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Detail of fin 2 or 4 showing trim motor and drive chain

Detail of fin 2 or 4 showing trim motor and drive chain

Photo shows partially restored air-rudder and fin detail. The image on the left shows the relationship of the trim motor to the air rudder drive shaft on fins 2 and 4. A chain similar in gauge to the type used on a push-bike and yet, at the other end of the shaft, the chain transmitting the torque of the trim motor to the air-rudder drive sprocket has a heavy gauge chain similar to that found on a 1000CC motor-cycle! This excellent restoration is the work of Horst Beck. Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Album: A4-V2 Hydraulic servo and electric trim motor

Categories: Missile guidence V2 Missile relics

Tags: #Control surface servos #V2 Missile relics

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Restored graphite vane thrust ring support housings. ©THBC

Restored graphite vane thrust ring support housings. ©THBC

Photo shows four restored graphite jet vane support blocks and bearing housings. The round plates we can see here act as heat sinks and allow heat to radiate away from the support block and bearing to help prevent expansion due to relatively rapid and uneven temperature distribution accumulation. The graphite vanes were quite brittle and cracking caused by rapid and uneven expansion could cause the vane to disintegrate. The area around the graphite vanes was exposed to the accumulation of heat not merely as a result of duration of the motor burn time but temperature was also increased at higher rates as the jet plume expanded with the decreasing atmospheric pressure as the missile gained altitude. This excellent restoration is the work of Horst Beck. Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Album: A4-V2 Hydraulic servo and electric trim motor

Categories: Missile guidence Sub-assemblies V2 Missile relics

Tags: #Control surface servos #V2 Missile relics

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Impact wreckage of electro-hydraulic jet vane servo

Impact wreckage of electro-hydraulic jet vane servo

Wreckage of hydraulic servo from fin 2 or 4 of V2 missile that fell on a farm in Essex in March 1945. The motor has been removed and we can see details of the oil gear pump and valve control gear. The 3 position electromagnetic relay switch is visible at the 7 to 8 o’clock position within the open aperture. The push rod that connects the relay to the gear pump valves is also visible as a short brown coloured rod with a fine wire connector at each end, running in towards the gear-valves from the 9 o’clock position. The point that provides electrical current for the motor (which runs all the time and in one direction only) can be seen at the three o’clock position. The black housing has two sets of brass tongues that receive the matching brass spades mounted on the base of the motor for power input. The motor drive shaft has a female square socket coupling to connect the motor to the middle drive gear of the gear pump. A small portion of the square drive shaft of the central gear can just be seen in the photo – in the centre of the valve control block.

Album: A4-V2 Hydraulic servo and electric trim motor

Categories: Missile guidence V2 Missile relics

Tags: #Control surface servos #V2 Missile relics

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Gear pump detail showing ceramic insulator with nichrome element

Gear pump detail showing ceramic insulator with nichrome element

Hydraulic gear pump with close up detail showing ceramic heater element insulators with flat, possibly nichome, metal strip element threaded through them. This oil heating system was designed to maintain a specific viscosity of the oil regardless of environmental temperature, to better maintain oil flow rates and thus pump efficiency. The heating system is found only rarely on surviving relics.

Album: A4-V2 Hydraulic servo and electric trim motor

Categories: Guidence V2 Missile relics

Tags: #Control surface servos #V2 Missile relics