[Milsurplus] SCR274N and BC375/BC348

[Mike]

Bob Wilder wrote:

>  He also stated that they DID NOT have any VHF capability on the
>  B-17...

Every Pilot Information File and Radio Operator Information File with a
revision date after mid-1944 that I've seen addresses the operation of
the VHF SCR-522.  I have a BC-602-A SCR-522 control box with a
"serviceable part" tag dated 2 JUL 45 that indicates that it was pulled
from a B-17G.

I think that the preponderance of evidence and testimony leads one to
conclude that the SCR-522 was used for command and air-ground
communications in the ETO (at least for flights through British
airspace) very frequently.  For just one example, at least one pilot
memoir can be found on the web that praises the performance of the
pushbutton SCR-522 over the "coffee-grinder" sets.  I've corresponded
with a fellow who was a USAAF radio tech during the last couple years of
WWII in the ETO, and he stated that the SCR-522 was in everything that
flew:  fighter, bomber, or transport.  Historically, the ugly-duckling
SCR-522 is an very important relic of WWII.

I even have a picture of the cockpit of a USN PBY with two BC-602
control boxes mounted in the center (I hadn't realized the USN used any
SCR-522s).

>  It was not until late in the war that the B-17 got the ART-13.

Has anyone seen any photos or other documentation of an AN/ARC-8 type of
installation (with the T-47) in a WWII ETO USAAF aircraft?  I've not. 
I've only heard of those being installed in PTO B-29s and the like.

>  Hope this puts everything to rest.

It won't.  Other "I was there at the time" reports provide contradictory
information.  Likely, there's truth in every report, as the reporter
experienced it.

Mike / KK5F