[ARC5] BC-611 Air to Ground

[Robert Eleazer]

I finally found a reference to a BC-611 being used to talk to an aircraft in WWII.  I have wondered for some time if this was ever done, for FAC or SAR purposes or whatever.

A guy was parachuted into deepest Burma to rescue a downed pilot.  The C-47 that dropped him then dropped a bunch of supplies, including what must be a BC-611, based on the description.  He was able to talk to the airplane, which was circling over his position.  Presumably the C-47 was using SCR-274-N.

I guess that a BC-611 would work for that kind of a situation, with the ground and air units already in visual contact.  I doubt that using a BC-611 hail a passing airplane would work nearly as well.   I'll have to get further into the book to find out if the HT was useful to talk to airplanes during his trek out of the jungle.

Wayne