[ARC5] Aircraft for Sale

[Mike Morrow]

Scott wrote:

> The [T-28]D model that I have experience with had an ARC-54 FM,
> ARC-51BX UHF, Wilcox 807A VHF, ARN-14 Omni, ARN-18 GS, ARN-6 ADF,
> KY-28, APX-44, and AIC-10 interphone.

It sounds well-equipted to provide ground-support communications, especially with the unpopular TSEC/KY-28 Nestor voice encryption capability for the AN/ARC-54.  It seems to me that the T-28D should have been called the AT-28D.

The USAF and US Army seemed committed to providing both UHF and VHF command sets in their aircraft.  The USN essentially abandoned VHF not long after WWII, when the AN/ARC-12 and then the AN/ARC-27 were available.  IMHO, in the Vietnam era the AN/ARC-51BX was the most important of UHF aircraft command sets.

The Wilcox 807A had JAN nomenclature as AN/ARC-134, but apparently no components were actually marked with it.

Many late-1960s US Army UH-1D and H model helos in S.E.A. carried:

AN/ARC-131 VHF-FM, along with TSEC/KY-28 "Nestor"
AN/ARC-51BX UHF-AM
AN/ARC-134 VHF-AM
AN/ARC-102 MF/HF SSB (command ship only)
AN/ARN_82 VOR/LOC (usually no GS capability)
AN/ARN-83 LF/MF ADF
AN/APX-72 IFF
R-1043*/ARN Marker Beacon Receiver
C-1611*/AIC Interphone (4)

That's a pretty impressive array of avionics for a small aircraft.  It covers a great percentage of the radio spectrum below microwaves.

FWIW, most US submarines carried AN/APX-44 or -72 IFF sets (with power fuses normally removed until IFF was needed), 1960s to 1980s.

Mike / KK5F