OK, here is one for the REAL aviation guru

[mirrodie]

Last night, I had to buy some appliances for the house. and in order to make way for the new arrivals, I had to rip out this old cabinet in the basement.

As i am destroying the cabinet, I realize that it was actually NOT a cabinet in the truest sense of the word, but it was fashioned out of 2 old wooden crates. This made my job tougher, much tougher. But I had my tools and went to work. :)

As i took the planks of wood apart, I realize one of them said "AIRSPEED INDICATORS" on it, along with a bunch of other numbers and it was dated 01.19.51

How cool is that? Even my house was made with aviation parts!

I have to take a photo and show you. I preserved the wooden planks in order to show. My guess is these may have one housed parts for Grumman planes, only b/c the house was built in 1950 and Republic is nearby.


So now, FRED and whoever is interested, you're gonna have a bit of homework. You have to figure out what planes these were used in.

I'll post photos as soon as I get the other busy work out of hte way.

wicked!!! I think there is also plutonium in the house...probably also from WW2

[moose135]

My guess is these may have one housed parts for Grumman planes, only b/c the house was built in 1950 and Republic is nearby.

Better guess is they may have had parts for Republic aircraft - they used to build aircraft there back in the day...

But definitely a great find!

[mirrodie]

well, here are the sides and back of hte makeshift cabinet. As I said, as I pried the nails apart, I realized they were once crates.

Would be great if someone knew where these came from. Somehow I think this is a job for Derf. :D





A piece of Long Island aviation...in my house! come to think of it, wonder if someone at the Cradle of Aviation would know.

Enjoy!

[UrbanExplorer222]

They just dont build houses like they use to ;) Way cool piece of history you found, right under you nose but didnt even know it!!!

[moose135]

Did a Google search on the stock number and the words airspeed indicator and came up with with this listing in a Canadian instrument company web site:
R88-1474-10 KOLLSMAN Airspeed Indicators

Kollsman has been making aircraft instruments since the late 1920's. From their website:

In 1928, Paul Kollsman invented the world's first accurate barometric altimeter. In 1929, Jimmy Doolittle demonstrated the feasibility of "blind flight" using the Kollsman barometric altimeter. This simple instrument became a vital element of aviation safety and Jimmy Doolitle technology, enabling the widespread growth of commercial aviation. Paul Kollsman's altimeter, which became widely known as the "Kollsman Window", provided the basis for a company which went on to develop and manufacture altimeters and other cockpit instruments for virtually every aircraft produced in the Western world. Kollsman also supplied products for space exploration on US Apollo missions. Kollsman' sextant was instrumental in returning the astronauts safely to earth on the Apollo 13 mission.

Their website is http://www.kollsman.com/

They don't have the above listed on their products page, but maybe if you contact them, they may be able to give you more information on what it was used for back in 1951.

[T-Bird76]

Mario that is just awsome! God the history! They had to be used right down at FRG for Republic aircraft.

[cancidas]

that is amazing dude!! i'd definately keep that cabinet...

[Derf]

WOW....It was probably F-84's if the delivery date was 51 and it was going to FRG. but this is a good mystery. I would bring the pic the FRG this summer.