Wincharger Drawings

[hwy8]

It is interesting to see the extrusion drawing for the aluminum blades. A long time ago (1980 or so), I bought a mid-fifties, 1500w Wincharger with four blades that were absolutely beautiful aluminum extrusions! I spotted it on a tower near Cannon Falls, MN and I stopped and talked to the owner who had been a Wincharger dealer/serviceman at one time. Wincharger had been running a school in Sioux City and when he was there, he fell in love with that very machine AND those very shiny silver blades, so he used his dealer discount and brought it home. By the time I saw it, a weight in the governor was jammed and he was lame and it was sitting idle on top of a pretty nice factory tower and it wasn't long before I was developing a crush on it myself. Finally, after him saying, "I'm going to fix that one day" for about a year, I paid him too much money, took it down, and then found out there was a lot more wrong with it than I thought! Luckily, to make up for it, the blades were in perfect condition.

When that rotor finally spun, it started slowly and then like most props, it reached a certain speed and really began to fly! (I expected these to make a whistling sound but instead, it was kind of a low humming sound.) A couple of years later, I sold it all "as-is": BUT FIRST, I tried really hard to keep the aluminum blades hidden in the garage and then sell wooden replacements. (After all, I was told the wooden blades were standard and the aluminum ones were an "option".) Well, the buyer spotted them and that was that!

For years I've wished I had them back; they sure would look good on my wall!

Burt

[mtblah]

Gregg , i am guessing you were a draftsman for the LARGE manufacturer with an assmbly plant on the north side of Amana , now a conglomerate .

[Wind Charger Mike]

Great story Burt. I’ve heard many good things about the 1500W aluminum blade model. That particular aluminum blade drawing, dated 1948, is for a blade with a 12” chord where the 1500W blade was about half that size. Wincharger apparently had plans to scale up the 1500W but it never materialized.
I probably have an extra aluminum blade laying around if you want a wall hanger. I wouldn’t want to ship it but stop by next time you’re in central Texas and it’s yours.

[mtblah]

Burt , if all the stars & moons align just right , we may be traveling to the UP of Michigan this summer , maybe , just maybe we can bring the prop up to you . ?
Mike B

[Gregg]

Mike (mtblah),
Amana/Maytag were competitors. I worked 21 years for Frigidaire/Electrolux/Eureka, and 12 years for Beam Central Vacuums in Webster City Iowa. They are both owned by Electrolux in Sweden. Factories were moved to Juarez Mexico and closed in Iowa. I spent 36 weeks in Juarez during the transition.
Gregg

[hwy8]

"YES" to Wind Charger Mike, I'd love to have it: I have a number of odd connections/interesting experiences with Wincharger and it would mean a lot to me to have such a nice "reminder"...

Mike B-- Sometimes when the stars and moon don't align just right, I've helped them along a bit; If you had room for that blade, I'd be happy to take a drive and get closer to your route! As the time gets closer, let me know and I'll PM both of you....
Burt

[mtblah]

Burt , we will keep in touch as June gets closer , we drive a 1 ton pickup truck so there would be room for an aluminum prop .

Gregg , thank you for the great history lesson , always interesting , the six months in Mexico sure was an "experence" !