[Milsurplus] Re: [ARC5] LF in a B-17?

[k0ng at inebraska.com]

Very interesting David. Thanks. Am also curious where you find such history.
Charlie  ..

Quoting David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>:

> I've found documentation concerning this thread
> about why B-17s and other heavy WWII aircraft
> carried LF capability.
> 
> While providing DF signals is a documented use,
> at least for Navy aircraft,
> there is another use that included Army Air Force units.
> A clue can be found in the flying terminology
> of the 1930s and 1940s, when an aircraft
> was referred to as a "ship."
> 
> During flights over open ocean,
> such as ferrying flights or even short hops
> between the eastern U.S. and the Canadian coast,
> radio operators were required to
> keep MF distress watch on 500 KC at 15 and 45 minutes
> after the hour, just like other "ships"
> sailing on the waters below,
> and to be able to answer distress calls.
> 
> I submit an excerpt from a radio log sheet
> from a AAF aircraft, CW callsign "GNJY,"
> phone callsign "Beggar Able,"
> which ferried from Dow Field in Bangor, Maine
> to Gander Field, New Foundland on August 25th, 1944,
> sixty years ago tomorrow:
> 
> ----------
> 1515 Take off.
> 1521 Requested radio check from Bangor Flight Control on 4220 KC HF.
>       They replied on 375 KC LF "read you R5 S5
>       and on frequency."
> 1545 Tuned to 500 KC and monitored.  No signal heard.
> 1600 Received a CW message from WYXN on 7445 KC.
> 1615 "Guarding Inter. Distress Freq. 500 K.C."
> 1618 Monitoring 4220 K.C.
> ----------
> 
> I also submit an excerpt from a training document issued
> 19 June 1944 at Mitchell Field, N.Y., 110th AAF Base Unit,
> office of the Communications Officer, Restricted and
> entitled "The Most Important Member,"  presenting a number
> of points about the responsibilities
> of the aircraft radio operator.
> 
> ------------
> 8.  DO YOU KNOW DISTRESS PROCEDURES?
> This is a MUST, for the crew will be counting on you
> to obtain aid when everything else fails....
> Do you know of the guard on 500 K.C., especially
> during the three-minute international Silent Periods
> starting at 15 minutes and 45 minutes after each hour?...
> 
> 9. HAVE YOU TUNED YOUR LIAISON TRANSMITTER
>     BETWEEN 200-600 K.C. WHILE IN FLIGHT?
> This is a required procedure on many flights overseas...
> -----------
> 
> Given the monitoring times of 1545 and 1615,
> plus the use of the term "guarding" in the aircraft
> radio log, plus the excerpt from the training document,
> we can confidently conclude that, among other duties,
> the LF capabilities of  WWII AAF heavy aircraft
> were there to comply with the Distress requirements
> of "ships" capable of transiting the open ocean.
> 
> 73 DE Dave Stinson AB5S
> 
> 
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