Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 147:
Description
WWII USAAF Q-1A Heated Suit Rheostats & Interphone. WWII USAAF Aircraft Equipment Group: Two General Electric and One Cutler-Hammer Type Q-1A Electrically Heated Flight Suit Rheostats (one still boxed), a C-726A/SC7261A Interphone Jack Box, and a Boxed Signal Corps T-30-S Throat Microphone dated VPP 8/50 This lot assembles the everyday electrical and communications hardware that equipped a high-altitude bomber crew station during the Second World War. At its core are three examples of the Type Q-1A heated-clothing rheostat, built to Specification No. 94-32357-A for 24-volt, 100-watt, 2-ohm service – two stamped General Electric Co. and one marked C-H (Cutler-Hammer) – joined by a compact interphone control jack box marked SC7261A and a still-sealed Signal Corps T-30-S throat microphone in its original stock-numbered carton. No individual crewman’s name or aircraft is associated with these components; their story is documented through Army Air Forces equipment specifications and Signal Corps acceptance markings rather than personal provenance, and no separate published history has been located for this specific grouping. At the operating altitudes flown by B-17s, B-24s, and later B-29s, outside air temperatures routinely fell below -40 degreesF, exposing gunners, radio operators, and other crew to serious frostbite risk on long missions over the ETO, MTO, and Pacific theaters. The Q-1 and Q-1A rheostats were mounted at individual crew stations so each man could dial in current to his electrically heated F-2 or F-3 flying suit, gloves, and boots – unglamorous but essential equipment that made sustained high-altitude bombing runs survivable. The accompanying interphone control box, with its rotary selector for COMP, V.H.F. LIAISON, COMMAND, INTER, and CALL, and its
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