WW1 Mobile Workshop

[Rhyolith]

Meant to post this up ages ago after my visit to the Duxford branch of the Imperial war museum.

RFC Mobile Workshop by Rhyolith, on Flickr

As you can kind of see in the picture, this would be mounted on a lorry and hauled around for plane maintenance. The workshop was a grinder, engineering lathe, drill press, some other press (don't really know what it is), vice, Anvil, Forge, etc...

RFC Mobile Workshop by Rhyolith, on Flickr
RFC Mobile Workshop - Lathe by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I am particularly envious of the drill press! Must be the biggest manually one I have seem and has that lovely big fly wheel.

RFC Mobile Workshop - Drill Press by Rhyolith, on Flickr

 

[dickm]

Lovely stuff. Was the whole thing powered by a generator, or were they all human powered? It looks from the pic as if the lathe at least could have been fitted with a treadle.

 

[Rhyolith]

I think it was powered by the truck it was mounted on, but thats something of an assumption.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Great photos. Haven't seen one before or heard mention of one. They can't have many of these still left I guess

 

[Rorschach]

I saw that this year, it's very cool. I am pretty sure it's first world war though.

 

[Rhyolith]

I could be. Though WW1 planes where made of wood and canvus I think so not much use for a metal working shop.

 

[54Strat]

The RFC became the RAF in 1918, so it's definitely WW1. Although British planes were wooden framed, some had metal skins (RE8 for example). I know Germany had at least one all metal plane, the Junkers J-1l, slow but strong. And there's plenty of engineered metalwork on a plane, e.g. the engine

 

[TFrench]

Lovely stuff. Was the whole thing powered by a generator, or were they all human powered? It looks from the pic as if the lathe at least could have been fitted with a treadle.

Looks like a radiator on the left hand side for a generator, and the ammeter gauges on the back wall above it.

 

[DTR]

If it wasn't hand / foot powered, I could have a lot of fun in that workshop!