Mystery Object
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Mystery Object
can anyone help identify this mystery object?
I found three of them at an ex-wwII airfield in the Northern Territory of Australia.
They may have been used to tie down aircraft, because they are solid steel and very heavy, but I don't think this is their original use.
As B-24 Liberator Bombers were based there during the war, I suspect they are an impellor from the supercharger system of that A/C.
They have slightly curved vanes in the mid-section and a keyway in the central shaft.
I found three of them at an ex-wwII airfield in the Northern Territory of Australia.
They may have been used to tie down aircraft, because they are solid steel and very heavy, but I don't think this is their original use.
As B-24 Liberator Bombers were based there during the war, I suspect they are an impellor from the supercharger system of that A/C.
They have slightly curved vanes in the mid-section and a keyway in the central shaft.
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My first thought was 'Flywheel' off a piece of Ground equipment but then I thought it could be an idler wheel off a tracked vehicle (Cletrac Tractor?)
So no I don't really have a clue
So no I don't really have a clue
Hippopotomonstrosesquipidelian title
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If it's a siren, it's very high frequency. Also, I'd expect the blades on the rotor to be thicker at the rim: the amount of metal to space around the periphery would be about 50:50, whereas this is around 10:90.
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It can't be an impeller because the vanes are almost perfectly radial, and not shaped to draw (or expel) air, and it is very heavy looking. The inertia would be tremendous!
My first thought was an air-raid siren too, although I am going to back the suggestion of it being an idler wheel from a tracked vehicle. This would explain why the vanes are much thicker at the outer edge than in the centre, and why the whole thing is a bl**dy heavy-looking piece of cast.
My first thought was an air-raid siren too, although I am going to back the suggestion of it being an idler wheel from a tracked vehicle. This would explain why the vanes are much thicker at the outer edge than in the centre, and why the whole thing is a bl**dy heavy-looking piece of cast.
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Looks like a Genset flywheel to me.
the blades are curved and do have a crude aero profile being thicker on the outside than the inside.
So it must draw air from outer to inner.
my guess then is an alternator cooling fan from a genset.
All guesswork of course.
the blades are curved and do have a crude aero profile being thicker on the outside than the inside.
So it must draw air from outer to inner.
my guess then is an alternator cooling fan from a genset.
All guesswork of course.
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