[Milsurplus] SCR274N and BC375/BC348

[Bob Wilder]

I only said that this pilot from the 381st BG(H) said he did not have the 
VHF on board.  I realize that VHF was the mode used by the RAF, in fact it 
is interesting to note that our own BC-640/BC-639 combo was licensed to be 
built in the US.  They were designed by an American who tried to sell the 
idea to the US Army who wanted no part of VHF.  The designer took the idea 
to England and sold the idea to the RAF.  You can still find BC-640's 
around with the Royal crest in the upper left corner of the cabinet.  I get 
the idea that the Army thought, what was good enough for Major Armstrong 
was good enough for them.

 From my research, I have found that the configuration of the radios in a 
type of aircraft quite often differed with each plant that produced the 
aircraft.  Also there were great differences between early models and later 
models as there were not enough of the newer radios to go around.

At 12:06 PM 6/21/2002, Mike wrote:
>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
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Bob Wilder, AF2HD/AFA2HD
6032 Idlemoore Court
Theodore, AL 36582-4036
251-653-5274
http://home.earthlink.net/~bwild
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