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Unknown altitude gauge


sgtdorango
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sgtdorango

I picked this up over the weekend and Im not sure what airplane this would have been used on or what era used too...it has US Army on it and some numbers....does anybody recognize it and would you have any info or help, i would appreciate it as i will probably offer it in the for sale section seeing i dont collect these and dont know much about it...a ballpark figure of value would be nice too!..thanks for any help or info......mike

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Bob Hudson

Does it say "Type C 13" on the front? One site says those were used on the AT-6 trainers.

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  • 4 weeks later...

As you can see the mfr. of this altimiter was Pioneer Instrument Corp.

 

You adjust the knob on lower left to the local "altimiter setting" to calibrate the instrument to current meterological conditions. Your altimiter is currently set to 30.12 inches of mercury. Without the correct setting, you can be up to 1000 feet off. You can just turn the knob to the local known ground elevation; this should show you the local barometric pressure in the window (or close to it).

 

The port on the rear is the "static" port that is plumbed to an opening on the side of the fuselage to sense the outside air pressure (and hence the altitude). Don't try blowing into the port to see the needle move; you can bend the internals (don't ask me how I know :-(

 

Also many of these old instruments have radioactive dial paint. They mixed radium in with a phosphor so that the radiation makes the numerals glow 24 hrs a day. Works great at night to fly with (especially with no panel lights). However after 40 yrs or so, the phospor burns out (i.e. no more glow in the dark numerals) but the radiation can still be detected fairly strong on a geiger counter. Don't disassemble these things; the dust can be posionous.

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  • 1 month later...
Quest Master

I would certainly be interested in the C-14 for one of my CG-4A restorations. I sent you a PM. - Van

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  • 2 years later...

Does it say "Type C 13" on the front? One site says those were used on the AT-6 trainers.

Hello Bob. While doing a search for a recent estate sale pick up, I came across this thread and your post. Pics will tell the details. Can you identify what type of aircraft used this Type C-13A Free Air temperature gauge? Thanks in advance, Al.

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Free air temp gauge of this type was used in many transport and bomber aircraft. Not sure about fighters, although fighters did have an OAT gauge. It was made to mount through a window plexiglas or the like.

Actually, if you watch the video in the thread Three minutes over Sedona, about three minutes into the

video, you will see a brief glimpse of one installed.

 

Best, John

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Free air temp gauge of this type was used in many transport and bomber aircraft. Not sure about fighters, although fighters did have an OAT gauge. It was made to mount through a window plexiglas or the like.

Actually, if you watch the video in the thread Three minutes over Sedona, about three minutes into the

video, you will see a brief glimpse of one installed.

 

Best, John

Thanks John. It came from the estate of a AAC Veteran in a box full of gauges in the garage. I was told it would have been used the B-17 and the B-25, but I have not been able to find anything on the web to verify that. I'll watch the video. Thanks again, Al.

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Here is a pic of that gauge in the nose of a B-17. I had one of those free air gauges awhile back and found the pic somewhere on the Internet.

 

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Here is a pic of that gauge in the nose of a B-17. I had one of those free air gauges awhile back and found the pic somewhere on the Internet.

 

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Great picture tom63. Thanks for sharing. Al.
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