TROTTERMATIC

This car was designed and built by George Trotter out of old aircraft parts at an airfield near Dacca, India ( now known as Dhaka, Bangladesh ) during World War II.

I have not been able to positively locate exactly which airfield near Dacca he served, but I have narrowed it down to two, either Tejgaon Airfield or Kurmitola Airfield.   Tejgaon is currently being used by the Bangladesh Air Force and Kurmitola is now known as the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

He used the drop tank from a plane for the body, the fenders are made from tail skids from B-25 bombers.

The power was produced from a gasoline powered 24 volt generator that provided DC electricity to a electric starter motor on each wheel.   I suppose this would now be considered a hybrid car.

Note:   Ex-CBI Roundup is the official publication for the CBI Veterans Association for those that served in World War Two in the China, Burma and India theater of war.  Here is a link to the Ex-CBI website.  http://www.ex-cbi-roundup.com

My Electric Car

By George Trotter

I was an aircraft electrical specialist at the time and we were very short

of transportation, We had only one Jeep for the whole electric shop and

some 50 revetments scattered along 15 miles of taxi strip for protection

against enemy attack. We were expected to haul all the needed parts, along

with the technicians and auxiliary power supply, to these revetments where

we made the necessary repairs on planes. Being a “smart-alec,” I set out to

find a solution to the problem and came up with the idea for this car.

This car was made from a discarded gas tank that was split down the

seam and set apart 18 inches by a strip of wing metal. The wheels are small

wrecked plane wheels, the fenders are tail skids from B-25s. The power

source was a 24-volt auxiliary power plant (the same as we had been hauling

back and forth in the Jeep to furnish power needed for repairs).

This power plant kept two 24-volt aircraft batteries charged and the

batteries in turn, furnished power to drive the car and its accessories which

included electric brakes, lights, horn and self-starter. Its two speeds forward

was accomplished by building a switch that could put the two electric

driving motors either in parallel or in series. Reverse was acquired by simply

reversing the flow of current in the field windings. This was done by another

switch. Both of these switches were operated by solenoids and controlled

by switches which were handy to the driver. The accelerator and

brake control was, of course, on the floor in the normal positions, while the

other switches were on the dash board and marked for the benefit of unfamiliar

drivers.

The driving motors were two discarded 24-volt starters with part of their

reduction gear removed to give a more desirable gear ratio. These were connected

by direct drive shaft to each of the back wheels making a differential

unnecessary.

These motors were originally made to be used intermittently and normally

would have overheated, if used continuously. By drilling a system of

holes to channel cooling air through the aluminum housing and by rigging

a blower from an aircraft heater to force air through them, I was able to run

indefinitely without overheating.

As for performance, this car cruised at 35 to 45 miles per hour with the

driving motors in series. At this speed, one could flip the switch that puts

the motors in parallel and get the thrill of a drag racer. I never had the

nerve to find out what the top speed was, but it could pass a Jeep doing 65

with plenty to spare.

Needless to say, this car was a great help to our transportation problem.

It not only got us there, but it also furnished necessary power from its

built-in power plant.

     Click below to see the entire diary

 PDF file of 1944 World War Two Diary