A look into a Spitfire Mk. 1a Gyro Turn Indicator….

I thought it would be interesting to show you how far we go to make sure our simulator instruments are as authentic as possible. I always starts with acquiring a vintage war era instrument. In this case we will be dealing with a 1943 Mk. 1a Gyro Turn Indicator purchased from a vendor in Europe. The indicator has seen better days, it show some heat and water damage.

Since they will need to be disassembled, I prefer to use instruments that aren’t in a usable condition for flying aircraft. Usually it means more work to get the instrument open, but it is worth it. Here is the gyro with the knob removed and the face plate off.

The corrosion and water damage can be easily seen. The knob and entire front face will be set aside for measurements that will be used to make replica instruments. The phenolic compass band that goes around the gyro barrel still needs to be removed, so the caging mechanism and gyro barrel is removed next.

The phenlolic indicator band is gently removed and set aside. It will receive several cleaning sessions to remove the oxidation and corrosion material. Next is to open the gyro barrel and see what the condition of the gyro itself is. So far the corrosion has been manageable and there is a chance that I can stop further deterioration of the instrument.  All instruments are cleaned and reassembled after the needed measurements are taken. Any time it is possible, I return the instruments to useable/refurbished conditions to preserve the history. Some instruments are even re certified at a local avionics facility. Here is a picture of the gyro after removal from the housing.

Ending this post is a picture of the inside of the housing unit. At the opposite end of the housing the metal tube is the air inlet that spins the gyro wheel. The air is fed through the top central axis spindle.