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P-40 Warhawk Pitot Tube, Dec 7, 1941 Wheeler Field


blitz67
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I purchased this online from a local auction company, I didn't think I would get it, but it went very cheap and I am very happy to have this. This is a pitot tube off of a P-40 Warhawk, I assume it was destroyed on Dec 7th and the soldier took it as a souvenir, his name is Maynard Morris, hope you all like it!

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post-683-0-73713500-1447982992.jpg

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yep provides for airspeed, verticle speed and altimeter...tube is heated to prevent icing

 

Japan patent caught my eye too...but heck we were not at war with them in the mid to late 30s when the P40 came out...and maybe a carry over of inventory from the P-36???

 

anyway neat piece of history

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Very cool!...what exactly is this object and do you have a photo of one in use etc?....mike

Typically these are mounted on a wing edge of aircraft.As stated for the air flow to gauges.

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That's a neat pitot tube with some fascinating history behind it. The patent # matches up to a Kollsman Instruments design, which was created by Paul Kollsman (a famous inventor of aviation instruments and related items). In 1939/40, he sold his company to the Square D Company, which is listed as the company that was originally assigned the patent. The "Japan Pat." likely references a separate patent given for this pitot tube so it could be sold in the Japanese market. Obviously this would not have been possible after the US declared war against Japan.

 

Kollsman pitot tubes seem to have been commonly used on WW2 US aircraft. You can actually find some NOS Kollsman pitot tubes purchased by the US Navy during 1942-1945, which look slightly different from this one (and without the Japanese patent info). It is certainly possible this is a pre-1942 Kollsman pitot tube as fitted to a 1940/41 production Curtiss P-40. Since this part was made during or after 1940, it was not "left over stock" from P-36 production.

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That is good info on the pitot tube...good to know the piece is original P-40 equipment...and glad to know it did not come from left over inventory...

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That's a neat pitot tube with some fascinating history behind it. The patent # matches up to a Kollsman Instruments design, which was created by Paul Kollsman (a famous inventor of aviation instruments and related items). In 1939/40, he sold his company to the Square D Company, which is listed as the company that was originally assigned the patent. The "Japan Pat." likely references a separate patent given for this pitot tube so it could be sold in the Japanese market. Obviously this would not have been possible after the US declared war against Japan.

 

Kollsman pitot tubes seem to have been commonly used on WW2 US aircraft. You can actually find some NOS Kollsman pitot tubes purchased by the US Navy during 1942-1945, which look slightly different from this one (and without the Japanese patent info). It is certainly possible this is a pre-1942 Kollsman pitot tube as fitted to a 1940/41 production Curtiss P-40. Since this part was made during or after 1940, it was not "left over stock" from P-36 production.

 

 

Very cool information. Thank you

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