[Milsurplus] Last flight of the LBG

[Jim DiMauro]

The whole notion of which of the salvaged parts went
where sounds like an urban legend.  The radio went
here, an armrest went there, etc.  Like there were so
few BC-348s and armrests that the military had to
resort to salvaging such things from a 15 year old
wreck in the Libyan desert.  Geez, they could have
gone to Fair Radio for a BC-348, a whole lot closer to
Wright-Pat than Libya!  And the recycled parts were so
very special that someone recorded their ultimate
destinations for posterity.  Maybe so, but I think
not.

And the notion of bad luck of planes that used the
recycled parts is a common theme that's as old as
aviation itself (inspired by similar stories of
salvaged ships, no doubt).  Boy Scout campfire lore.

Jim
w2bvm

--- Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Ray Fantini <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu> wrote:
> 
> > Couple more thoughts on the LBG flight, what was
> the radio that was
> > removed and installed on the C-54? have read
> somewhere it was a ARC-1
> > but not cretin. 
> 
> One may be certain it was not an AN/ARC-1, which was
> a USN VHF rig that I'm not convinced even made it
> into frontline service before the end of WWII.  I
> doubt there was any JAN-nomenclature gear on board.
> 
> The LBG was an early-war B-24D serial 41-24301.  It
> was lost on its first (and very unsuccessful) combat
> mission in April 1943.  There's no reason to believe
> that it carried anything more or less what was
> standard for that time:
> SCR-287 liason radio
> SCR-274-N command radio
> SCR-269 ADF
> SCR-595 IFF (only a possibility)
> SCR-211 Frequency Meter
> SCR-578 Emergency portable 500 kc transmitter.
> RC-43 Marker beacon receiver
> RC-36 Interphone 
> 
> Since the LBG did not operate out of the UK, I doubt
> that it carried the SCR-522 VHF command set.
> 
> It's likely that only the BC-348 component of the
> SCR-287, the BC-453 component of the SCR-274-N, or
> much less probably the BC-433 component of the
> SCR-269 would have still been in use in a 1958-era
> USAF aircraft.   My bets are on one of these three
> candidates as the radio item that was placed back in
> service (on a C-47).  Personally, my money is on the
> BC-348, for the AN/ARC-8 set that was common on
> late-1950s USAF C-47s. 
> 
> The best book I've ever read on the LBG is the
> relatively recent "Lady's Men" by Mario Martinez. 
> It's hard to escape the conclusion that the
> navigator was not competent.  Even chart plotting
> instruments were found stowed in the LBG, as if no
> real effort at dead reckoning was being exerted
> during the flight.   It's sad that this crew lost
> its life accomplishing nothing and producing a net
> negative result for the war effort.  But I'm sure
> this happens many times over in war.
> 
> Mike / KK5F
>
______________________________________________________________
> Milsurplus mailing list
> Home:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/milsurplus
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
> 




		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Messenger 
Show us what our next emoticon should look like. Join the fun. 
http://www.advision.webevents.yahoo.com/emoticontest