The Davey Compressor Company of Ohio built this portable air compressor for the United States Air Force in the 1970s. The unit provided a maximum pressure of 200 pounds per square inch at a flow rate of 15 cubic feet per minute. It was used for certain low-pressure applications on the flightline, such as airing up vehicle and aircraft tires. A two-cylinder gasoline engine drove the rotary "hydrovane" compressor and offered efficient performance with no pulsation.

The Air Force acquired the first hydrovane-equipped air compressors from Davey in 1953. The design was so successful that until 1957 the entire Davey production of hydrovane compressors was committed solely to the Air Force. The rotary design was first introduced in a portable, trailer-mounted compressor in 1957.