[ARC5] Fighter Navigation in WWII

[Bob Macklin]

A radio compass only works if you have a radio transmitter to tune to.

In my time we had the APX-6 (and later the APX-25) IFF transponders. A lost 
pilot could call one of the towers in Korea (K-2, Taegu, K-13, SuWan, or 
K-14 Kimpo) and ask for a DF steer using the APX-6.

In a combat zone it is not smart to have a radio beacon operating on your 
field!

The tower at K-2 would also turn on the red light on the roof for incoming 
friendlies at night. After they landed the light was turned off.

Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa.
"Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Eleazer" <releazer at earthlink.net>
To: <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 3:46 PM
Subject: [ARC5] Fighter Navigation in WWII


> According to the Book "An Ace of the 8th" WWII fighters in England often 
> used the Non Directional Beacons to find their fields in bad weather.  I 
> guess they would fly to the beacon, picked up on their Detrolas, wait 
> until it started to fade and then start a standard rate turn and letdown. 
> Sounds scary to me but I guess if you practiced it enough it was not too 
> hard.
>
> Interestingly enough, the Vought P-66's sold to China came equipped with 
> D/F loops and receivers. A friend of mine was assembling a bunch of recon 
> P-38E's (F-4's) for the 10th Photo Recon in India where the P-66's were 
> being assembled.  The Chinese pilots promptly wrecked almost all of them 
> and they salvaged a few of the D/F systems for installation in their recon 
> Lightnings.
>
> And that A6M2 Zero we recovered in the Aleutian Islands in June 1942 had a 
> radio compass installed.  It was made by Fairchild Aero Camera Company of 
> New York City.  So some people liked having radio compasses in single seat 
> fighter aircraft!   The Zero also had a crystal controlled voice or CW 
> comm radio made by the Toyo Electric Corportaion, set for 4145 KHZ.
>
> I wonder how many Zeros had Fairchild radio compasses?
>
> Wayne
> WB5WSV
>
>
>
>
>
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