WWI LAMINATED PROPELLER WITH CLOCK

Imagine a ground crewman winding a propeller, and on the 'contact' sign from the pilot swinging the engine into sputtering life. The only instrument was an oil pressure meter. Pilots started to worry when oil didn't fly around covering everything. 'Fly by wire' was the trick then; the plane was flown by guy-wires attached to the wings. Mimicking a bird, really...