[ARC5] PBY Restoration

[Mike Morrow]

The ZA Air-Track ILS may have been installed on some USN patrol aircraft early in the war, but no surviving aircraft would have finished WWII using such an ILS.  The USN abandoned the awkward less-effective Air-Track ILS (ZA, ZAX, AN/ARN-9) by 1944 in favor of the far superior much easier to use USAAF SCS-51 ILS (RC-103-A localizer and AN/ARN-5 glide slope).

It takes a hodge-podge of a fair number of ZA components to complete a ZA installation.  Jack Antonio is the only person I've ever heard of completing a ZA in the modern era.  

The last Air-Track system was the AN/ARN-9, which is the ILS to which the Maintenance Handbook for the AN/ARC-5 refers for using an R-23 or R-24/ARC-5 receiver with MX-19/ARC-5 audio adapter as the AN/ARN-9 localizer.  In 25 years of searching I have come across only the ID-29/ARN-9 ILS indicator.  This ILS was abandoned (fortunately) just as it was developed.

Mike / KK5F
-----Original Message-----
From: <releazer at earthlink.net>
Sent: Aug 31, 2022 6:29 AM
To: <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [ARC5] PBY Restoration

I visited American Aero in New Smyrna Beach yesterday and delivered a ZA ILS receiver for their PBY restoration.  The airframe is nearly complete and they are getting ready to paint.  They still have to do the interior work.  They have an RU-16 receiver and numerous plug in coils for it.  Looks like it is going to be just great!   That airplane has some significant history, being credited with the first sinking of a U-Boat by a USN PBY.  It was flown here form the Netherlands.  They have a total of three PBY's on hand for restoration.

Wayne
WB5WSV 



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