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Posted

Is it my eyesight or is there a very slight crown on those two diameter faces?

 

For example a two speed pulley for a small flat belt auxilliary drive off some antiquarian mv?

 

No, I thought not...

Posted
I don't know, but it has squashed a horse!

 

 

That is very observant of you. Yes i do have an infestation of miniature horses in my house and look for anything close to hand to squash them (dont tell Jacks wife).

 

OK, more clues. No crown, but there is a bevel. It is no more than 25 years old. It is made to precision tolerances and would have cost several thousand dollars to make. There is only half of it there.

 

Tim (too)

Posted

What! No more guesses? Okay i was joking about the miniature horses, but the next clue is true!

 

When my wife made her first landing ("tail hook") on an aircraft carrier (Lexington i think it was) she was presented with it by the deck crew. Prior to its presentation it will have been liberally sprayed with urine and the other half of the object is somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. Any more guesses?

 

Tim (too)

Posted

Something to do with the firing of a steam catapult?

Guessing the pin runs in the channel rails on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and the top brakes off as the aircraft departs.

Not sure what the urine is all about?

Posted
Prior to its presentation it will have been liberally sprayed with urine

 

Ah well you've given it away now. It must have been used as a device to reduce splashing in a field latrine. The enticing object of curiosity was placed in the middle of the 'target' area to encourage aiming to which the Handbook of Army Health refers.

Posted

I guess it is something like a weak link retaining pin holding the arrester wires across the deck. The top has been sheared off as the plane took the wire away and the other half of the shear pin is lost overboard as the pin breaks and the wire deployed. This is the proof of a deck landing??????

Posted
Something to do with the firing of a steam catapult?

Guessing the pin runs in the channel rails on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and the top brakes off as the aircraft departs.

Not sure what the urine is all about?

 

Yes you have got it. When the plane is launched the bottom half of the pin is extracted and thrown into a drum for disposal. However, Navy crew who need to make a call of nature use the drum (i guess that reduces any splash back in the wind). It is customary on making your first landing to receive the bottom half of a pin as a memento. They dont usually mention the urine thing until you are about to fly off again.

 

The lexington is a WW2 carrier, which after the war was decomissioned for a number of years and then recommissioned as a training carrier. It was the shortest carrier in the fleet. It was finally retired in 1991 and is now a museum in Texas.

 

Excellent guess about the arrester wires. That is exactly what i thought when i was presented with the same question and object about 13 years ago.

 

Interesting idea about the field latrine splash reducer. Very similar, but those were made of titanium and were considerably more expensive.

 

Well done all

 

Tim (too)

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