[ARC5] arc5

[Alan Morriss]

hello , i have got out my ARC5 gear preparatory to getting it going. i have 3 tx units , details as follow. T19/ARC5 74912 . no 1105 . T20/ARC5 20124 no 2603 . T22/ARC5 no 6058 . with any luck it will be servicable soon. the receivers work well. 
i would bet that the B17 which came down in the channel ditched in 1943  . i can check the date, but i think it was the 3rd of february.  they took part in a raid on stuttgart , and owing to faulty met info ran short of fuel on the return . 22 landed in sussex, and 2 ditched in the channel . in the forest about a mile from here there was an emergency landing strip. about 10 in the morning i heard engines and ran out to look.  two B17s were flying up the valley, and one had an engine stopped.the first plane put the undercarriage down and made for the strip. the pilot of the other put it down in the fields near the house. us kids ran like crazy to where it had landed , and easily beat the soldiers from the camp. 
the crew were burning up their maps and documents when we arrived . the pilot had a cut on his forehead and blood coming out of his nose . i asked if i could go inside and he said that i could have it as far as he was concerned.
sitting in the cockppit decided me to become a pilot . i did and flew a B17 in films and air shows much later,
 i often wondered what became of the crew , and found out all i could . a few years ago a military historian came here to look at the old camp, and when i told him about it he said he would find out. he was as good as his word , and discovred that they survived the war, got all the names and service records , even their schools.. i emailed the school in richmond VA which the pilot went to,, and 2 hours later received a reply from his son.  cheers, alan G4GEN