A long shot

[Jayviator]

Hi, A few weeks ago i won a Air speed indicator on eBay but the seller does not know what aircraft it came from so I have been on a mission to try and find that out.
I have posted this question on several aviation forums but have had no definate answers, i have had a few helpfull suggestions but I have yet to find any cockpit photo which shows my gauge (actually i have found 1 of a Gnat F1 but the ASI is from 1951 and the Gnat didnt fly until 1955, although it may well have been made in 51 but fitted at a later date, also that appears to be the only Gnat with that particular ASI, other Gnat cockpit photos seem to show a different ASI)
Anyway I got this reply to my question today from someone who seems to respect the knowledge of the people on this site "the chaps on there know their stuff about classic British jets in particular, and certainly their cockpits and flight decks" is what he had to say and he recomended i try here so I am taking his advice and hoping it will pay off.
Im not so sure it will as I think this site is more about classic British Civil jets, although this is only me second post here so I havnt had much time to look through the topics, some suggestions were it could be from a Comet or VC-10 which would be more apt for identification on this site, however I have looked at cockpit photos from these aircraft and the ASI's dont match and i am still convinced its from some kind of Early RAF or Navy jet fighter or perhaps from a early jet bomber, its definatley military as it has the broad arrow on the back.
Here is what i can tell you about it, there is a label on the back with the following info-
the serial number is 171/51 the code is 147AS/PC its MOD 1 (not sure if that means model 1 or something to do with Ministry of defence?) it also says Brit pats 543257, i think this is a patent number so probably not any use for identification, it was made in England by Smiths, there is some sort of code on the front but i cannot read it all as it is covered by one of the pointers, all i can make out is type 1-1 No ???????
Here is a photo of the ASI



I hope someone can help, or maybe might be able to show this to someone they think might know
thanks

[Hot_Charlie]

Anyway I got this reply to my question today from someone who seems to respect the knowledge of the people on this site "the chaps on there know their stuff about classic British jets in particular, and certainly their cockpits and flight decks" is what he had to say and he recomended i try here so I am taking his advice and hoping it will pay off.

Guilty as charged...

So, on the weight of those words, here's hoping at least one of out resident panel and gauge masters has seen one of these before!

[Jayviator]

Aha, the person who recomended this site to me! im just hoping other members of this forum havnt seen my question on the other forums and are getting fed up of seeing it! i just noticed the aircraft type changes, i presume you get a more advanced plane the more psots you make, as much as I love concorde i wish i could stay as a Chimpmunk as I have actually flown a few when i was in the ATC!

[Garry Russell]

You will be a chipmunk until you reach 50 posts

Garry

[DaveB]

Hi Jayviator and welcome ;-)

That is NOT a common ASI.. certainly not common to me anyway. It has the same body as ASI's found on the Hunter and similar aircraft of that ilk but the calibration marks and number of needles make it an odd one :think: Not a Venom or Vampire me thinks.. definately not a Sea Vixen. I've just risked life and limb from radiation sickness to blow down one of the tubes on my Hunter ASI to get the manufacturers name and the Hunter ASI is made by MUNRO. This one looks to be by the same manufacturer.

Interesting subject and one I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of for you ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Jayviator]

So thats why it says on the back of the ASI not to blow down the tubes, on another forum i was told i shouldnt blow down the tube becuase it could damage the internals of the ASI (something do do with the diaphram) nobody mentoned it was radioactive, im slightly worried now, how radioactive are ASI's?

[DaveB]

Yeh.. it says don't blow down the back if you intend to use the darned thing. Mine is sitting on a shelf and will never find itself inside another aircraft so WTF does it matter ;-)

As for radioactivity.. read the thread about the Brooklands Valiant.

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Trev Clark]

I started out as an A fitt E and had to look after 'pitot/static' instruments as well as electrics, from what I recall, ASI's and altimeters were made to certain specs, laid down by the MOD and built my several manufacturers, over a period of years. This would mean that one for a Canberra T4 may differ from one from a B (I) 8 for example.
This one could have been used on more than one type of aircraft, as they were sent back to M.U's or even manufacturers for servicing every few years.
Blowing into the back can damage the bellows, (they work on a DP system) but I doubt if it will ever grace a real aircraft again, so it is not that important now. The radio activity will be the same as a 1950's alarm clock BTW