MacLachlan - one arm pilot - prosthesis construction (1 Viewer)

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pavsko

Recruit
1
1
Dec 30, 2009
I am quite impressed how this pilot managed to fly with only one hand:

At Queen Mary's Hospital he was fitted with a new arm. MacLachlan explained to the doctors that he required an arm that would allow him to fly a Hurricane. They designed a limb that allowed him to operate the throttle while taking the control column and firing button with his right hand. They spent hours studying the cockpit layout. The medical staff produced an arm with four spring-loaded pins, like fingers, which enabled him to use the controls on the port side of the cockpit. They secured his left arm to the levers of the throttle quadrant: throttle, propeller pitch control, supercharger and mixture control. The landing gear controls were located on the right side. The artificial arm had to interact with the control column while the gear was being retracted or lowered.
James MacLachlan - Wikipedia

I tried to find some other info/picture of his prosthesis but without success. I am curious how he managed to control four different levers separately and more how he managed to operate the gear lever on the other side of the cockpit...
Any additional info appreciated.
THX
 

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