[Milsurplus] "Antenna Tensioners" available

[Michael Hanz]

On 7/30/2021 5:32 PM, KD7JYK DM09 wrote:
>> are hard rubber. I don't think these would support a wire antenna on 
>> a B-17 or other
>
> I have a few craft wire antenna tensioners, and they are all metal, 
> with springs, and safeties- failsafe, and foolproof, imagine 10' of 
> cable whipping the sh*t out of your plane!  I can't imagine what these 
> are for!  Replacement rubbers for Moon Shoes, maybe?
>
> Kurt 

Well, I wouldn't call them totally foolproof.  They work well in most 
cases, but dust storms, insects, and salt spray can cause them to jam.  
I've had a couple of examples from the Arizona boneyards that were bound 
up pretty well.  AFAIK, the Navy didn't start using them until after 
WWII, when fast aircraft began to put greater forces on wire antennas.  
The standard 10" rubber tension units were introduced in the early 1930s 
and continued until after the war. Several docs here mention the 10" 
unit (NAF 213089-1) as the fleet standard, and there are drawings 
showing where they would go in several installations.  Strangely, I have 
never found a tensioning instruction for them, though I suspect they 
were similar to the USAAF antennas in the region of 15 pounds tension.  
That's what I set the ones on the tail of the Enola Gay when we 
installed them.

There is more at the bottom of the page at 
https://aafradio.org/docs/aircraft_antenna_insulators.html

- Mike KC4TOS