Hello-

New member to the board here. This is a fascinating website and I am amazed at the level of detail and knowledge the members offer. I'm hoping some of the experts can tell me exactly what I have.

I was recently given this Wittnauer aircraft clock and was told it came from a WWII fighter aircraft. I have searched on the internet and have found very similar aircraft clocks, but I am confused as to why this clock does not have:
1. Luminous hands
2. A military contract number of the face (I.E. "AN-###")

I am trying to determine if this is a WWII-era aircraft clock. Would there be a date or any identifying marks inside the clock? Also, what are the red minute and hour hands for? They only move manually by the dial on the front.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Paul

quite possibly out of a civilian aircraft post WW2

What is printed on the dial below the 12? Is it the word CLOCK or something else?

You are correct that many, but not all, military clocks have identifying information printed in black ink on the black face near the center, but not all. They all do have dataplates on the back, usually made of metal, but sometimes they are raised lettering in the plastic or even a decal in a few instances. Since you do not show the back of this or mention any markings on the back, and since there are no markings on the dial I agree with Tom's good advice that it is civilian and post-war. This style of clock was used for many years after the war.

Also, if you do come across a war era military clock with its appropriate markings, you should understand that unless someone personally removed it from a WW II aircraft, there is no way to tell what kind of aircraft it came from. Yes they were used in fighters, but they were also used in bombers, and in transports, and in cargo aircraft, and in the small liaison aircraft, and in training aircraft, and in reconnaissance aircraft, etc.

The purpose of the red hour and minute hands that turn manually is to allow a pilot to keep track of time for a particular event. The most common use was to use them to keep track of how long he had been flying. As you get ready to take off, you reach over and align the red hour and minute hands with the white ones underneath. You then take off and your clock's white hands advance with the time and it only take a moment's glance to see how many hours and minutes you have been flying by comparing the stationary red hands with the moving white hands. This is good to know since a pilot has to know how much fuel he has in his tanks and how fast it is burned up as he is flying. Yes there are fuel guages, but those are not to be fully trusted and this gives the pilot a backup system to tell if he really has enough fuel to get where he is going or if he will run out soon which is 'not good'. They can also be useful when flying in instrument conditions and you need to keep track of how long you are flying on a particular bearing before needing to change to a new one. This is especially helpful when taking off or landing when there are mountains around you. Flying on instruments alone and not knowing exactly when to change your course to climb up out of a valley or go down into one when you can not see where you are going can lead to a situation which is 'not good'.

Thanks for the replies, Jim & Tom. Yes, the word CLOCK is beneath the "12". I have also attached a photo of the back side- there are some faint white numbers and one can see where there was a sticker at one time. The side is painted yellow as if to possibly cover a sticker.
The family (my neighbors) kindly just gave me this clock and told me their dad took it from a single engine fighter in 1945 of which I have the a/c type & serial number to corroborate.
If this is strictly a post-war model, then there was a mix-up somewhere over the last 67 years.
Was this type of Wittnauer clock available during the war (for civilian use) or is this a design that was not available until post-war? Again, any feedback or help is appreciated.
Paul

available during the war and after,either from the maker or US government stocks ,which went from needing 10's of thousands to needing a few thousand at the close of hostilities. It still may have been military issue, and after the war the printing was removed when,or after it was surplused out

Here is a link (scroll down on the linked page) to an auction for one of these that still has its military dataplate on the back, and it has stamped in paint markings on its side similar to yours as well. The dataplate on the one in this auction indicates it was used on Navy aircraft and a more recent timeframe than WW II.

Excellent example- that one is nearly identical to what I have. I have to agree with yours and Tom's initial thoughts on this clock. - Thanks for helping to clear this up.