We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:42:32 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification ...Not! I don't know what it is either - though I agree with those of you who saw it as an azimuth measuring instrument, that might somehow use the sun. All I do know about it is that it's WWII, Soviet, and it dovetailed on to something else, probably an azimuth base of some sort. This next one, however, I *do* know what it is. Here's another picture for you people who get so wrapped around scale... One hint - it's a component of something, not a stand-alone.... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html Fri, 09 Mar 2007 07:45:43 -0600 Does look like a screw in fuze, not sure if a delay element went in the center or the powder train went around the helical groove, if the latter then its a delay element itself and not the holder for same. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57676 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57676 Sat, 10 Mar 2007 06:22:45 -0600 ..ya know, like a vent-piece... {scrolling thru Gibbon's to find the correct terminology} http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57654 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57654 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:57:14 -0600 screw in replacement insert for the hole where the friction fuze what the lanyard pulls out. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57652 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57652 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:52:24 -0600 Welp....it would appear that I'm screwed on this one. Of course, that looks like a pretty nice sized screw, so I'm not in such a bad position afterall. *runs from pg17c* http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57636 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57636 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:07:41 -0600 Looks very much like the internal portion of a WW1 or earlier era artillery time fuze which used a powder train instead of clockwork. Not sure of the mechanics of how they worked, but the various time increments are marked on a cover that fit over a piece like this and were punched or something at the appropriate point to determine the setting. Just a guess. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57629 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57629 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:30:02 -0600 All I do know about it is that it's WWII, Soviet, and it dovetailed on to something else, probably an azimuth base of some sort. Hmmm... The USSR in the Great Patriotic War had something of a reputation for makeshift ways of aiming guns. Some of their fighter aircraft had "gunsights" that were no more than hand-painted circles on the windshields. They also had a problem with poorly educated and trained troops. Could this mysterious whatzit have been a dual-mode sight for light artillery: a mirrored and telescoped eyepiece for a gunner who knew what he was doing, and the string thing for someone who didn't? It takes training to read an azimuth; it takes none to line up the string on the target and pray. Now, as to this one: threaded cone shape, concavity on the narrow end... Breech-block off a really early breechloader cannon, before they figured out the interrupted-screw design? ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57624 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/the_whatziss_an.html#comment-57624 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:08:59 -0600