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Dirigible - Airship Training Steerage "Link" wheel

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Dirigible Training Steerage, "Link" - extremely rare item, an actual steering wheel and platform with mechanism and mount for a dirigible or "zeppelin". The only other one we can find similar to this is in the Imperial War Museum in the UK.

Adding some more information as received from Ross Wood, President of the Naval Airship Association:
"I attach a photo from Moffett - the trainer here appears to be more L ship than K but sure seems to have a K-type rudder column. The wheel doesn't match the auction item but remember K-21 had been modified to use a yoke system (borrowed from a B-29) back in 1944, and that had "gap" wheels."
We have added another photo as well, of the trainer gondola in use where the wheel column can clearly be seen. Thanks to Ross Wood for the additional information and photo.

Size: H. 33" x L. 15" x W. 9.5"
Weight: 36lbs
Condition: Very good original condition.

The L class blimps were training airships operated by the United States Navy during World War II. In the mid-1930s, the Goodyear Aircraft Company built a family of small non-rigid airships that the company used for advertising the Goodyear name. In 1937 the United States Navy awarded a contract for two different airships, K class blimp designated K-2 and a smaller blimp based upon Goodyear’s smaller commercial model airship used for advertising and passenger carrying. The smaller blimp was designated by the Navy as L-1 The L-1 was delivered in April 1938 and operated from the Navy’s lighter-than-air facility at Lakehurst, New Jersey. In the meantime, the Navy ordered two more L-Class blimps, the L-2 and L-3, on September 25, 1940. These were delivered in 1941. L-2 was lost in a nighttime mid-air collision with the G-1 on June 8, 1942.

The K-class non-rigid airship was a class of blimps built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy. These blimps were powered by two radial air-cooled engines mounted on outriggers on the side of the control car that hung under the envelope. Before and during World War II, 135 K-class blimps were built, configured for patrol and anti-submarine warfare operations and were extensively used in the Navy’s anti-submarine efforts in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean areas.
The K-class blimp was a product of the austere times of the American depression. In 1937, K-2 was ordered from Goodyear as part of a contract that also bought the L-1. The L-class was Goodyear’s standard advertising and passenger blimp. K-2 was the production prototype for future K-class airship purchases. K-2 flew for the first time at Akron, Ohio on December 6, 1938 and was delivered to the Navy at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey on December 16. The envelope capacity of the K-2—404,000 ft³ (11,440 m³)—was the largest for any USN blimp up to that time. K-2 was flown extensively as a prototype, and continued to operate testing new equipment, techniques, and performing whatever tasks were needed, including combat patrols in World War II.
The K-ships were used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) duties in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea. All equipment was carried in a forty feet long control car. The installed communications and instrumentation equipment allowed night flying. The blimps were equipped with the ASG-type radar, that had a detection range of 90 mi (140 km), sonobuoys, and magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment. The K-ships carried four Mk-47 depth bombs, two in a bomb bay and two externally, and were equipped with a .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine gun in the forward part of the control car. An aircrew of 10 normally operated the K-ships, consisting of a command pilot, two co-pilots, a navigator/pilot, airship rigger, an ordnanceman, two mechanics, and two radiomen. On 1 June 1944, two K-class blimps of United States Navy (USN) Airship Patrol Squadron 14 (ZP-14) completed the first transatlantic crossing by non-rigid airships. K-123 and K-130 left South Weymouth, MA on 28 May 1944 and flew approximately 16 hours to Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. From Argentia, the blimps flew approximately 22 hours to Lagens Field on Terceira Island in the Azores. The final leg of the first transatlantic crossing was about a 20-hour flight from the Azores to Craw Field in Port Lyautey (Kenitra), French Morocco. The first pair of K-ships were followed by K-109 & K-134 and K-112 & K-101 which left South Weymouth on 11 and 27 June 1944, respectively. These six blimps initially conducted nighttime anti-submarine warfare operations to complement the daytime missions flown by FAW-15 aircraft (PBYs and B-24s) using magnetic anomaly detection to locate U-boats in the relatively shallow waters around the Straits of Gibraltar. Later, ZP-14 K-ships conducted minespotting and minesweeping operations in key Mediterranean ports and various escort missions including that of the convoy carrying Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to the Yalta Conference in early 1945. In late April 1945, K-89 and K-114 left Weeksville NAS in North Carolina and flew a southern transatlantic route to NAS Bermuda, the Azores, and Port Lyautey where they arrived on 1 May 1945 as replacements for Blimp Squadron ZP-14. The ability of the K-ships to hover and operate at low altitudes and slow speeds resulted in detection of numerous enemy submarines as well as assisting in search and rescue missions. The K-ships had an endurance capability of over 24 hours which was an important factor in the employment of ASW tactics. The mooring system for the K-ship was a 42 ft (12.8 m) high triangular mooring mast that was capable of being towed by a tractor. For advance bases where moving the mooring mast was not needed, a stick mast was used. A large ground crew was needed to land the blimps and moor them to the mast. During the war, one K-ship—K-74—was lost to enemy action when it was shot down by U-134 on 8 July 1943. The crew was picked up eight hours later, except for one man who drowned just before being rescued. The last "K Ship"—K-43—was retired in March 1959. The airship control cars (gondolas) of K-28 and K-47 are on display at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT and the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL, respectively.

Very good original condition.

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