Anyone ever seen a dual artificial horizon in one case?
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Anyone ever seen a dual artificial horizon in one case?
Possibly RN and off the Eagle, everyone is scratching their heads over this, including me..
See
What is this Attitude Indicator from? - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums
See
What is this Attitude Indicator from? - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums
Never seen one but the left hand display seems to have a wire frame showing the side view of an aircraft and more detailed graduations where the nose would sit in level flight, so maybe some form of accurate pitch indicator as the right hand display is bare, but seems like complete overkill.
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A very early form at attitude indicator with pitch on the left and roll on the right. Must be about 1930s. So this would be my best guess.
BK1 Eagle
Hence the MOD tag.
BK1 Eagle
On the outbreak of the Second World War, seven Eagles were impressed into RAF service in the UK
Last edited by LFFC; 3rd May 2012 at 22:51.
Since RN Form S.331 is/was a Stores Return form, as referred to on the label in the opening post, I would support ....
Possibly RN and off the Eagle,
and be considering the types of aircraft she carried at the time. Some Air Stores wallah could well identify the reference numbers from memory!
Jack
Possibly RN and off the Eagle,
and be considering the types of aircraft she carried at the time. Some Air Stores wallah could well identify the reference numbers from memory!
Jack
Nutloose, No real idea but having looked at the other forum I'm inclinded to agree with the "Flight Sim" theory - is it possible Eagle had an Air Intercept (AI) trainer?
( Thinking along the the lines of the AI trainer that was used on the on the F-4 OCU at Coningsby years ago - that had a very rudimentary instrument fit..)
( Thinking along the the lines of the AI trainer that was used on the on the F-4 OCU at Coningsby years ago - that had a very rudimentary instrument fit..)
If it was off a pre-war aeroplane I would expect it to have been air driven. There appears to be a modern OFF flag in the presentation which suggests it is post war. Why would they have an off flag in a ground trainer?
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Looking at the OFF flag, it seems that the instrument is designed to be mounted as it sits in the picture.
The right hand display is a standard attitude indicator, with roll pointer at the bottom.
The left hand instrument has its fine graduations on the right. Could it be an indicator of pitch trim (ie how many degrees NU or ND pitch trim)?
The right hand display is a standard attitude indicator, with roll pointer at the bottom.
The left hand instrument has its fine graduations on the right. Could it be an indicator of pitch trim (ie how many degrees NU or ND pitch trim)?
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Could it be for the launch control officer? He would need to know the pitch of the carrier so as not to launch the A/C at the oggin but on the upward motion and the less roll the better. Looking at the instrument with the cover off, it would appear to be a 'repeater' instrument rather than a primary one.
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GG - now there's a thought. I've trying to think of why you would want to see the attitude of the aircraft FROM THE SIDE (left dial). The right dial - yes, standard attitude indicator, happy with that. But, if I was the cat man, I might want to have an idea whether, on hitting the button, I was going to hurl them at the wide blue yonder or the deep grey hereafter! Good call.
It looks a very confusing instrument. The gull's wings seem to be static with the horizon moving in roll only whereas the pitch horizon seems to be static with the aircraft silhouette moving. I'm not sure that I could get my brain round that. Since it seems to be such a 'novel' instrument perhaps the top centre indicator is either turn or slip.
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A possible, though highly unlikely, answer is from a torpedo launching aircraft where knowing thepitch was most useful.
I suspect that as this item is not a listed inventory item, that it was a prototype.
The Fairey Sworrdfish certainly did not have such an instrument in the pilots cockpit. Anyone think of aircraft that might have had it installed?
There was a Swordfish at Strathallan in 1977. Could it have come from that? Doubt it. What about later aircraft? Does the "Eagle" mean it came from HMS Eagle originally?
Another thought is that it could be fitted to aircraft for deck landing training, or for testing new aircraft types on carriers, so that pilots could ensure attitude was correct for tail hook to catch arrester wires.
I suspect that as this item is not a listed inventory item, that it was a prototype.
The Fairey Sworrdfish certainly did not have such an instrument in the pilots cockpit. Anyone think of aircraft that might have had it installed?
There was a Swordfish at Strathallan in 1977. Could it have come from that? Doubt it. What about later aircraft? Does the "Eagle" mean it came from HMS Eagle originally?
Another thought is that it could be fitted to aircraft for deck landing training, or for testing new aircraft types on carriers, so that pilots could ensure attitude was correct for tail hook to catch arrester wires.
Last edited by hval; 4th May 2012 at 13:04. Reason: Another Thunk
It could be confusing. In all three view drawings of aircraft the fuselage is pointing to the left. With this if one if someone is making a snap decision on the attitude he is going to think that 5 degrees nose up is 5 degrees nose down.
Judging by the appearance, outer case and anchor nut style in the corners etc, would say that this is 60's to 80's timeframe. The other point being that there are two separate dials, the right hand one for roll and the left for pitch, whereas a standard horizon combines the two. My guess is ground simulator or test equipment application of some sort, but what does the nametag on the case and label say ?... Regards, Chris
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Are you sure its from an aircraft?
It looks very similar to "hands on play experience" objects I've seen in science museums where the object is to keep a suspended model aircraft level in a small wind tunnel
Can't think where or when - but it certainly looks familiar from that context
It looks very similar to "hands on play experience" objects I've seen in science museums where the object is to keep a suspended model aircraft level in a small wind tunnel
Can't think where or when - but it certainly looks familiar from that context