Just curious, even if there is a coolant that would function at -50, what are they using as a lubricant"
My thought too. Negative 60f coolant has to be slush. Not to mention how well would it work at over 300f? Not saying it isn't a coolant gauge though, the scale is just funny to me.
Considering the terrible spelling mistake of the aircraft manufacturer's name I hope no one paid very much for that one.
The coolant in my truck has been proven to work at -67*F, which is -55*C. I did not look at the coolant to see whether it was slushy or not, I was just happy the truck started.
At "standard temps" -50C is about 35,000 ft. that is within the range of WW2 aircraft ceilings. So I wouldnt want my coolant to be that cold if the engine was running but a plane from that era could see those kind of temps. And if that's what they get for a temp gauge...I need to sell my P8 compass that comes from a Spitfire or Hurricane and pay of my truck...lol. It still has the RAF inspection tag from '44 on it.
My best guess: Forward Avionics Bay temp gauge. No idea what aircraft that would have been pulled from, but the same looking gauge without the FAB markings are seen on WWII bombers.
The other picture says it's a engine coolant temperature gauge from a WWII Havoc....even shows a picture of the Havoc with it's twin air cooled radial engines.....
I'm stickin' with "water separator temp" indicator. Can't have water in the fuel system and, if you have a fueling problem, this eliminates one of the few variables. The other two, at the least, would be fuel level and fuel pressure.
I finally got the gauge in. It is an Electric Auto-Lite Company Part Number 10283-a serial number AF-43-6123.
There's probably more to Google-fu, but I'm playing with dogshit in an arctic blast, so I am kinda busy.
Ha, i found the same page you did just a min ago. And I feel you pain on the arctic blast. It is -28 here in Sask.
Wow. That list is a wealth of information. I think we all knew from the first post that it was a temperature indicator. To narrow it down, perhaps the question should be, what sensor(s) were typically connected to a temp indicator displaying this particular range? Was the government involved?