems to work. Is anyone else having this problem? After selecting “Insert Image”, the system no longer allows me to select images. If I try the “Basic Uploader” option, images can be selected, but the “Upload File” function no longer works.
I’ve contacted the website, Key, twice about this. They have not responded to either inquiry.
Swifter
SwifterCool Trio
Just thought I’d share this interesting trio with the forum…
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Almost looks like three showgirls in their finishing pose after a dance number 😀
SwifterHere’s a new one from an S2F-3 which has an attractive Star Wars quality. The other came with it (always worth a ‘do you have any others?’) and might be DC6, certainly not C47 as described. Can anyone say it’s an original centre cap? It looks injection moulded and thus difficult to reproduce. Some work now going towards the fest too, old teak lab benches turning into stands.
Hi Ian:
I’ll echo Fly-Buy’s comments. Also, that nut/switch combination you have looks like it may have come from a DC-7C. I would have to see the top view to know for sure. On the DC-7C a large nut was used to front-mount the MIC switch on either the captain’s or co-pilot’s side. Also, your S-2 yoke was also used on the C-1 Trader.
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Swifter[QUOTE=ian_;2136801]Did you push the boat out for this one, another type I had to look up!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231218097571?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 ? Very spindly to control an aircraft so large.
I was indeed a bidder on the B66 yoke. Suffice to say…I was not the high bidder. I would have liked to add it to my collection. It’s the only one I’ve ever encountered on ebay in the 9 years I’ve been buying yokes there.
Nick
SwifterThat would have been my guess too Tony. Is the strange pulley arrangement at the back original? It looks more suited to a victorian threshing machine.
LOL……..Love the analogy Ian. Now for some arcanery to support what I think it is.
I bought the yoke basically as shown, with the brass extension and aluminum cable pulley. Both the extension and the pulley had some tight tolerance machining done when they were new. I think they’re part of an original assembly with the yoke. However, a B24 yoke would not have been equipped with an extension/pulley like this because the B24 didn’t have a vertical control column mounted to a pedestal. The B24 yoke was mounted to a column that extended horizontally into the front of the instrument panel…like a lot of smaller GenAv aircraft do. But the Convair also made the lesser known B32 Dominator that lost out to Boeing’s B29. Yet Convair did receive a production contract and the B32 was produced in limited numbers and saw action very late in the Pacific war. The B32 wheel is the same as the B24 but–it was mounted to a vertical, pedestal type column. Thus I think this yoke assembly came out of a B32. You might ask; Might this yoke assembly come out of an early B36 Peacemaker, since the wheel looks much the same as that in the B24? The answer is, I don’t think so. The reason is because the B24 (and apparently B32) wheels both used a square hole to mount to the column. People more knowledgeable than I have told me the B36 wheel differed in that it used a round hole with a slot for a woodruff key to lock it. And (almost) all B24 yokes used the square mount holes. The exception to the latter though would be very early B24s that used the same yoke/wheel as that used in the PBY Catalina. It used a slotted circular mount.
OK…enough of this stuff. Photo on left is B24 cockpit, right is the B32. The yoke/wheel shown is the restored early B36 unit I have in my collection. Final photo is of the type of wheel on the Catalina and early B24s. If anyone on this board knows of a source for a Catalina wheel….please let me know. Yeah…I want one….:eagerness:
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SwifterLOL….not a B24 Tony….though that’s the usual first guess. We’ll let it go for awhile to see if someone comes up with it.
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