48cm Bosch hand-starter crank (Schwungkraftanlasser-Kurbel). Recovered at the Deelen airbase (5km north of Arnhem) in Holland that was used as a night fighter base by the Luftwaffe.
Designed to manually fire up heavy Luftwaffe aircraft equipped with Junkers Jumo 211 and 213 inverted V12 engines most famously the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber and the Junkers Ju 88 multirole bomber. Ground crews inserted the dual-lugged end of the handle into the engine cowling--either directly on the lower-slung Ju 88 nacelle or via an extension rod on the high-nosed Stuka-to rapidly spin an internal, heavy inertia flywheel. Once this flywheel reached a high pitch, the kinetic energy was clutched into the engine's crankshaft, safely and reliably turning over the massive powerplant without relying on vulnerable electrical batteries in harsh field conditions…
The handle has been cleaned and would be great addition to a collection
48cm Bosch hand-starter crank (Schwungkraftanlasser-Kurbel). Recovered at the Deelen airbase (5km north of Arnhem) in Holland that was used as a night fighter base by the Luftwaffe.
Designed to manually fire up heavy Luftwaffe aircraft equipped with Junkers Jumo 211 and 213 inverted V12 engines most famously the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber and the Junkers Ju 88 multirole bomber. Ground crews inserted the dual-lugged end of the handle into the engine cowling--either directly on the lower-slung Ju 88 nacelle or via an extension rod on the high-nosed Stuka-to rapidly spin an internal, heavy inertia flywheel. Once this flywheel reached a high pitch, the kinetic energy was clutched into the engine's crankshaft, safely and reliably turning over the massive powerplant without relying on vulnerable electrical batteries in harsh field conditions…
The handle has been cleaned and would be great addition to a collection
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