[Milsurplus] USN: ARB receiver used with GP-7 (1942 Navy BuAer List)

[K2CBY at aol.com]

As a guy that dabbles in both ham radio (including mil surplus) and aviation history, I was fascinated by the "Bureau of Aeronautics list as published in 1942." unearthed by Jack Antonio.

First, to answer a still open question, the JRF ("Duck") was a single-engine amphibian biplane manufactured by Grumman, starting in the late 1930s and continuing into 1940 or so. It featured a single central float into which the wheels retracted with the biplane perched on top of a thick pylon above the float. (Must have been an interesting sensation to land since the pilot sat about 2-1/2 stories above the tarmac.) It was used by the Navy as a utility transport (hence the "J" classification), and most were assigned to aircraft carriers and shore stations.

I have no idea whether the GQ was a Coast Guard radio, but a good many JRFs were assigned (transferred) to the Coast Guard and used by that service at shore stations throughout the early war years.

The mix of aircraft noted on the list is interesting in itself. The TBD and the SBD-3 along with the JRF, R4D and some of the large flying boats (PBB and PBM) are about right for 1942 vintage.

The F6F "Hellcat" wasn't much more than off the drawing boards in 1942, and the F7F Twin-engined "Tiger Cat" didn't come into service until the very end of the War and never to my knowledge saw combat.

Strange also is that there was no mention of the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter that was the Navy's mainstay from 1940 to 1943 and stayed in service until the end of the war or the Grumman TBF (or TBM when made by General Motors as a subcontractor) Avenger that was replacing the obsolete TBD (most of which were written off at Midway in July, 1942) as the Navy's standard torpedo bomber.

Miles Anderson, K2CBY
Sag Harbor, NY