[ARC5] L-5 Liaison Aircraft Radios

[David Stinson]

On 6/23/2025 7:25 AM, Mark K3MSB wrote:
> Hi Everyone
> A friend has just purchased an "L Bird" and wants
> to eventually put authentic radios in her.
> Here's what one of the manual shows:
> The caption mentions "Learadio"...
The Stinson L5 has been a study of mine for some time.
I have good copies of the Maintenance and Flight manuals
from 1945.

The "Lear" photo is from early pre-war documentation, circa 1939.
It's the same problem as the Mil-Vehicle guys have with obsessing
over "TCS-5" as being the only "authentic" TCS radio because that's
what is called-out in the vehicle book,
but only because the 2nd Lt. buried in pre-war
docs and tasked with compiling a "clean" manual from them had
only those to go-on.  In reality, if the goal is an authentic War-period
vehicle with TCS, -12 or -13 would be installed.

Just so, the Lear call-out for Liaison ships is a 1939 set.
If the ship was 6- or 12-volt,
the RCA AVR-20/AVT-112 with small beacon set would be installed.
If 24-volt, 1 TX / 2 RX SCR-274N was installed. General Patton and
General Eisenhower's person Liaison ships used the RCA set.

Now, that's not to say the Lear equipment did not see service-
it did, but mostly as "ferrying" sets, built into or onto whatever
was available- I've seen them on boards and built into
small luggage- and issued to ferry pilots, who could stick them
some place secure, rig power and antenna, ferry the aircraft to
its destination, remove the radio and take it with them on
the train/flight back to base.  Sometimes they would turn the
radio in along with the aircraft and be issued another for a
different ferry.  Lots of different radios and procedures  in
the Ferrying Service - a fluid, "use what ya got" situation.
But the RCA AVT-112 / AVR-20 were reserved for active aircraft.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JeePF38uv5o99CB46
(Sorry, not for sale)

Some have asked "What about the RCA AVR-15 beacon set?
That one was designed for the bulky, balky, weak-sister
AVT-15 transmitter.  Besides; room in the L-5 is tight.
The BC-1206 is half the size and spreads-around
the contract money ;-).
Over time, lots of radios got "shoe-horned" into Liaison birds,
including BC-659 etc, but the RCA and SCR-274N are the only
sets I've seen specifically assigned to them.

Aside:
While I've seen many AVR/AVT sets with Signal Corps
inspection markings, I've never found documentation
that they were given an "SCR" or "AN/A*" etc.
nomenclature.  Perhaps the war was just moving too
fast to catch-up with such minutia.

GL OM ES 73 DE Dave AB5S

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