Reel-out/in Wire Antennas (was: RE: [Milsurplus] VLF/ELF submarinecomms)

[Tom Dawson]

Reminds me of my Dad (Radio Op on B-17/25/29's and PBY's) describing the 
technique of reeling those antennas in and  the consequences of doing it 
wrong:

The "fish" through a roof was only one consequence, as the wire inside the 
aircraft, no longer under tension, and being springy, would then unwind 
inside the airframe and make a spectacular mess for the ground crew to deal 
with.


73

Tom
WB3AKD

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "D C *Mac* Macdonald" <k2gkk at hotmail.com>
To: <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 10:48 PM
Subject: Reel-out/in Wire Antennas (was: RE: [Milsurplus] VLF/ELF 
submarinecomms)



That reminds me of the story told by instructors at Undergraduate
Navigator School at Harlingen AFB, TX about the wire antennas for
the Loran A receivers on our T-29 training aircraft.  Apparently
somebody forgot to reel the antenna in while still over the Gulf of
Mexico.  Last minute panic roll-in went too far and the big weight
at the end snapped off and went through the roof and each floor
of a house in Brownsville, TX.

73 - Mac, K2GKK/5
Oklahoma City, OK
(Class 62-16)



> Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:16:11 -0700
> From: gzook at yahoo.com
> Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] VLF/ELF submarine comms
> To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net; arc5 at ix.netcom.com
> CC:
>
Speaking of TACAMO:

It was being developed when I was working for Collins Radio at the
"new" corporate headquarters here in Richardson, Texas (worked
there right out of college from 1967 until 1969). At the time they
were having problems with the "reeling in" of the miles long wire
antenna. When that happened the operator had to take a hatchet
and chop off the wire so that the aircraft could land. There are
many miles of this wire at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico off
shore from Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Collins had a 35 mm slide show for presentations to various
organizations (including the military) which included one slide
showing Heckel and Jeckel, the two cartoon crows, saying "duck,
here comes that damn wire again."

Glen, K9STH
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