[ARC5] ARC-5/SCR-274 Navigation Receivers?

[Mike Morrow]

>As I remember the story, the station on which they were homing was NOT a 
>"Range" station, but was only a simple communications transmitter which 
>provided a carrier to home on.

It wasn't a range station, but it had capability to home on the aircraft
signal and transmit the bearing to the aircraft.

>The B-24 had only a simple loop with no sense antenna and could not 
>resolve the 180 degree ambiguity.

The B-24D used the excellent SCR-269 ADF that has no 180 degree ambiguity
issues.  Its sense antenna was a vertical rod several feet long directly
over the wings.

>In any case, someone in the crew screwed up....badly.

That would have been the navigator, DP Hays, who did not break out any
of his piloting equipment during the flight.

>I thought the radio system was the ARC-5, but it may have been the BC-375.

The USAAF did not use the AN/ARC-5, and the AN/ARC-5 wasn't available
to anyone in April, 1943.  The command set was the standard SCR-274-N.
The liaison set was the SCR-287-A, which uses the BC-375.

>Wasn't the name of the B-24 the "Lady Be Good" ?

Yes.

Mike / KK5F