[ARC5] VHF, HF, and LF ARC-5s in one installation

[Robert Eleazer]

I just read something in the WWII F4U-1 Corsair pilot's manual that I found surprising.

 

It says that the airplanes have an R-23/ARC-5, an R-28/ARC-5, a T-19/ARC-5, and a T-23/ARC-5.

 

So the pilot could select ""HF" or "VHF" on the control boxes and then be able to talk on 5 VHF channels or one HF channel and could receive and tune the LF receiver as well.  So with a 2 transmitter and 3 receiver installation the pilot could use multiple VHF channels for air to air and air to ground and still could use the older LF receive and HF transmit approach for talking to control towers.  And of course he could navigate using the AN range system as well.

 

I had never thought of using a mixture of ARC-5 VHF, HF, and LF radios in a fighter but this makes a lot of sense.  It must have been a fairly late war development, because the manual says that it replaced the one from June 1944.  I never heard of the USAAF doing this.

 

By the way, the F4U pilot's manual as well as a lot of others was available for download for free at www.tailwheel.nl.  BUT when I tried to access it last night I got a virus warning right off, so y'all be careful out there!

 

Wayne, WB5WSV