WW2 Royal Air Force Air Compressor: Rare Madras Find Restored by Collector

While most vintage collectors would boast of antique cameras, record players, grandfather clocks, cars and bikes, Kakarla Mahesh owns something rarer — a World War 2-era air compressor used by the Royal Air Force in Madras state to inflate tyres. The compressor was put up for a public auction by Madras Institute of Technology in 1992 and Mahesh chanced upon it in the newspaper.

“It was bought by a scrap dealer. I offered him `2,500 for the compressor,” he says. Mahesh had only graduated two years prior and was working as a trainee at L&T. It was a lot of money for him, but he wanted to save it from being turned into slag.

“I had no idea if the compressor was in working condition. However, I was trained to fix old equipment,” says the 57-year-old.

To his surprise, it was in pristine condition.

“The moving parts had original machining marks. I reckon it saw less than six months of use during the war. I got it running using an electric motor.”

While the compressor was intact, the engine used to power it was probably dismantled and used as a teaching aid at the institute. The compressor was powered by a Briggs Model N engine manufactured by Briggs & Stratton in the US, known for making small internal-combustion engines.

“The compressor unit was assembled by Bendix-Westinghous Automotive Air Brake Company in the US and was designed to be portable. It has a wheelbarrow design with a large metallic wheel. The most interesting aspect is the absence of an air tank. I have never seen such a design. I immediately knew it was worth preserving,” says Mahesh. The compressor was also designed to be able to inflate two tyres at a time.

“The auction listing specified that some of the items were used at the Sholavaram airstrip, a Royal Air Force airbase during WW2 for anti-submarine operations.” The airstrip was commissioned in 1942 as a response to Japan’s annexation of Burma and Singapore. It was used to monitor the Bay of Bengal for submarine activity. “After WW2, the airstrip was taken over by the army. Over the next several decades, it was used as a testing ground for tanks, a racetrack by the Madras Motor Sports Club, a landing strip for aeromodellers and a grain storage ground when govt godowns were overflowing.”

For Mahesh, the air compressor has an emotional connection to his childhood.

“My paternal uncle was an avid aeromodeller. I would accompany him when he tested flight model aircrafts at Sholavaram in the 1980s,” he says. “That’s behind the passion to restore it.” The compressor is now proudly displayed in his house to showcase to fellow enthusiasts.