France French WW1 cockpit clock - Voisin VIII Bomber

[ralstona]

Just picked this up. Not running (yet) but in really nice condition. Case is aluminium. Marked on Face "Allion a Versailles" and "Propriete de l'Aviation Militaire". Measures 88mm. These were mounted in the cockpit dash along with altimeter, etc. Movement is watch mechanism (Swiss made). The black dial and luminous hands makes it likely used in a Voisin night bomber.

[TacHel]

Looks great! Congrats on a rare find! :jumping:

[Chris Boonzaier]

Very nice indeed.... just the thing for the desk at work!!

[Chris Liontas]

Very nice! these things come up so seldom it is always fun to see! Any name associated with this item?

[ralstona]

Sadly no name. I am still trying to find a picture of a cockpit that shows this one. The Voisin VIII night bomber at the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space in Washington, D.C. (the only complete one anywhere) displays the clock on the wall with other cockpit instruments as the plane hangs from the ceiling. This plane came over in 1918 for testing in the US but by the end of the war it was obsolete and mothballed.

[Tony]

Very nice indeed, I hope you find a good mechanical watchmaker to repair it.

The radium probably isn't still active or does it glow?

Tony

[ralstona]

Doesn't glow but still very much active. Radium has a half-life of 1600 years. The glowing in the paint wasn't the radium but another substance that glowed in the presense of radium. The hands glow when exposed to light which means they were re-lummed at some point (not with radium). I am planning on taking the clock to a local aviation museum this summer to get some more info. The museum is the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum at Teterboro Airport. This is a very interesting airport, been around for a LONG time. Lindbergh's engine for the Spirit of St. Louis was built there. Erhardt took off on her on her round the world fllight.