Ward Aero wind generator

[Hank Jarrett]

Some years ago I had a set of the instructions and diagrams for the Ward Aero wind generator and I sent copies to several members of the Tribe.
You guessed it, I am putting the battery box back into my 41 and can't find the diagram for the wind generator so I can set up to put it on if needed.
Anybody out there still have a copy of the wiring diagram and instructions I can get a copy of the copy of?
Thanks
Hank

[cvavon]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Hank I have a complete set on our web site and also on this site if not can foward to you Chuck

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

UNREAL! I had planned to check out your site tonight during the advertisements on TV.
OK, sorry, if Buzz Aldrin is on "Dancing With The Stars" I WILL watch it! If someone is going to "Moonwalk" it should be someone who can do it in a 300# space suit!
I'll save it for printing out tomorrow. I wouldn't think I need an STC since it is on the original equipment list on my plane and there is a pylon on the belly it bolts to.
Hank

[Karl Rigdon]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Hank,

I have a Ward Aero for my Tcraft and have the factory manual and 337 for the installation. If you run in to a problem you can email me. Back to flying a twin with the engines out of snyc.

Karl

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

The info Chuck had was a LOT of help, but was not the exact version I have. I did learn enough to figure out how the wiring was supposed to go and now have made a wiring diagram.
I would really like to see the original version too (Chucks was actually for a replacement generator for the Ward).
Can you scan the manual?
Hank

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Hank beware, Karl can drink beer and keep up a nonstop conversation on flying at the same time. Nothing remarkable there untill you reach the 48th beer!
Larry

[Karl Rigdon]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Hank,
Pay no attention to Larry, if B.S. was music he would be the Boston Pops or better.

I do not have the ablity to scan at ths time however I have a copy I will snail mail. Send your address by private message or my email
[email protected]

Karl

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Just a note for any new guys or visitors here. This is normal banter and is totally in good nature. It's a lot like the goosing that goes on in the Dawn Patrol hangar in Kansas City.
Experienced both, the banter is better. You can still walk normal afterwords.

My address is;
Hank Jarrett
805 Kings Creek Drive
Virginia Beach VA 23464

Anybody who would drill down this far into an old airplane web site I would probably enjoy getting a letter from.

I owe you a beer buddy! Actually according to Larry I owe you EIGHT 6 packs! I think I'll stick with Scotch. If I drank that much beer I would get so fat I couldn't fit in my plane, if I could FIND it!
Hank

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Doc has a Ward Aero generator and documents which came with an A7AC we are restoring. The local accessory repair shop about busted a gut laughing when we asked them to go through the generator and check the bearings and brushes. They have no service manual - so does anyone know where there is a service manual?
I believe Doc has an installation manual - so if the interest is still there I can scan and publish it.

[Doc]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Mark is correct. I have the original sales manual ($79.50) circa 1962 and the original wiring diagram. The Ward Aero Generator (Three Rivers, MI) was installed on NC2241E with a 337 in the '60s. What I do not have is a parts manual. I spoke with Aero Accessories in San Antonio today...they are still laughing. Although they specialize in antiques (radial engine accessory specialists), this one has them stumped. They are, however, intrigued enough that they will try to find out how to "yellow tag" this accessory, although I have a suspicion that a South Side San Antonio electrical shop may have to be consulted. I reminded the bosses (all female) at Aero Accesories that they have bragged to me in the past that as a Repair Station they can do "anything". . .we shall see. Once I have the manuals back in my possession, I will send copies to anyone who needs them. Mark was prescient...he made a pencil wiring diagram of the hookup which is on my hangar workbench. Best wishes. Doc

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Mark and Doc,
My neighbor has a motor rewind business and does certified work on generators and alternators for aircraft. He says my Ward Aero is a modified boat motor generator and he thinks he may have the manuals for rebuilding those. He can check the brushes and wire sizes to see if anything is different for the wind generator version for an airplane and he knows aircraft electrics!
I will see if I can take mine down to him this weekend for a "look see". Maybe he will give a bulk price to rebuild all of them and can provide a yellow tag.
I do know he does a lot of antique work and does first class work. If he doesn't think he can do it right, he won't take it on.
Hank

Next step is to use a Cardex on my cast aluminum prop and see about hogging out a copy from a bar of aluminum so we can stop worrying about shucked blades. Those cast metal props are just a mass of cracks spinning in formation!

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Hank,
We anxiously await the results of your research!
Meanwhile should we put armor plate above the aero-generator propeller? - I have enough pains in the posterior without being blind-sided by a propeller

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

One of the first planes I worked on a restoration of was a 1937 Fairchild 24 G (NC-19123) that is in the Virginia Aviation Museum now. It had a Ward Aero generator just like the ones we are using with the same cast metal prop. Al Jenkins (the guy who actually knew what he was doing) said he had seen LOTS of the cast props throw blades and we welded an armor plate between the tubes on the starboard side of the foot well in line with the prop plane where your legs would be. This was a guy who knew more about old aeroplanes than I will ever know and I trusted him completely.
Of course the 24 G had a lot higher VNE than we have, but that wide blade giving a rectal exam doesn't look too good to me! Nice thing for us is we wouldn't have to weld in a plate. We could just put it under the seat in the plane of the blades and hold it with some Adel clamps around the tubes.
Hank

I will publish my wiring diagram as soon as I get it done with the part numbers for the voltage regulator (they are still available!)

[Doc]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Hank: That's great!...because I am still looking in the parts pile for the voltage regulator! BTW...Mark's F-19 rebuild project has been "officially" started - therefore keeping up our tradition of having 2 aircraft in various stages of restoration to keep us continually confused. Doc

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Ward Aero wind generator

Your original Voltage regulator shouldn't be that hard to find. It's black, a little over 2" high with a base about2.5" x 4".
It will be easy to find because it will have lots of stuff stuck to it. The danged things are so heavy they have their own gravitational field! I think there is one at the center of every Black Hole in the universe.
There are a number of Delco regulators that look like they should work and what I would REALLY like to do is rip the guts out of the case and put a 3 oz. electronic voltage regulator inside. Of course that would be TOTALLY ILLEGAL!
Hank