1940s BENDIX FRIEZ WIND VANE vintage WINDIAL AEROVANE Airport/ USAF Base For Sale

Bendix Friez Windial Aerovane type Wind Vane -- the business end of a wind directional and speed indicator system designed for the US Air Force/Military probably during or just after WWII -- includes the front cone, hollow wind vane and bearing post mount -- measures 31 in. long - 14 in. high at the post - the vane is 13 in. high ---- wind vane is hollow aluminum molded into two shells, spot welded together: an amazing piece of industrial craftsmanship ---- found a record of one deployed at an Antarctica station in 1957 only replaced in the early 1990s --

-- light wear -- spins like a top on the bearing -- otherwise missing the stand / propeller and some of the electrical internals: just the bearing post and actual windvane and cone are included --
-- *info from online:
" A new combination windmill anemometer and vane under the name of Aerovane, constructed by the Friez Instrument Division of Bendix Aviation Corp. was tested in the natural wind at Blue Hill Observatory. The anemometer was compared with a standard 3-cup, a 6-bladed duralumin windmill, a 3-bladed balsa windmill, and a pressure-tube anemometer. It was exposed to severe weather, including gale-driven rain, snow, sleet, hail, and freezing rain. The maximum wind measured was 94 mph. Although its starting speed of 2 mph is not as low as in other types, there are no essential differences, and its responsiveness to changes in speed and its capacity for indicating maximum gusts seems to be practically equal to those of mills and pressure-tube anemometers. The Aerovane, in common with other mill and pressure-suction types, appears to show no over-registration in gusty winds, an appreciable fault of the cup anemometer. The error due to variable angle of attack of the wind in its minor changes of direction seems to be held to negligible proportions, owing to the responsiveness but reduced overswing of the streamlined vane. Though it remains to be seen whether the Aerovane can hold together at maximum hurricane speeds that the cup anemometer can stand, the chances seem good because of the, aerodynamically speaking, “clean” lines of the instrument. The Aerovane seems to be the best all-purpose instrument for measuring wind yet devised."1 Extended from paper presented at New York meeting, Jan. 28, 1946.
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Volume 27: Issue 9'Tests of the Friez Aerovane in the Natural Wind at Blue Hill Observatory'
John H. Conover
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