“Any advice about variant, etc will be most gratefully received.”

Hi AirMinistry:

A little over three years ago (post #753) I supplied some “informed conjecture”, with photos, of the differences between the control wheels used in the Lockheed Constellation (L-1049, L-1649 etc.) , the C-121/EC-121 variant and the P2V-7 Neptune, all of which used what I thought at the time, were two variants of the basic wheel design in your photos. I think most of the information in that post is still correct. But since then I’ve become aware of a third variation of that basic wheel casting. Based on the info in post #753 I think it most likely that your wheel was originally delivered in a post-war civilian Connie or (possibly) a military C-69. It did not come out of the later P2V-7 and it’s unlikely to have come from a C-121. Your wheel has had the switches in the switch blocks changed and/or modified. The interesting thing to me is the block engraved with the elevator trim functions. Yours is the first I’ve seen with that switch block.

“Talking of repro versus genuine parts I attach photos of Flight Engineering’s continuing work on a well known Me109 salvaged from the Eastern front some years ago.
Peter Grieves is making his usual excellent job of it, and the skill needed to fabricate and blend in missing parts into the remaining fuselage is evident throughout the build.”

That ME/Bf-109 project takes the need for new parts fabrication (and skills required) to an entirely different level. It will be interesting to see whether the owner(s) will attempt to power it with a DB-601/605 or whether they put a Merlin in it…like the ex-Spanish HA-1112s used in the “Battle of Britain” film. Hard to believe it has been 48 years since I went to see that film at a theater!

And the after shots:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]257073[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]257074[/ATTACH]

Now I just need another wheel….yikes!

“For those with a B47 control yoke have you seen the hub cap on eBay as a buy it now?! I believe that these are rarer than the yoke itself !”

I have followed control wheel and cap offers/sales on Ebay for a long time. I can make the following fact based statements: From 2005-2017 at least 22 B-47 caps of four different types have shown up. From 2013-2017, five B-47 wheels have been offered, four of which sold, three to members of this forum. I saw no offerings of B47 wheels from 2005-2012. Anecdotally, it seems the wheels are far less common than the caps.

Hi 94thAero:

You’ll find what you’re looking for here:

https://www.oncealoft.com/control-wheels-columns-for-sale

but they’re not cheap. Specifically what wheels do you have to trade?

“Hello Swifter, this is what the post said. Yes, gone to Alconbury:”

Thanks for providing that detail again Ian. I know you shared it before (been a couple of years); this time I saved it. I had a similar “Lockheed” B-47 cap in the past but traded it for an original Convair 880 wheel cap. I still consider that a good trade.

“Are you at liberty to say where the rest are, geographically?”

I have photos of all of them. Two belong to APHS in Chicago; mine in Des Moines, Iowa; one in St. Louis, Missouri; one in Sacremento, California; one in Kennewick, Washington; one in Arizona. Don’t know where the remaining three are located.

Interesting nuances: In the left photo below the wheel on the left is one I did some restoration on for a fellow collector. Note the engraved printing on the left stalk. This is the only B-47 wheel I’ve seen with that font style for the lettering. My own wheel is on the right for comparison. The other photo may have been on this thread before….I don’t recall. It’s an interesting variation on the B-47 cap I found on Ebay some years ago…..for an intensely satisfying price.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]256267[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]256268[/ATTACH]

Hi all:

The following US Ebay site has three somewhat stripped front and rear seater grips with a very reasonable opening bid….and no reserve.

Item number: 132355084219
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jet-Control-Column-Grip-Assemblies-3-Various-Navy-and-USAF-/132355084219?hash=item1ed0fa4fbb:g:SwAAAOSwc6hZ1XSb