Looking to confirm Japanese Aircraft Clock usage

[FlyingMustang51]

In the link HERE you will find photographs of a chronometer/clock my mother bought me when I was a kid from a side vendor inside a Metro Detroit mall.

HERE is one of the same pictures from a different site of mine.



I recall the man claiming it was from a Japanese Mitsubishi Zero from WW2.
I would like to attempt to validate that or find out if it is only just a Japanese Aircraft Clock
which it has that configuration. I contacted some air museums and got this promising response from the CAF.

http://www.warbirdsite.com/museumjapanese.html shows that I'm in the right time period.

Now I would like to see a picture of one like it installed in the cockpit of a Zero.

I know the CAF has one of the only flying Zeros in the world and I am in contact with them. However, if someone knows something I'd appreciate the help.

thanks in advance

Last edited by FlyingMustang51 on Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Kaigun Fan]

This link may help:

http://gunsight.jp/b/english/hunatu03e.htm

Unfortunately, I don't own any examples but there is a lot of info on them in Gary Nila's book, "Japanese Naval Aviation Uniforms and Equipment 1937-45"

Ron

[Kaigun Fan]

Your link didn't work. I may be able to ID it with some pictures (Front/Back). Are there any markings? Anchor symbol? Etc?

Per Gary's book:

Pre-1940 clocks:
Weight: 5 ounces
Brass bodied
Brass Winding button/brass data plate

1941-45
Weight: 3 ounces
Light aluminum alloy block metal case
Large light aluminum alloy or Bakelite winding button
Aluminum data plate

Look for a Navy anchor or Star (Army) on the data plate (if exists).

Ron

[FlyingMustang51]

I got info from that website you pointed out plus one or more.
See:

http://gunsight.jp/b/english/hunatu02e.htm

http://gunsight.jp/b/english/a-keiki22e.htm

http://gunsight.jp/a/english/a-kisyu12e.htm

http://gunsight.jp/a/english/a-kisyu02e.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84

And thanks looks like it was on a Nakajima_Ki-84 fighter developed in 1942.

This is what I was trying to show you. Let me know if it works. It is from my Apple computer online website: http://gallery.me.com/kirktalon/100045

Thanks again. While it wasn't a Zero it was relatively close.

[David_Aiken]

Hi 'stang,
The only item from an aircraft which has other purposes is the clock. In the Japanese Navy, ship-based aircraft always had their clock. However, the ground based crews in Japanese Army and Navy used the clock in their makeshift quarters.

As to which aircraft your clock originated depends on the manufacturer. They had a range of aircraft built which may all have the same sub-contract supplier of clocks.

Uniquely, there is an excellent 'collector' who is making new replacement 'dash boards' for a variety of aircraft restorations. Check out his URL at:
http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~a6m232/index.html


Also see:
http://sv06.wadax.ne.jp/~gunsight-jp/b/

http://gunsight.jp/b/english/index1.htm

and

http://cb1100f.web.infoseek.co.jp/


Cheers,
David Aiken

[mike furline]

Are there numbers stamped in the lower blanks of the data plate? These would indicate year and month.

The top number (5883?) is the serial number.

Regards,
Mike

[tom d. friedman]

be careful of the radium dial.......... do not remove the bezel. i bet that beauty would fetch a nice price.

[FlyingMustang51]

be careful of the radium dial.......... do not remove the bezel. i bet that beauty would fetch a nice price.

Oh yeah that "Let's paint it with a radioactive material so it glows in the dark" trick. Comforting.

So you are recommending I not open it at all? I heard or read about the people who had the job of painting these dials not doing well after having the job for a while but I didn't think it would be dangerous to open it for a short period. I was thinking of trying to get the dial/bezel/crystal assembly to "unfuse" from the base. It did turn when I first got it. I'm sorry I stored it somewhere where it could get corroded

I was curious about the mechanism by which it operated. Mechanical wind up or electrical?

Still worth some cash? I guess I can see how since these things are so few and far between. A friend of mine's girlfriend has worked for Henry Ford's
Greenfield Village. She might be able to help me out.

Thanks again for the help.

[JDK]

So you are recommending I not open it at all?

That would be safest - getting the radium paint (assuming that's what it is) or the dust on you or in you is bad. The glass does provide some significant protection, but expert advice (not mine) would be wise.

At the risk of stating the obvious, in telling and retelling stories, all Japanese fighters become 'Zeros' just as all British fighters are 'Spitfires' and American ones 'Mustangs' - because they are the only ones the general public have heard of, and the story works better when it fits those presumptions. Several aces' kills were 'Zeros' that weren't.

HTH

[FlyingMustang51]

So you are recommending I not open it at all?

That would be safest - getting the radium paint (assuming that's what it is) or the dust on you or in you is bad. The glass does provide some significant protection, but expert advice (not mine) would be wise.

At the risk of stating the obvious, in telling and retelling stories, all Japanese fighters become 'Zeros' just as all British fighters are 'Spitfires' and American ones 'Mustangs' - because they are the only ones the general public have heard of, and the story works better when it fits those presumptions. Several aces' kills were 'Zeros' that weren't.

HTH

I see what you mean.

I am happy, as it appears to me anyway, that this clock is from the period the man said. All I had was my judgment at that young age. For it to have come from a Nakajima Ki-84 is pretty good with me.

[tom d. friedman]

you have a safe collectable, investment grade piece. your tv or microwave oven give off more radiation, just don't open or tamper with it. when the radium becomes dry or crusty, that's when it's at it's worse. jdk is 100% right that the bezel glass offers protection.