[Milsurplus] TCS-12

[Scott Johnson]

I have a very good friend that spent hundreds of hours authenticating the 
radio equipment in the CAF's B-17G "seminal journey", only to see it ripped 
out so they could haul another two pax. Bill does have a point, though. What 
is a treasure to use pointy heads, is just another system to everyone else.

73,
Scott
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. Forster" <jfor at quik.com>
To: <telegrapher at att.net>
Cc: <Milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 5:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] TCS-12


> telegrapher at att.net wrote:
>
>> The local outfit here doesn't want working gear because it's not legal.
>> Yes i said, i know that but for show it would be really neat to have
>> working gear that people coming thru the airplane could put on a headset
>> or have a speaker plugged into the rack and they could listen to
>> something.  Nope, he says.  Besides working gear can be excluded because
>> of the weight and that's a seat for revenue generation.  My eyes glazed
>> over ...
>
> The war birds occasionally come to this area and I've considered going to 
> see
> them on occasion, but ever since learning that the radio areas are dummied 
> up at
> best, I decided not to bother.
>
> Sure, it would be kind of neat to see them close up, but the real brains 
> of the
> planes were their ability to communicate and navigate and find their 
> intended
> targets. I'd very much like to see a bomber fitted out for air drops, with 
> a
> working Rebecca, or a working Norden bombsight or an AZON control station, 
> or
> even just a working MN-26 or MN-31.
>
> While the pilots were certainly heroic, without the ability to find and 
> hit a
> target, the likelihood of a successful mission was very low.
>
> How could large areas of ocean be searched without an ASB-5 or without an 
> APS-4?
> How many Axis subs would have survived to destroy our convoys?
>
> Basically, my irritation with this issue, is that war has become a 
> Hollywood
> shoot 'em up game, with hard drinking, hard playing, pilots as heroes, 
> rather
> than a carefully planned assault using the best technology available. 
> Brains
> don't count...  just vthe ability to fire a gun.
>
> I personally was told of one WW II pilot that really screwed up an 
> important
> mission because he was supposed to lead, because he made a navigational 
> error
> due to his failure to attend some of the pre-flight briefings. As a result 
> of
> his error, many other bomber crews were killed or injured, but he was 
> never
> punished.
>
> Another way to think of the importance of technology is suppose the 
> guidance and
> weapons and communications systems of today were fitted to B-17s. Would 
> the
> outcome of the last two wars have been any different? I think not.  The 
> public
> does not appreciate this, and reenactors who spurn radios and radar are 
> doing a
> disservice to the truth. Pilots are glorified bus or truck drivers.
>
> -John
>
>
>
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