[ARC5] P-38J-10 Radios

[Michael Hanz]

You need to understand that this was a test aircraft for most of its 
later operational life.  As such, they were constantly trying out new 
pieces of hardware, and the number of holes drilled to attach this and 
that idea are noticeable.  Thankfully, the curators decided to leave it 
in its "as found" state rather than do a complete restoration, electing 
to simply "preserve" it with fixatives and the like.  So, when you stand 
next to it today, it looks pretty scruffy.  I went over it briefly back 
in 2003 or so, and the only antennas I can recall were the AN-104 VHF 
blade under the nose for the SCR-522, a forlorn open wire antenna to the 
top of the left tail (for the BC-1206 range receiver) and an attachment 
insulator for the SCR-595 IFF system (I think I grabbed a stub antenna 
out of my own collection and screwed it in before I shifted back to the 
Enola Gay, but my memory is fuzzy.)

Here is a closeup of the BC-1206 installation...pretty last minute 
looking...:


There was no DF equipment aboard, as far as I know.  One very revealing 
and fascinating book is the story of the shooting down of Admiral 
Yamamoto - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YKXW981 - which goes 
into quite interesting operational detail about the longest combat 
mission for the P-38s at that point in the war (close to 1,000 mile 
round trip).  Pretty much all dead reckoning, visual sightings of 
waypoints, and careful chart work by each of the leaders.

- Mike  KC4TOS

On 2/9/2021 12:15 AM, Hubert Miller wrote:
>
> Herewith a photo from 'Flight Journal' magazine, Mar. 2021.
>
> NASM  owned P-38J-10 as flown by U.S. ace Richard Bong.
>
> I see an SCR-522 control box, right wall below glass, and below
>
> that, face upwards, a BC-1206 beacon receiver. I would be
>
> interested to learn where the output cord on the 1206 goes.
>
> Also, did it have DF antenna of any kind? If not  - would be of
>
> limited usefulness in Pacific war?
>
> -Hue Miller
>

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