> I once owned a parts jeep 1945 MB that had a AAF altimeter installed in
> the dash on the left side of the steering column. The installation of
> it was very well done also. I've heard rumors that this had some kind
> of signifigance "rare altimeter jeep" anybody know why/what for???
Hi Tony
Before the days of the radar altimeter, military airplanes used (some
still do) barometric altimeters. For a barometric altimeter (one base on
air pressure) to work, they have to be calibrated on a regular basis.
This involves adjusting the altimeter to the air pressure at ground level.
Ground level air pressure varies of course with height above sea level and
the weather (low pressure, high pressure etc) at the time. Now at an
airfield there is measuring gear for this, and the traffic control tower
(ATC) would radio the measurement to the planes during the normal radio
check.
However, at grass strips where there was no such facility, a wind sock
and an altimeter could be fitted to a jeep, which could be driven into place
with a radio and perform primitive air traffic control. If your jeep had an
altimeter, it may well have had fittings on the rear end for a wind sock, and
possibly even radio - although this last was not strictly neccessary, as
a portable radio would be able to reach the planes at the distances
involved.
Regards
Gerry Davison - Denmark - Europe