It's a servo actuator for an autopilot. Probably
pushed/pulled on a control cable or lever attached to
a control cable. Don't know what airplane it's off
and may be hard to find out after all these years.
One note of caution, lightest possible weight and
obsessive servicing are the design parameters of
almost every part on an airplane. Outer cylinder is
probably magnesium alloy and will be very prone to
corrosion. If you can find out the operating
specifications and are engineer enough to understand
them, it might work for your needs, however.
Aloha
Peter O.
--- Jean-Leon Morin <offroaddesign@softhome.net>
wrote:
>
> Hey gang, this may seem a little weird.
>
> While scrounging the local auto-surplus place I came
> upon a hydraulic servo
> cylinder made (presumably for an airplane) built by
> THE ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE
> CO. Build date April 1945. The build quality and
> construction (lightweight
> aluminum alloy) scream aircraft to me.
>
> The box reads "SERVO, 4" AUTOMATIC PILOT."
> The part reads
> PART 644231
> MFD BY
> THE ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE CO.
> TOLEDO OH.
> UNDER LICENSE FROM
> SPERRY GYROSCOPE CO. INC.
>
> The part was brand new in the original sealed box
> (marked - "Must be
> recalibrated if installed after X month 1945"). I
> took it home with me after
> shelling out 15$ in canadian pesos. I proceeded to
> dismantle it completely
> to figure out how exactly this thing did whatever it
> did. Turns out it's
> almost perfect to act as a hydraulically operated
> clutch for Valdez, since
> he suffers from a pretty darn heavy clutch pedal. By
> doing a bit of clever
> plumbing off the power steering circuit I should be
> able to use it.
>
> My question is - any idea what kind of machine this
> might be off of? There
> are many mentions of it being for an "S-4" automatic
> pilot. I don't know
> anything about aircraft so I wonder if this is an
> obscure part or something
> fairly common. It looks like it might actually be a
> retrofit.
>
> I know there are a few very knowledgeable people in
> regards to things
> pertaining to aviation on this list, figured I'd try
> my luck. I know it's a
> long shot.
>
> This information is basically just for kicks...
>
> thanks
>
> J-L
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Dec 02 2002 - 22:47:24 EST