Do ya know what this is? Peter got it!

[olroy2044]

Thought I would throw this out for the machinery buffs here. Do you know what this is?

Spot F 55mm SMC Tak Kodak BWCN


Roy

[PeterW]

No real idea, Roy, but as a shot in the dark I'll hazard a guess it's either a pump or a generator, diesel driven.

PeterW

[olroy2044]

You are right, Peter, it is a generator. It is the emergency generator from a B-29 bomber from WW2. It is on display at an aircraft musuem where I am a volunteer. It is driven by a V-twin aircooled gas engine, and was used to supply enough electricity to keep that big bird in the air if the primary system was shot out. I would imagine that it was also used as an auxiliary unit on the ground. It was mounted just forward of the tail gunner's position. I'm not sure, but I believe that it is in running conditon. The generator must have gotten hot during operation, because the pipe over the top (the one with the "DON'T LIFT" sign) is a cooling duct, carrying air from the engine cooling shroud to the generator. Peter, what look like injectors are actually the aviation sparkplugs and their armored cables.



Besides, it was a fun object to point the ol' Spottie at! ;D Roy

[nikonbob]

Roy

Thanks for letting us in on the secret. I had no idea what it was and also no idea that they had onboard generators back then. That must be a fun place to volunteer. Where exactly is that?

Bob

[olroy2044]

Bob, it is indeed a lot of fun. The museum is located on Chico Muni Airport which was a training field for the USAAF during WW2. It is still quite small, but is growing. The best part is that I have become acquainted with a bunch of guys who flew during that time, and trained on this field. Now I get my "piston fix" ;D messing with round engines instead of small block Chevies! Will post photos as we grow. Roy

[PeterW]

I should have recognised that they were not fuel injectors but armoured aircraft ignition leads. Lord knows I changed enough sparking plugs in the 1940s!

Memory - where have you gone?

PeterW