this is part shameless shilling for an item I'm selling and part a generous
offer -

The shill part - I picked up (at an estate) a very pristing drafting engine,
packaged as a "aircraft protractor" - If any of you folks can add words of
insight to my auction description so this thing will make me wealthy beyond
my wildest dreams, please let me know - here is the auction link
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=300283573074. From the
Military order number and the fact that it refers to the army air corps not
the USAF, I am guessing that this is a 1942 vintage item - am I right?

The generous offer part - I scanned the manual pages, there are only three
pages, including an exploded view and installation instructions - if anyone
would like the files sent to them, drop me a note off the list, with a valid
email return address and I'll send the files to you - it's about 1/2 meg
total - these are probably of interest to WWII buffs as well as those who
might have a manual drafting machine kinda like this one.

The metal working part - the whole thing is non-magnetic - it's aluminum of
course, but the ball bearings are all berillium copper and the bands are
monel - of course this is important in an aircraft to avoid disturbing the
compasses, and would be unheard of in a ground environment. I really hadn't
given this much thought before, but berillium copper ball bearings can't
come cheap. all in all a very cool unit.

--
Bill
www.wbnoble.com