Mystery Steering Wheels
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Virginia
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Mystery Steering Wheels
Need your help to positively identify these steering wheels. I acquired one several years a go from an aviation collector in Czechoslovakia who said it came from an airfield in England. The early aviation historian, Carroll Gray, told me that he thought it is
"quite likely a control wheel from a monoplane fitted with "Deperdussin-type" controls, perhaps from a Deperdussin, Handley-Page or Blackburn monoplane. I would date the wheel to 1910-1911, perhaps as late as 1912. By 1913 the manufacture of the "spider" in the center of the wheel would have almost certainly been of aluminum. I note that the wheel's "spider" appears to be a laminated (oak?) wooden structure, reflecting a time (1910-1911) when weight would have been held to an absolute minimum, due to the low-power engines then available, and hence a laminated wooden "spider." An early date (pre-1912) is also suggested by the finger grips evident on the backside of the wheel itself. The central "hub" would have been bolted to a metal drum around which the control wires would have been wound. That it is not an automobile wheel can be determined with a good deal of certainty by reflecting on the laminated wooden structure of the "spider," a design feature which would have not been welcome (and would have been unnecessary) on an automobile.
I enjoyed your web site a great deal. Thank you for contacting me."
Joe Battrick of West Bank, British Columbia, contacted me when he saw my wheel on my web site - The Aero Conservancy - because he has two just like it and since he acquired them together, he thought that perhaps they were from a two-wheel aircraft, possibly a floatplane or seaplane as British Columbia has a lot of those.
Any ideas? I've gone through your "cockpits" list and found some similar but I am trying to get a definite fix on which aircraft it comes from. Practically every early wheel of a similar design appears to have a metal spider while these wheels are so early that the spider is wood.
Your help greatly appreciated !
This is a close-up of the spider showing how the design on the front of the spider arms. I don't know how they would have made these small bumbs in the wood.
"quite likely a control wheel from a monoplane fitted with "Deperdussin-type" controls, perhaps from a Deperdussin, Handley-Page or Blackburn monoplane. I would date the wheel to 1910-1911, perhaps as late as 1912. By 1913 the manufacture of the "spider" in the center of the wheel would have almost certainly been of aluminum. I note that the wheel's "spider" appears to be a laminated (oak?) wooden structure, reflecting a time (1910-1911) when weight would have been held to an absolute minimum, due to the low-power engines then available, and hence a laminated wooden "spider." An early date (pre-1912) is also suggested by the finger grips evident on the backside of the wheel itself. The central "hub" would have been bolted to a metal drum around which the control wires would have been wound. That it is not an automobile wheel can be determined with a good deal of certainty by reflecting on the laminated wooden structure of the "spider," a design feature which would have not been welcome (and would have been unnecessary) on an automobile.
I enjoyed your web site a great deal. Thank you for contacting me."
Joe Battrick of West Bank, British Columbia, contacted me when he saw my wheel on my web site - The Aero Conservancy - because he has two just like it and since he acquired them together, he thought that perhaps they were from a two-wheel aircraft, possibly a floatplane or seaplane as British Columbia has a lot of those.
Any ideas? I've gone through your "cockpits" list and found some similar but I am trying to get a definite fix on which aircraft it comes from. Practically every early wheel of a similar design appears to have a metal spider while these wheels are so early that the spider is wood.
Your help greatly appreciated !
This is a close-up of the spider showing how the design on the front of the spider arms. I don't know how they would have made these small bumbs in the wood.
