My neighbor picked this up thinking it was a generator. I have no idea what it is. Looks to be a cobbled together pile of parts from old Army Air Corps support equipment.
It actually is a cobbled together pile of parts. It is in fact a generator. Part of it is the power supply from a 24 VDC suit heater used in the B52 bombers I think, back in the 40's. The gunners and cargo crew in the back of the plane wore them to keep from freezing.
The machine looks to be a motor hooked to some kind of large 48-120 volt generator. There is obviously a magnito starter system using the generator itself as a starting motor for the engine, a gas can which looks like a standard jerry can and a resistive heat sink on the front probably to lower the generator voltage to 24 volts for use with the old heated clothing in bombers.
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James, lover of all things engine powered.
1967 M54A2 5 Ton "Godzilla"
1991 Full size Jeep Grand Wagoneer "Bumble"
1931 Ford "A" street rod
1965 Ford F-100 429 BB (New)
The Following User Says Thank You to jpekarek For This Useful Post:
Yea that's probably what I meant. I am not an aircraft guy. I teach power generation at a vocational school.
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James, lover of all things engine powered.
1967 M54A2 5 Ton "Godzilla"
1991 Full size Jeep Grand Wagoneer "Bumble"
1931 Ford "A" street rod
1965 Ford F-100 429 BB (New)
Some where in all my crap I should have a pair of bib overalls that were insulated and heated with 24v DC. My wife used to complain about the cold during our M37 outings with no heater so I got them at a local Army Navy surplus store to try to keep her warm on winter outings. That was about the time I picked up several USAAF leather helmets with like new Air Corps decals on them. (can't find this stuff amy more) The coveralls were US Navy and might have been just post WW2. I recognize the odd plug on the power supply. It looks like someone made a ground based power source for 24v DC heated clothing.
I guess my next question should be: "What is the value of this?". I am sure that is the next thing my neighbor will ask. He is not a collector and would rather this go to someone who would appreciate it. As a whole, I don't see any real value here myself. In parts, I see some individual parts that could be difficult to find (motor, carb, switches, generator, ect) in the event that someone out there is doing a restoration on whatever these things ORIGINALLY came from. Any ideas?
Can anyone identify this device?
