What is with Twinsonics and Aerodynics?
- Thread starter horsepowerphoto
- Start date
Pimp said:
I agree! I never cared much for the VisiBar, Twinsonic or Aerodynics, simply because they were chain driven. The reason for all the flurry over these things was because they were something new.....then. We all thought that the VisiBar was the answer to all out lighting problems. In 1959, at the ripe old age of 14, I helped Thomas Funeral Home here in Midland "pioneer" the use of twin beacons on an ambulance. There were a few in use across the country, but no one saw what anyone else did back then like we do now. What had happened was that Thomas had bought a then-new 1960 Ford sedan-delivery to replace their old '56 Ford sedan-delivery. The old rig had been equipped with a roof-mounted Q flanked by four big red Unity sealed beam roof lights and a Model 17 beacon in the rear. On top of that, someone had cut out the "F" part of the Q's grille and big truck stoplight that said "STOP" had been attached tothe grille. It was Thomas' intention to equip the new Ford with the lights and siren off the old Ford, but that just didn't happen! We happened to be out of school one day for a teacher's meeting. I had gotten a new '59 Cushman/Allstate motor scooter the previous Christmas and just happened to come up on the side of the funeral home to visit with the elder Thomas son, Billy, who is about two years younger than me. Much to my surprise there sat that new '60 Ford, and I almost wet myself! The Q had been mounted, and that's as far as they had gotten. My first two questions were: "When did you get that? and "What are you going to put on it besides that Q?" Billy said that they had planned on equipping the new ambulance with everything off the old Ford, but someone had stolen to of the Unity lights. I surveyed the new truck quickly and said to Billy, "Too bad you don't have an extra beacon". And because he had a surprised look on his face, I went on to suggest that if they had a second beacon that they could mount twin beacons on the front corners of the roof and then mount the two remaining Unity lights as cowl lights. This time I thought Billy was going to wet! He went inside and in a few minutes came outside lugging another beacon. We sat the two beacons on top as I had suggested, along with the two Unity lights. I think both of us left a puddle like no one had seen before. So, that's the way that ambulance went. From that point on until they bought their first Pontiac Consort ambulance in 1967, all of their ambulances were equipped with twin beacons and roof mount sirens: a neat Federal 78 lighted doubletone siren replaced the Qs in 1962 when they replaced the '60 Ford with a '63 Ford wagon. That ambulance was quite a light show, with the twin beacons and the ud-and-down motion of the SolaRay light on the front of the siren. And instead of cowl lights, the high beam lights were replaced with red sealed beams. That really made a difference. The '67 Consort would be their first coach-time ambulance, and it came with the popular Superior bullet lights on the front corners and a red CJ84 beacon/speaker combo just slightly rear of front center. And it would be the first ambulance in Midland to use an electronic siren. They would eventually endup with a Twinsonic...on a '72 Consort, the last of the coaches that gave way to the vans. Quite a history.
But as I said, I just didn't care for the Twinsonics and Aeros, simply because of that nuisance chain-drive on both of them. Nice lights otherwise, but a nuisance anyway!
Yeah, but the chain drive was pretty darned reliable, especially in the TwinSonic. Changing or repairing the chain in a Twin Beacon Ray is an exercise in patience.
stansdds said:
When I was at Texas Tech, the campus cops went from using roof-mounted 173 beacons and little underhood EG sirens to the VisiBars. After having to replace the chains several times (now this is a small campus force where the lights are not used all that much), the mechanics threw a fit! So what they did was to aim the bulbs of both beacons straight ahead and hooked up alternating flashers between the two beacons. Then they mounted the old 173 beacons in the center of the bar between the two CP25 speakers. That told me then that those kinds of bars weren't worth fooling with. Fortunately the two VisiBars we had never gave us problems the short time we had them, but the one TwinSonic we had was a pain. It was replaced with a pair of the newer (at the time) Mars bars and they were nice!
Skip Goulet said:
Perhaps the campus mechanics really did not understand how to properly maintain the Twin Beacon Ray?
stansdds said:
I'm sure they knew how to maintain the bars. But knowing those guys as I did then, they just didn't want to fool with them. It was easier to do what they did then replace or repair the chains.
I've known plenty of people like that, rather than fix or replace something correctly, just cobble something together and call it a day.Skip Goulet said:
The Twinsonic was an eye catcher from the get go. The flashes thru the mirror's really made it. We got one on a 73 Pontiac Ambulance it was the first one I ever laid eyes on. Ive got a few of them now but nothing like Ryan's mountain. The Aero to me was bulky I like the NYPD version, the best Ive seen. Just got my first Aero givin to me a wrecker bar that survived a flood, only has one dome tho. Havent really given it the time of day as of yet. Alway's thought the Aero was bulky and too large compared to the Jetsonic. Both the Aero and the Jet have to be the most popular bars on wreckers out there. There is one Aero that I found from the Sheriff's office the county over. The guy has it on a 70s wrecker sporting B/R/C domes but I cant get him to get off the darn thing, next attempt is to restore the Aero I have and try and get him to swap it out.
