Help with Identifying Special Instrument

[Herbert Paulis]

Folks,

I had this posted a few days ago from another system, seems it did not get
through. I need your expertise. In our club a flight instrument came up
which baffles us. It is kind of a timer with a mech clock, allows to set an
airspeed on its left side (with a locking thumbwheel) and has an egg-like
shape indication (dented on the right side) with time lines(?) labelled
"miles scale." Inscribed is the text "Gorman Check Pointer" and "Model 150
Pat.Pend. Check Point Sales, Randolph Mass." Not really sure, but should be
1960-1980. All we know is that it was used as an instrument for air rallys
but even our old timers and gurus passed.

Googling on any of those terms also failed. Does anyone know what this is
exactly and how it is supposed to work?

regards

Herbert
Cessna 172 Rocket Rider
LOAV

PS: Email me for pictures of the gadget.

[Denny]

Google on the city, find the phone number for city hall and see what
they know about the company... They may still be in business, or
someone may know something... Call their local airport on the weekend
and see if anyone there remembers the company or the product...

denny

[Dave Butler]

Herbert Paulis wrote:
> Folks,
>
> I had this posted a few days ago from another system, seems it did not get
> through. I need your expertise. In our club a flight instrument came up
> which baffles us. It is kind of a timer with a mech clock, allows to set an
> airspeed on its left side (with a locking thumbwheel) and has an egg-like
> shape indication (dented on the right side) with time lines(?) labelled
> "miles scale." Inscribed is the text "Gorman Check Pointer" and "Model 150
> Pat.Pend. Check Point Sales, Randolph Mass." Not really sure, but should be
> 1960-1980. All we know is that it was used as an instrument for air rallys
> but even our old timers and gurus passed.

Hi Herbert,

It sounds like something that might have been used for road rallying. You might
try some of the sports car groups.

In a road rally, a two-person crew, driver and navigator, are given a set of
driving directions to follow a prescribed course at prescribed speeds usually
entirely over public roads. At unannounced points along the course the
rallymaster sets up checkpoints. The idea is to pass the checkpoints at exactly
the right time. Your time error is measured in seconds, and the winning time
error is usually in the single digits for the total error passing several
checkpoints.

I used to do this a lot back in the '60s with the Poughkeepsie Sports Car Club.
I was a navigator in the 'unequipped' class. The 'equipped' class allowed
'computers' something like what you described. The most sophisticated computers
were directly connected to the car's speedometer drive.

That name 'Gorman' sounds vaguely familiar and I associate it with road rallying.

Dave

[RST Engineering]

What you have is what was called the "Poor Man's DME". You set the timer
dial to zero, "guess" or calculate the GROUND SPEED and the pointer on the
dial reads off your travelled distance in miles.

They sold for $29.95 (a fortune at the time); I had one in the Cessna 120
Heavy.

Jim




.." Inscribed is the text "Gorman Check Pointer" and "Model 150
> Pat.Pend. Check Point Sales, Randolph Mass." Not really sure, but should
> be
> 1960-1980. All we know is that it was used as an instrument for air rallys
> but even our old timers and gurus passed.