Raindrops keep falling on my head.

[neptune]

I watched an interesting documentary last night, entitled "Inventions that shook the world". The bulk of the program was about the invention of the photocopier, and was quite interesting. However, the thing that caught my eye was an item under the heading of "Other inventions of the 1930s". There was a very short clip of a motorcyclist riding in the rain. He was wearing a pair of goggles. Each lens was fitted with a tiny windscreen wiper. These were driven, through a tiny gearbox, by a 6 inch diameter wind mill mounted on the front of his helmet!
They looked to be quite effective, as long as you did not mind all your mates referring to you as "Propeller Head". I was reminded of a device you could buy back in the 60s, called the "Retro Visor". This consisted of a circle of perspex about 8 inches diameter. It was slightly dished , and had a short spindle with ball bearings at the centre. This spindle was mounted on a headband that fitted around the helmet, so the disc`s centre was just above eyebrow level.
Thus the lower half of the disk covered much of your face . Small fins were mounted on the edges of the disc, causing it to revolve in the slipstream, flinging off the raindrops. It worked OK for a short time , but the quality of the bearing was poor, and it soon started to rumble. All too soon it seized solid. Did anyone else buy one? Just me, then.
Of course today we could have a wiper driven by a rechargable battery in your pocket.

 

[smudger1956]

I vaguely remember seeing pics of the "Retro Visor". One trick I learnt for visors and rain was to apply the minutest amount of 'Fairy Liquid' to the inside of your visor, and rub tobacco on the outside of the visor..happy days..

 

[flecc]

I never bought a spinning visor, but the spinning disc principle is excellent. Electrically driven ones are commonly used on boats and lifeboats subject to masses of water on the windscreen and give almost constant clear vision.

 

[neptune]

Yes , I remember the fairy Liquid dodge, but not the tobacco one. I heard it said that rubbing the outside of the visor with a slice of potato would help to disperse the rain, but I never actually tried it .

 

[Davanti]

I just stayed in when it was raining.

 

[neptune]

Flecc`s post reminded me that somewhere in the past I have seen car wing mirrors with a revolving glass. I cant remember if they were motor driven or wind driven , but I bet they were useful in the rain.

 

[timidtom]

Yes , I remember the fairy Liquid dodge, but not the tobacco one. I heard it said that rubbing the outside of the visor with a slice of potato would help to disperse the rain, but I never actually tried it .

The potato dodge worked quite well for a few miles with motor cycle goggles, back in the prehistoric days of 125cc Bantams ...
It's even more amazing that in those far-off days there were young ladies who fell for the charms of a ride home on a Bantam. Bantams could be relied on to break down in shady country lanes whenever required to do so. Or at any other time ...

 

[Scimitar]

I never bought a spinning visor, but the spinning disc principle is excellent. Electrically driven ones are commonly used on boats and lifeboats subject to masses of water on the windscreen and give almost constant clear vision.

Hmmm... Kent screens - very effective. Come to think of it, I'm sure I saw one fitted on a Land Rover decades ago. Probably not legal, but iirc, it was a Series II and probably pre-dated MoTs.

 

[flecc]

Yes , I remember the fairy Liquid dodge, but not the tobacco one. I heard it said that rubbing the outside of the visor with a slice of potato would help to disperse the rain, but I never actually tried it .

A form of it is still in normal commercial use. Many years ago a special variant was developed for aircraft windscreens, I believe by Boeing, and it was and probably still is routinely applied to airliners to aid instant droplet dispersion. I wouldn't be surprised if the military use it as well.

 

[VictoryV]

Some older military aircraft like the Buccaneer had windscreen wipers, but when the RAF came to use them as opposed to the Royal Navy (who did use the wipers), the airforce pilots used to kick the rudder pedals left and right while flying straight and level, the disturbed air flow as the aicraft yawed cleared the windscreen without needing wipers - this was fine but it made the fin come loose after a while. Later aircraft such as the Jaguar had no wipers, but used rain repellent as a standard daily maintenance procedure after cleaning the windscreen of insects etc

 

[jasono]

I've used fairy liquid and potato (though never together!) in my motorbiking days. I can also remember using a spray I keep thinking Bob Martin, but it never gave me a glossy coat, just kept my visor clear...

 

[Scimitar]

I've used fairy liquid and potato (though never together!) in my motorbiking days. I can also remember using a spray I keep thinking Bob Martin, but it never gave me a glossy coat, just kept my visor clear...

Mr Sheen keeps umpteen things clean

 

[jasono]

The spray was Bob Heath. They also did a visor inner to stop things misting up, created a double glazing effect