A Photographic-van Service in the Tropics
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A Well-equipped Van Built by E. G. Brown and Co., Ltd., for Use Under Tropical Conditions. Refrigeration Apparatus is Incorporated to Keel) the Water and the Interior of the Body at .A easonable Temperatures
rrHE importance of close co-operation .1 between aeroplanes and the ground staff in photographic survey work is now fully realized, and the use of photographic vans in conjunction with aerial cameras results in a more rapid service of finished pictures. In war time speed is an essential factor in the production of such photographs, and a well-equipped van can materially assist in expediting the service.
Many problems have had to be solved in the design and production of photographic vans suitable for use in tropical climes, and we recently inspected a vehicle, incorporating many novel features, which has been built to a special order by E. G. Brown and Co., Ltd., West Road, London, N.17. The machine has as its basis a Dodge, type L.H.47, 3-ton chassis, and it has been converted to a rigid six-wheeler by the Flexion system.
Of all-metal construction the body provides for two dark rooms, and is notable for the fact that a refrigeration plant is incorporated to cool the water used for developing and washing plates and prints. It also maintains the interior of the van at a constant predetermined temperature. This plant, which is a product of J. and E. Hall, Ltd., of Dartford, is accommodated in a compartment above the driver's cab.
It is designed to reduce the temperature of the water from 140 degrees F. to 60 degrees F. Provision is also made, by means of an electric immersion heater in the header tank, to warm the water if the machine he used in winter or in mountainous districts where the temperature is very low. Two water tanks are carried, one on each side of the chassis frame, and the total capacity is 180 gallons.
The body sides and roof are double panelled and have an interlayer of cork 2 ins, thick. At the end of the body is a clean-air intake, and at the other an extractor for the foul air. The insulation, in conjunction with the refrigerator outfit, ensures that the interior of the van is maintained at a temperature of about 80 degrees F. whatever the conditions outside.
Current for the refrigeration apparatus is supplied from a portable generator set housed in a compartment behind the driver's cab. A neat folding stand is provided so that the generator unit may be quickly removed from the body. The outfit comprises a Ford 8 h.p. industrial engine coupled to a 5-kilowatt dynamo. In the forward compartment, ample cupboard space is available for photographic chemicals, the cupboards being felt-lined and provided with wells to hold the bottles in position. A chest of drawers is accommodated on the near side and a large sink and draining board are situated on the off side of the compartment. The rear compartment is to be used largely for printing, and, in addition to a sink, table and cupboards for • chemicals, an enlarging apparatus and a printing machine are provided. A further item of equipment is a full set of surveying instruments. The photographic apparatus is a product of the Williamson Manufacturing Co., Ltd.. Litchfield Gardens, London, N.W.10.
To increase the scope of the machine and to give added working space, a large tent is carried in a box beneath the body at the rear. The tent poles are house in a metal box situated transversely between the chassis and the body. When required one end of the tent is attached to hooks on the body side above the door.
The vehicle carries five persons, and with the crew aboard, full water tanks, fuel and all equipment, the outfit weighs 7 tons 3 cwt.