[Milsurplus] [ARC5] ARC-5 in the Bell X-1

[Mike Andrews]

On Tue, Nov 08, 2011 at 01:24:56PM -0500, Ray Fantini wrote:
> Wow, that's a great image! Looks like that's the entire telemetry
> recording package. Recognize what looks like several gyros for
> acceleration, yaw and skid and maybe a dynamotor assembly by the wing
> tip for AC power for all the gyros. Closest to the fuselage appears to
> be some form of multitrack data recorder although have no idea what they
> would use for media back then, maybe strip paper or wire? Did not think
> there was any form of multitrack tape at that time. The box next to that
> appears to be the control for the recorder and the calibrator for each
> track and looking at it would assume it's a twelve channel system. But
> this is just my speculation from looking at the picture. Considering the
> importance of the Bell X-1 and how it began the age of supersonic flight
> it's great to see an image of some of the telemetry equipment that was in
> use at the time. Cannot imagine them just letting equipment to be sat on
> an unprotected flight surface like that, won't see that happen today with
> a research aircraft.

I think the recorder probably used 1" acetate tape on coaxially-mounted
reels; can't tell that for sure, but the hardware certainly looks like it,
with the capstan and heads off to the left. Lots of airborne instrumentation
recorders used coaxially mounted reels. Mylar tape was still to come in the
late 1940s, but acetate was around. Mind you, all this was New! and Shiny!
stuff that we got from the Germans and then ran _hard_ with, as I understand
it.

As to the danger of dinging an airfoil, I suspect you'd be backed up
against the fuselage with the crew chief explaining how the cow ate the
cabbage if you did anything even remotely like that nowadays. But the
aircraft nowadays are So Damn Big that you no longer get a wingtop at a
nice, convenient working level, even on the low-wing birds. The X-1 is
*tiny*! If all that stuff actually went inside, it was as packed as an
F-105, though. 

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin