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Strange Instrument update

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HiHere is some more info on my STRANGE instrument.I have had it to bits and put it back to how I think it was before my son-in-law got his hands on it.The R/H green pointer is the origional one, it was bent back inside. The L/H green pointer is home made, I am only guessing that it was also green. The orig needle was there less the pointer.The white markings I have added are I belive in the right place and the right colour, it looks like the orig ones where painted out with black paint or felt tip but you can still see where they where.The thin needle had green paint on, I just filled in the gaps. I suspect this was longer as I can see what looks like a piece broken off.The info on it says: TWIN RANGE BEARING INDICATORCode ACN 500Serial No AA/1307And it was overhauled by AVIATION TRADERS (ENG) LTD SOUTHEND AIRPORT ESSEX ENGLAND (no date) I have put searches on the net and have not had any real clues to what the instruments full function was. The inner pointers being the real mystery!Any more Ideas??????? Paul....:-hmmm

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Guest Motormouse

It does exactly what it says,displays range and bearing toone,or two radio beacons.One of your inner needles is wrong colour,it would be coloured white to match the 'twin' needle.Basically,before we got VOR/DME there was VDF (Vhf Direction Finding)not to be confused with ADF (Automatic Direction Finder).The big needles point TO the radio station source, the little inner ones are an indication of signal strength,and therefore 'range' TOthe radio station source.Now armed with your range and bearing to two radio sources,you can triangulate your position on a map.This instrument would have been fitted on a navigators' panel,back in the days that there were dedicated Navigators as part of flight crew :-)Aviation Traders are best known for their modification of the Dc 4, 5 and 6 to the ATL-98 'Carvair' here's a link and 'potted' historyhttp://www.biic.de/aviation-museum/planes/...nd/planes/9.htmShortly after World War II, the Bristol Aeroplane Company of Britain produced the Type 170 as a cross-channel ferry for three automobiles and up to 20 passengers. Needing to replace the aging car ferry led Aviation Traders to develop the larger ATL.98 Carvair (short for Car-via-air) with increased payload capacity and range. Instead of developing an entirely new design from scratch, Aviation Traders chose to modify an existing aircraft, the Douglas DC-4, which was relatively easy and inexpensive to buy as airlines removed them from their fleets. The DC-4 conversion process consisted of lengthening the fuselage, increasing the height of the vertical tail, moving the flight deck to a new cockpit bulge above the fuselage, and adding a sideways-hinging nose door for loading automobiles or cargo. The Carvair typically carried five cars in the forward hold and 22 passengers in the rear cabin, but up to 65 could be carried in all-passenger layout. The first Carvair flew on 21 June 1961 and entered service in March 1962. About 21 were converted between 1961 and 1969 and operated initially by Aer Lingus, Aviaco, Ansett-ANA, British United Air Ferries, and Inter-Ocean Airways. By 2002, only three Carvairs were believed to still be flying, and one of these is currently for sale. For more photos and to learn about the fate of each Carvair, visit Paul Spijkers site. http://home.planet.nl/~wees0131/Hope this helps:-wavePete

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Guest R_Driscoll

Excellent! I didn't know about the Vhf nav - if it wasn't on FS4 then I know nothing (that's where I learnt any navigation skills for flight sims!) - except TACAN because I flew the flight shuttle sim a few times. I think ADF (or Vhf) is fine for flying straight to or away, but VOR is much easier for triangulation (in my non-professional experience).

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Guest Motormouse

Vhf df was almost identical to TACAN. But TACAN has now become a (mostly) military use system, and VOR and VOR/DME the 'norm' for civil aviation. :-wave Pete

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Guest

Great..Thanks for that info. I had a feeling one of the pointers would be a different colour. It must be the L/H pointer, as the pointer end its self is missing. I shall replace the little piece of green card with a white one to make it right. There is something small writen next to each pointer, I cant make it out as it has been painted over with black paint. I have had to hold the pointers in place with Blue Tack as they want to disapear. Paul.......:-)

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