K MA-1A USAF START CART

The MA-1A Start Cart is essentially a mobile, American-made compressed air blower from the early Cold War period on a small four-wheel chassis. The device entered service in the early 1950s and some are still in service today. The presented device produced a stream of high velocity air which was supplied to the jet engine and accelerated its proper start-up. The MA-1A could, however, also serve as a device to facilitate the start-up of the turboprop engine. A small turbine was used to generate the air stream, constituting the "heart" of the MA-1A Start Cart. The device was used, among others, to start-up machines such as: North American F-86 Saber, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, Northrop T-38 Talon, but also Lockheed C-130 Hercules.