Hoser said:
I had a friend many years ago who had bought an old Sears van to use for roadside repairs. He bought an old Twinsonic at a city auction. It came with amber domes. He went to the one place in Lubbock that sold emergency equipment and bought red and blue domes for the bar. Since he was doing roadside assistance he couldn't run red to the front. So what he did was to go to a local plastics manufacturer. They were nice enough to cut both domes in two and then reassemble them where he could have all blue to the front and red to the rear. I'm not sure what sort of silicone or adhesive they used to put the halves together, but they did a good job and those domes lasted him quite some time.
I personally worked on both way back when. Installed hundreds of Aerodynics when they first came out. mostly on Fairmont Boston Police cars. I now have a real clean one on my 77 Monaco. All blue.
Hoser said:
I don't understand people like that. It's something that they could make money on but are too stubborn to decide whether it's worth the trouble to remove, even if you say that you'll do all the work taking it off yourself. Hopefully that guy will like what you have to offer and let you have his bar for yours. If he still doesn't want that bar off the wrecker, carefully try to prod an answer on WHY it's so important to keep that particular bar if there's no use for it. Never hurts to try.
radioguruphil said:
Is blue the standard color for law enforcent in MA? I noticed when we were in Fall River many years ago when my grandmother died that all the PD units had blue lights but the ambulances all had red.
Blue has been the standard for police in MA for ever. Red to the rear many years ago, and recently blue / red to the rear.
Those came out when I was still in grade school, so I have it in my brain that all light bars should have the handclap pattern.
dmathieu said:
Thanks, Dan. That last trip to MA was in 1968, and at that time the PD units I saw all had solid blue 184 beacons. I'm sure those have all be "turned into" lightbars many years ago.
denko3 said:i first noticed as a child in emergency series a twinsonic CTS red california steadry burning light,and i was
always wondering why is just burnin red when all rotators in the bar rotate,hehe,lol
guys i wached the series just for CTS bar!i was freak already back then.
but when i first lookd a couple of times Aerodynic bar with Cal.takedowns hehe,i was in love from that
day in aerodynic bars with Cal. setups....
i am the same aerodynic freak today. lol
just for a little fun....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW_hM_azojU
The reason that you saw the steady burning red light on the Squad 51's Twinsoinic is because that at least one steady-burning red light has to appear to the front on all emergency vehicles in California. If you ever watched Adam-12, you'd see that both of the red lights on their cruiser were steady-burn red to the front. Also, CA requires alternating amber to the rear. You'll see that on Adam-12 and on Squad-51's Twinsonic. That having been said, there is no prohibition on the other red and/or blue lights flashing, alternating, or revolving.....so long as those other requirements have been met.
Skip Goulet said:
California's rear requirement was not alternating amber to the rear, just a flashing amber light to the rear.
stansdds said:
That's quite interesting, as all the emergency vehicles I saw when I was in SoCal a few years that were vintage units: police cars, firetrucks and ambulances, all had alternating amber to the rear. They may have modified that rule over the years.
Well, the CTS TwinSonic had a single, PAR-46 flashing amber to the rear, later bars such as the Signal-Stat and Dietz bars had only one rear facing flashing amber. The can lights, model 24 series Aerodynics, and JetSonic series bars would have had rear flashing amber lights as pairs.
ark_firefighter said:
haha definatly well the lightbar certainly didnt "make Emergency" but I think everyone would recognize squad 51 anywhere!
stansdds said:
I stand corrected. The TwinSonic on Squad 51 did have the single amber light in the rear. And it had the single steady burn red in the front. If I remember correctly, the old CHP units which ran a single steadyburn red spotlight up front also had a single amber sealedbeam light in the rear deck for many years. I'm not sure when CHP went to overhead lights.
Skip Goulet said:
I think CHP's first use of lightbars was in the early 1970's, it was a crossbar with forward and rear facing PAR-46's on each side and a speaker in the center. CHP used a number of lightbars after that including the TwinSonic CTS, but they also had lots of slick tops.
To be honest, I really do not know what it is with Aero's and Twins. I was always totally into modern warning equipment, but one day I randomly just started liking some of the older stuff, and started collecting them. Always have plans to start restoring them but look at my funds and sigh.
I have one Whelen 80H, one Aerotwin, and would love to get my hands on a Twinsonic!!
I have one Whelen 80H, one Aerotwin, and would love to get my hands on a Twinsonic!!
I just got my first aero and can't wait to restore it I will post pictures once I get it home and out of the bubble wrap