[ARC5] More on the "No HF" Myth

[Mike]

Todd Bigelow - PS wrote:

> I realize it's long after the fact and things could have been changed
> since the 1940s, but I've been through two B-17s in the last decade and
> both had BC-348/BC-375/SCR-274N gear installed. I looked the aircraft
> over pretty well(spent two days in one) to see if anything was
> missing(any large gaps, patterns of holes where shockmounts could've
> been mounted, etc), didn't see anything to indicate any other gear had
> been installed.

I have read that *very* few B-17s and B-24s were returned from the UK
back to the US following the war.  Apparently they weren't worth the
effort and cost to reclaim.  The B-29 had come on the scene for Pacific
Theater use.  I wonder how many of the surviving B-17 and B-24 airframes
now in the USA actually served in the UK.  This would be critical,
because the use of VHF-AM command sets, namely the SCR-522, seems to
have been prompted by the British use of this system.  One would suppose
that much of the radio gear would be installed in-theater, and not
stateside, thus the common RCA AVT-112/AVR-20/BC-1206 ferry pilot radio
equipment which would be used until the aircraft arrived in-theater.  An
aircraft that did not serve in the ETO would therefore be unlikely to
have the SCR-522.

Though it has been remarked that some editions of the B-17 and B-24
flight manuals (of which I also have reprints of one edition) did not
mention the SCR-522, I found an original B-24 pilot's info book at a
military collector's show last year that discussed both the SCR-274-N
and the SCR-522.

An USAAF ETO radio tech I know has told me that SCR-522s were installed
in just about everything that flew, including C-47s and the like.  I
have a reprint of the P-61 flight manual, and it shows TWO SCR-522
installations in each aircraft (the text mentions they may be replaced
by ONE ARC-3), NO HF gear at all, and no MF gear except a BC-1206 range
receiver and either a MN-26 or ARN-7 ADF.

Reportedly, pilots found the SCR-522 much preferable to an HF command
set in ease of use (no coffee grinders) and performance.

A Pacific Theater USN radio operator (and ham) I knew flew on an
aircraft with both the ARC-5 and the ART-13 HF equipment.  He told me
that the ARC-5 stuff provided reliable comms only at very short ranges,
and that the ART-13 was actually used for just about all HF
transmissions.

It's an interesting area of discussion, and one needs to find as many of
the surviving people who actually served in theater to get their
stories, imperfect though they may be.  I think that reading generic
flight manuals and inspecting aircraft that did not serve in theater
could be very misleading in a determination of what sets served where.

Although I don't get a "warm and fuzzy" feeling looking at my SCR-522 as
I do with any of the HF equipment (even a SCR-183), I'm lead to conclude
that in the ETO the SCR-522 was likely the most important airborne
communications set (HF or VHF) used until the ARC-3 began to replace it
late in war.  I've never seen any evidence that the VHF ARC-5 was used
in the ETO, nor the short production BC-942/950 VHF SCR-274 equipment.

I've not seen enough info on the Pacific Theater regarding VHF use.  It
would be interesting to know if there was significant use by the USN of
their ARC-1, ARC-4, and VHF ARC-5.  The USN use of the bare aluminum
finish VHF T-23 and R-28 seems to counter the assumed value of black
crackle or other painted finish in a marine-air environment.

Mike / KK5F