[Milsurplus] 24 Volt BC-312's & KC-97L

[Francesco Ledda]

I remember getting inside a KC-97 that used to be parked on the West side of
Carswell AFB.  I don't know what has happened to that ship. It was 1985, an
I was surprised seeing the ship equipped with an APX-72 and a 618T.

-----Original Message-----
From: milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Mike Morrow
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 10:38 AM
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] 24 Volt BC-312's & KC-97L


Ray wrote:

> ... they tell me this is how they received it from the National Guard unit
> that was flying it. The ship is a odd mix of technology with some vintage
>electronics on board like the BC-312, and what's stranger is the APX-6
>transponder that's above it,

They can claim what they will, I don't believe it for a moment.  IMHO, the
BC-312 is undoubtedly bogus.  It weighs twice what a BC-348 weighs, and runs
off 12 vdc (or was it the very rare "X" model, much more difficult to find
than a BC-348), and lacks 200 to 400 kc coverage.  Even the BC-348 and
ART-13 (ARC-8) was very obsolete for a SAC aircraft in 1955.  Certainly SAC
would not have installed a BC-312, and there would be no reason for the ANG
to have done this.

The AN/APX-6 IFF or the similar-looking AN/APX-25 derivative is possibly
genuine, though.  They were being used on SAC aircraft well into the 1970s.

>and newer systems like two new encoding altimeters and a modern
>altitude encoding transponder.

They wouldn't need the APX-6/25 then.  Sounds like a civilian backfit.

>Their is no HF command transmitter installed, and no ARC-5 type junk,

A KC-97 of this vintage and assigned to a command of such high national
priority as SAC would definitely have had an AN/ARC-21 (AM) or later the
AN/ARC-65 (USB) 140 lbm drum HF set installed, maybe along with the
associated AN/ARR-36 auxiliary HF receiver.  Possibly, a non-pressurized
version of the AN/ARC-58 HF set might have been installed.  Minor
service/support aircraft might have had the old AN/ARC-8 still in place, but
not a KC-97.  There would have been no reason for this gear to have been
removed for ANG service.

No surprise about "ARC-5 junk"...HF "command sets" had been long since
supplanted by UHF command sets like the AN/ARC-27 and -34 by 1955.
Contemporary VHF sets would likely have been the older AN/ARC-3, 36, 49 type
of sets.  VHF capability wasn't all that important if UHF was available.

The ADF set of choice in 1955 would likely have been the AN/ARN-6.

>Perhaps in the conversion to a "L" in 65 is when they removed the HF
>transmitter, installed the new transponder and altimeters, ... also all
>the VHF and UHF communications appear to be from the mid sixties.

Military digital-tuned UHF sets commonly in use in the mid-1960s would
include the AN/ARC-27, 34, and 51(*).  Plus the USAF had a host of other
less common oddball UHF sets like the ARC-33, 66, 74, etc.

The common military digitally-tuned VHF set of that era was the AN/ARC-73.

>Brings up the question I brought up before, is this ship only
>relevant if it is returned to the state that it was when delivered
>from the factory, or as it was finally retired from active service?

I'd say the last, but the lineup described is almost certainly NOT what was
in place when the aircraft was in military service.  It's just too fishy and
bizarre.  The museum folks need to do a better job of figuring out where all
that goof-ball stuff came from, and get rid of it.

On a slightly different matter, but related to airborne commo gear, I wonder
how many list members realize how much communications avionics was on the
typical Vietnam-era Army UH-1 ("Huey") helicopter.  Here'a list from a
late-1960s UH-1D/H model:

AN/ARC-51BX   UHF         225-400 mc.
AN/ARC-102     HF/SSB    2 to 30 mc.  (Only on command aircraft)
AN/ARC-131     VHF-FM    30 to 76 mc.
AN/ARC-134     VHF-AM    116 to 150 mc.
AN/ARN-82       VHF-VOR  108 to 127 mc.
AN/ARN-83       ADF         0.1 to 1.75 mc.

This doesn't include all the other IFF and navigation gear.  This gear would
do proud even the largest of military aircraft of the mid-1960s.  Yet these
small aircraft carried gear covering almost all of the useful spectrum to
400 mc.

73,
Mike / KK5F
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