[Milsurplus] Re: [ARC5] Re: What did they talk to ??

[David Stinson]

We've covered this many times and presented documentation to
prove the general use of HF, but here's a "summary" of the
main points:

1. Liaison transmitter used in the lead aircraft to send
    strike report, signals for ground DF reports and
    "key-down" during crash and ditching.
    Most radio operators listened to the Liaison receiver
    for broadcasts and orders from base, plus MF watch
    during operations over water.

2. HF Command Sets were absolutely, positively and
    conclusively used for air-to-air, pilot-to-tower
    and pilot-to-Army Airways Station communications.
    VHF sets *supplimented* these sets, but did NOT
    replace them except in specific locations
    and in specific applications, such as
    *late war* fighter escorts and forward-deployed
    ground support aircraft in the ETO.
    This applies even more to the Navy, where
    fighter VHF did not become general until
    *after* the war.  We have gone over reams and reams
    of documentary evidence for this, yet this
    "No HF" myth continues.

3. We have not one shred- not one tech order, aircraft log,
    schematic, installation note or equipment tag anywhere
    that proves "aircraft repeaters" made of SCR-522s were
    in general use.  We have a couple of vague mentions and
    some 60-year-old memories that say they were tried.
    I don't doubt that one bit.  They tried lots of things.
    But the stacks and stacks and stacks of documents say
    these reports and communications were handled by
    the standard *HF* radios.  Had every mission since
    1942 been relayed through this phantom "repeater"
    we keep hearing about, there should be piles of
    tech orders and manuals around.  This is *not one*
    in existence to my knowledge.

Why do we choose to cling to this "vhf-centric" belief
in the face of overwhelming and conclusive evidence?
I think it has something to do with the emotional
feelings for the gleaming P-51 "D" model with its
bubble canopy and SCR-522.
We also have a habit of visualizing fighters as outfitted
in May of 1945 and projecting that back all the way to
Pearl Harbor; it just ain't so, folks.
The "D" model P-51 wasn't around for most of the war
and most certainly was not in North Africa.
"A" models were (they were called "A-36 Apaches" at that time),
along with P-40s and P-38s, and guess what
was in them?  SCR-283 and SCR-274N.
They would have had a very hard time talking
to U.S. VHF base stations,
since any available went to England.
And if they were "VHF only" and got lost, I guess
they just died, because air charts of the time prove
that there were very few VHF DF sets around in '42-'43,
even in the States.
Did they "cobble-in" some early Brit VHF sets
so they could talk to the Brits?  Probably- even likely.
Was this practice general for every USAAF aircraft in
North Africa?  Absolutely not.  The Brits could
hardly supply radios for their own aircraft at home
and certainly couldn't outfit the entire U.S.
air arm in the theater.  SCR-522 wasn't in full production
at the time and crystals were in short supply.
I have USAAF aircraft log pages from the
*1945* that show HF used exclusively
for pilot comms throughout the mission.

I'm sorry if I sound a little frustrated,
but we've discovered, documented and presented
the proof on this issue over and over
and still some folks cling to this "No HF" myth.
We all have to "believe what we believe,"
I guess, and I don't have the time to dig all
that paperwork out again and argue about it again
when I've been presenting it for years.

I have to tell you- sometimes I wonder if
anyone is listening, or if they think I'm
just "making it all up."  Sigh.......

Dave S.