[ARC5] Aircraft Antennas

[Robert Eleazer]

Speaking of WWII aircraft long wire antennas, I ran across a funny little item.

The first Curtiss Hawk 81A's (export P-40C) acquired by the British had an antenna that consisted of wires running from the two wingtips back to the top of the vertical fin.

They soon found that this arrangement placed two insulator "eggs" at exactly the right spot to make the pilot catch sight of them with the corner of his eye and think that he was being bounced by enemy aircraft.  I can hardly imagine how nerve wracking that must have been.

In any case, both the RAF and USAAF seemed to phase out the wingtip-to-tail fin antennas fairly early in the war.

Wayne
WB5WSV