Vespa 150 TAP (Troupes Aéroportées)

In the late 1950’s the French Airborne Forces devised a system to transport a USA-sourced 75mm recoilless rifle via scooter.  A two-man team, each with his own scooter (one carrying the rifle, the other ammunition), would be dropped via parachute (into Algeria, mainly).  This is an excellent example of choosing the minimum vehicle and system required to accomplish the goal.  (I suspect that ‘roadside bombs’ and the like were somewhat less common in the theatre of operations, however.)

 

Coffman Engine Starter

These devices were (are) a study in cleverness.  The goal: start a large (generally aircraft) engine without incurring a large weight penalty vis-a-vis an electric motor and battery set.  The cardboard cylinders are, roughly speaking, blank-type shotgun shells.  They contain a fairly slow-burning propellant.  When the operator desires a start, a shell is discharged, the gas spinning up a small turbine.  A gear reduction unit and engageable pinion couples this energy into the engine’s flywheel or similar.  The pictured unit is a multiple-discharge-type, allowing convenient retries in the event of a failure to start, or subsequent stall.

 

                                                  Ah, what we’ve lost.

Many apologies for the delay. Logistical difficulties have kept Our Man incommunicado for some time. Regular service should resume directly.

 

We shall likely never again see current news with the term ‘Lion-Drome’ included.

And thus, bit by bit, the color of life bleeds out of the world.  What it would be, to travel a morning to the fair and see such daring!  Showmanship of a high degree indeed.