[Milsurplus] RE: Bomber Radio Pictures
Jack Antonio
scr287 at sbcglobal.net
Mon Apr 17 15:43:47 EDT 2006
Todd and the group,
As much as I would dearly love to operate either
the command or liason set from a B-17, I just don't
think it's going to happen.
The only way I see it happening is if one of the flight
crew was an enthusiastic ham who shared our enjoyment of
the equipment.
I shudder to think of just letting someone show their
ham license and then getting access to the radios, they
would be ruined in short order. Let's face it, the
technical skills needed to tune up and operate an
SCR-274N(let alone a BC-375) just aren't there in
most of todays hams.
The use of the radios would have to be closely
monitored and supervised, frequencies would have
to chosen for each area, a decision made as to
AM or CW (I'd choose CW), lots of details.
Plus the time and expense of maintaining the radios
(lets see, given the prices of 211's these days, one
plane ride equals 4 211's), I doubt if the owners of
the aircraft, even if they cared, would want the
hassle.
Another problem I have heard about is that theft
and vandalism is a problem that the groups have
with the "walk through" tours. In the pictures that
were just posted, I noticed the tube
cover is missing from the BC-375, when that aircraft
was in Reno a few years ago, that cover was there.
I wonder if it became someone's souvenir.
There was a B-17 that came to Carson City a few years
ago, I don't know the group, but the radio installation,
as well as the rest of the aircraft were impressive. I had
a long talk with one of the crew(who was unusually friendly)
about the workings of the bomb release mechanisms. Even the
IFF was installed, in the gunners compartment just behind
the radio room bulkhead.
I think our best bet would be to see if something could
be worked out with one of the B-17s on display at a museum,
sort of an "open radio room" day similar to the "open
cockpit day" that the Castle AFB museum has.
Jack
Jack Antonio WA7DIA
scr287 at sbcglobal.net
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