the Hucks Starter (1918)
to the center of the plane’s propeller with a claw similar to a toothed ratchet on the Model T hand crank. Even though they saved a lot of energy and proved to be quite efficient and improved safety, they were somewhat cumbersome to use and required at least two people to operate. The vehicles were called Hucks Trucks, and they were built on both car chassis and TT truck chassis on into the 1930s.
As World War One raged on and aircraft quickly evolved, new ground equipment was needed to support the growing air forces. During this early period of aviation, aircraft engines had to be turned by hand to start them, and the larger and more powerful the engine, the more difficult and dangerous this was to do. In 1917, an RAF captain named Bentfield Hucks designed a machine to crank the engines using the power of a Model T Ford. A long, elevated driveshaft was mounted on the chassis and turned by power transferred through a PTO and chain drive system. The driveshaft extended beyond the front of the Model T and connected
The Military Aviation Museum’s Hucks Starter Truck is a 1918 TT Ford chassis. It was built using a period-correct Muncie auxiliary transmission with built-in PTO. 8