Long shot - hope someone can help identify this "thing" - likely to have an aviation / aeronautical use but not certain. A friend of mine cleared out the house of a deceased family member. That family member had served in the RAF (1950s?) and then gone on to work with aviation companies for the rest of his life. Dowty and Rotol are two companies they know he mentioned. In a box of "treasures"- ie highly valued items, they found this "thing". - It is in excellent condition. It is about 10 cm long and the hole on the left is 5 mm in diameter. When the knurled outer is pushed to the right (1) the one side of the metal "ring" on the left is released and rotates open (2). It has the letters "7K28" stamped on it. Any ideas? Any ideas why it should be in a box of his most valuable items? One family member says he was once involved in parachuting or parachute equipment development and they thought it might be some keepsake from that? - As ever the one thing to learn from this is to ask family members about their lives before they die - not wait until they have gone to wonder about what they did. - Any help much appreciated.
Identify "Thing".
- Thread starter Dinger
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Crimea_River
Marshal
- Thread starter
- #3
Would make sense - A sort of quick-release mechanism if a static line stayed attached for some reason. Stop the poor parachutist being dragged behind the plane. I should all mention that the ring on the right is free to rotate.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Doesn't look like any static line hook, or any other parachute equipment I've seen before.
It might be a quick-release 'tie down' hook for a cargo net or similar, rather like a carabiner.
It might be a quick-release 'tie down' hook for a cargo net or similar, rather like a carabiner.
I dont recognise it , Terry has way more experience and has seen more gear than i have so he had more chance of knowing what it might have been used for if Parachute related.
Crimea_River
Marshal
....and he's old.
- Thread starter
- #7
Cheers, thanks for the feedback.
- Once the suggestion was made I did do a quick google of static lines and I couldn't see anything as small as this. It did strike me that with a couple of bits attached it would make one of those things that people use to attach their keys to their belt and yet detach easily! On the other hand it would be a bit of a faff to reattach it afterwards, so perhaps not! 
The hole in the end that opens looks to me to fit a solid rod of similar diameter
i did not say that !
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Hrrmph !
RW Mk. III
Airman 1st Class
Possible the parachute bit is a red herring.
Is there a through-hole that could allow a lock of some sort to prevent the knurled section from moving down and releasing the clasp? Just thinking it could be some specialized lockout device. Those can rate among "treasures" depending on what you do for a living.
Is there a through-hole that could allow a lock of some sort to prevent the knurled section from moving down and releasing the clasp? Just thinking it could be some specialized lockout device. Those can rate among "treasures" depending on what you do for a living.
- Thread starter
- #11
Thanks for the suggestion. There is no hole or any sign that anything could lock the knurled bit, so as a quick-release mechanism it could not be locked. Thinking of his association with the Dowty company, I'd guess that there was a need to hold actuating rods or hydraulic lines in place and yet still have the ability to release them for servicing. But as you say, it would make sense to be able to lock it in some way. I've done image searches of both Dowty and Rotol parts and not seen anything close.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
It seems to have a slight nautical look to it - maybe a rigging cleat or something similar ?
RW Mk. III
Airman 1st Class
Another question. Is there a taper or wedge beneath the sliding component that will allow it to tighten down to a range of thicknesses? Or does it close to just the one diameter?
- Thread starter
- #14
Only the one diameter. So it seems to be for one very specific application.
- Thread starter
- #15
Certainly an idea. Someone in the owner's family suggested it was for rigging a biplane, but that would normally be a turnbuckle, and a quick-release action would be a particular disadvantage in that scenario (unless it could be locked like RW MkIII suggested). I think this might remain a mystery unless I can get some more specific information on the equipment / types the bloke worked on...
RW Mk. III
Airman 1st Class
Nautical stuff, particularly if it's older, tends to be SS or brass. What's the material? If it's aluminum that strengthens the aviation angle I think.
- Thread starter
- #17
Def a light alloy, not pure aluminium, it's too hard for that. but very light.
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Hell his mustache alone has more experience than most of us.
ODonovan
Airman 1st Class
My first thought was that it might be a device to attach a control cable, such as the many which ran along inside the fuselages of bombers, to an anchor point. If so, the cable would run through the hole on the right and could be attached/detached easily to and from the anchor point for maintenance/access or to increase the tension on the cable.
-Irish
-Irish
Kingscoy
Senior Airman
Not a clue...didn't see it either in our jump kit. Another thought...perhaps radio/ comms equipment related. Part of a pole antenna set-up....rigging lines?
