[Milsurplus] Yamamoto Mission: P-38 Radio Navigation

[Mike Morrow]

>This article indicates a Navy ship's compass was fitted to the P-38
>for the mission. No mention of a radio compass.
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Isoroku_Yamamoto

That ignores addressing just exactly WHAT advantage a ship's compass of any sort would give for navigating a 430 mi. open-water path.  None of the P-38s had a dedicated navigator to deal with celestial observations.

I don't know the real answer.  The main weakness of my ZB proposal is that the altitude flown by the USAAF aircraft was apparently rather low (one hundred feet is claimed in some sources).  At that altitude the range of the ZB is rather short unless the beacon transmitter is very high.  Some shipboard YG/YE beacons would likely be required.  The flight path from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal to Bougainville was arched out well to the west rather than being in a straight line, apparently to avoid flying over the many intervening islands, so that's a significant complicating factor too.

Major John Mitchell did a masterful job in the lead aircraft, regardless of how the navigation was performed.  It would just be interesting to know exactly how he did it.

Mike / KK5F