Pfalz D.XII compass location?

Bill McGill · 12 February 2009, 10:12 PM

I'm preparing to build the Special Hobby 1/48 Pfalz D.XII and have hit a bit of a brick wall.

Where was the compass located and how was it attached? There isn't one in the kit.

The capture report in Flight states (and I'm paraphrasing here) that 'it was of the usual Pathfinder type'.

That appears to be a common enough compass so I know what I should be looking for etc but I can't seam to locate any photos or drawings showing the mounting system. Or even empty screw holes in the museum examples to indicate where and how it would be attached.

Do any of the current museum examples have the compass fitted?

Any help greatly appreciated.

UberPfalz · 12 February 2009, 11:03 PM

Hi Bill,

I will be happy to help... To get a great idea of the cockpit layout of the Pfalz D.XII goto here:

Pfalz D.XII

That will be your bible for the cockpit of the D.XII as it has shots of several surviving near complete Pfalz 12's...

Here is some interesting info on that site as well that pertains to the cockpit and locations:

"My research suggests the following to be the likely function of the various cockpit controls:

'Lever on Left'. This is a push -pull control and is describe as "gashebel" in some original German documents I have. The on-line German translater I used suggested this means "throttle control" in English. It is in much the same position as the auxiliary throttle control in other aircraft, (eg. see page 92 of Albatros D.Va - German Fighter of World War 1(NASM)). Note that the primary throttle control function is achieved by twisting the left hand grip on the control column.
'Lever on Right' appears to be of the rotating type. It connects via a long shaft to what appears to be a valve adjacent to the gun syncho drive. See 'Gun Synchro Drive-1' under 'Guns & Fittings'. Unction?
According to Bob Waugh's preliminary drawing of the Pfalz D.XII, the lower of the 'Levers on Lower Left' opens and shuts the 'Radiator Blanking Doors', (see 'Engine & Surrounds') and the upper lever operates the engine magneto advance-retard function.
Looking closely at 'Fuel System Valves' and referring to Windsock Datafile 7 'Pfalz D.III' suggest the 'Fuel System Valves' are for 'manometer (air pressure gauge) on-off', 'air pump selection' and 'fuel tank selection'. I suspect the valve mounted on the fuselage frame above the 'Fuel System Valves' is a substitute for the main manometer valve because of the relative inaccessability of the main valve. See 'General View Right Side' and 'Hand air Pump'
The 'manometer' is missing. Perhaps it was located in the empty instrument mounting shown in 'General View Upper Right'
The starting magneto and magneto selection switch are missing. Photos of the Champlin example and Bob Waugh's drawing show them on the left side of the cockpit between the pilot's seat and the fuselage frame. The shelf that supported the starting magneto is broken on the AWM example. "

I noticed the compass is missing from what i can tell on both of these. There is also a scale instrument catalog of WW1 German cockpit info at : Free Interior Detail Manuals intended for large scale RC. Download the catalog as it has some excellent shots of the 'Pit' especially the 3 instruments between the Spandau guns.

There are many gurus here that can fill in the blanks but i hope some of those images and such will provide a great inspiration.

Now for my question... what is the Magazine or Book that you mention that has the test report on the captured Pfalz, i would love to hear more and perhaps pick it up, thanks

UberPfalz

Bill McGill · 12 February 2009, 11:30 PM

Uberpfalz (nice name),

Thank you for your very thoughtful reply. I'll certainly re-check these images but I couldn't locate any images of the compass or even a suitable empty bracket where it would be mounted when I looked through them.

You can download the Flight magazine archives as PDFs from www.flightglobal.com.

here is a direct link to the D.XII capture report (final page of 6);

bracing wires | three-quarter front | pfalz armament | 1919 | 0533 | Flight Archive

I'm guessing if you haven't perused the Flight Global site before now you'll be spending quite a lot of time on it this weekend

Cheers

UberPfalz · 12 February 2009, 11:42 PM

Bill,

Did you see this response about both the Pfalz D.III and D.XII

Pfalz D.III / D.IIIa compass location

"The standard position of the compass (was) on the right side low in the cockpit just forward of the pilot's seat."

It was by Dan San... May want to send him a Private Message as he seems to have a vast pool of knowledge.

I am not sure but this image has some 'fittings' on the floor in roughly that position mentioned above. It could be the fact its very late

...

Album:Pfalz D.XII

Thanks for the link... have already downloaded it and reading. I wish they were true flight reports. Thanks again...

UberPfalz