[ARC5] WWII Navy Pilots info

[Mkdorney]

My late father was a radioman gunner on a PBY Catalina stationed first in Florida, then later in the Pacific 1943-46. He did operate CW onboard the aircraft. On one occasion, on a training mission over Florida, both engines on the PBY he was in quit ( it was later determined that the flight engineer had a date he was late for and had cut the fuel off to the engines in the hope of getting back to base so he could go on that date. The flight engineer was disciplined after the flight ). Well the PBY was basically a glider with engines, so the pilot ( skipper) was able to glide the aircraft back to base at Pensacola. The pilot had told my dad to radio the base and tell them they were coming back “dead stick”. Dad tapped out the message via CW in the clear, without encoding it first.  After landing, some base communications officer started to chew out my dad for sending that message in the clear. Dad’s skipper abruptly stopped that, informing the communications officer that his radioman ( my dad )had done exactly what he was supposed to do. My guess is my dad’s skipper ( the pilot ) outranked said base commo Officer, as there was no further trouble. 

Mark
WW2RDO


“In matters of style, float with the current. In matters of Principle, stand like a rock. “.   -   Thomas Jefferson 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 16, 2019, at 1:13 PM, revcom at wbsnet.org wrote:
> 
> ARC-5ers
> 
> This may or may not be of any interest, but thought would post it and see
> if anyone liked it.
> I ran across my notes just the other day.
> 
> 
> A couple years ago I did a 'mini-survey' with a couple of WWII Navy
> pilots. I was trying to find out the radio usage they experienced.
> 
> 1. Ray Lindsay, age 94, (my father-in-law, now deceased)
> -Rank... Ensign
> -Time in Navy.....1943-1945
> -What plane(s) did you fly?.....Hellcat-F6E
> -What carrier was you stationed on?...USS White Plains, CVE-66
> base out of Oahu.
> -Did you have any combat missions...No, mostly escort and training
> missions in the Pacific.
> 
> RADIO USAGE
> -Did you tune the radio sets....No, they were set up by flight crew.
> -Did you use the radio much?...Very little
> -Who did you talk to?...Got signals from carrier, no plane to plane
> conversations at all, used hand signals mostly.
> -What type of Microphone did you use?.....Throat, later a hand type.
> -Did you use code (CW) any?....No, but had to pass 12 word per minute
> in training.  Never used a key in the plane.
> -Did you utilize radio direction finding?...Got signal from carrier, a
> -To/From- signal.
> -Did you ever have to adjust the radios?...No
> -Where was radio equipment located?....Behind me I think, all handled by
> flight crew.
> -What was most memorable use of radio?...During a training mission in
> Florida, on a landing approach, my engine quit, I had a crash landing.
> The control tower said "get out, you are on fire!"  I did!  I had live
> ammo on plane.
> 
> 2. Freeman Knight, age 99 (still with us!!)
> -Rank...Lt JG
> -Time in Navy...1942-1945
> -What plane(s) did you fly?...Hellcat, Wildcat and Corsair
> -What carrier was you stationed on?...USS Wasp, CV-18
> based out of Boston.
> -Did you have any combat missions?...Yes, in the Pacific
> 
> RADIO USAGE
> -Did you 'tune' the radio sets?...No, they were set on channel
> by the  flight crew before we took off.
> -Did you use the radio much?...Not much at all.
> -Who did you talk to?...The ship, mostly, got mission summary from them.
> -What type of microphone did you use?...Hand type, hung up in cabin.
> -Did you use code (CW) any?...No, we got an "A" and "N" signal from ship.
> I did have to pass a code test in training.
> -Did you ever have to adjust the radios?...No
> -Where were the radios located?...Either on the firewall or behind the
> seat, I'm not sure, never actually saw them.
> -What was the most memorable use of radio?...I remember it very clearly,
> was August 15th, 1945. Was on a 'scouting mission'. We got a message.
> "Drop your ammo, the war is over!"   We all yelled in the radio then!
> 
> Both were interesting fellers to talk with.
> 
> 73
> Rod
> KØEQH
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