>Hi all,
>
>Does any of you know what the difference is between a 1944 and a 1947
>Cushman para-scooter ? ......
Danny,
If you are refering to the Cushman M53 Airborne Motor Scooter, there were
only 4734 delivered against the contract to the US Army, of which 4233 were
delivered in 1944 and the last 501 in Jan & Feb 1945. The contract was for
5000 but was cancelled early by the army as the war was winding down.
There were no M53's made in 1947. Although after the Army contract was
cancelled in 1945, Cushman sold a "M53A Civilian Airborne" made up from the
parts they had left over, but designed for the civilian market. (BTW, I
have seen photos of these civilian airbornes being used on military
installations in the late 1940's and early 1950's). As such they had front
and rear suspension springs, a bolt on engine cage rather than welded, and
a electrical system - including lights, horn etc. to make it street legal.
It also came with accessories such as another Indian motorcycle seat over
the rear wheel for a passenger.
There were no suspension springs used on the original M53 on either the
front fork or the rear axle. On the M53 the only sheet metal covering the
engine was a 4.5" X 7" piece of thin sheetmetal that acted as a heat shield
over the exhaust elbow. This piece of metal was also where the ID plate
was atttached.
If what you are referring to is sheet metal enclosing the entire engine you
are probably talking about a Cushman model 32 or 34. These were the
Cushman civilian scooters of the early 1940's (production continued until
the late 1940's) that were sold to all branches of the armed forces. The
only military modifications being paint (Navy grey, flightline yellow, or
OD) and the addition of ID plates.
I would reccommend you get a copy of TM 9-876 and/or ORD 7-8-9 SNL G-683
(both available as reprints from Portrayal Press). As is usual there are
some minor errors in the manual and there were a few modifications made to
the scooters that are not reflected in the manuals, But, these differences
are minor and would not affect identifying a true Cushman M53 Airborne.
Best regards, Jim.
Jim Corcoran
Austin, Texas
corcoran@onr.com