[Milsurplus] [ARC5] ARC-5 Receiver Question

[John Hutchins]

All -
"I believe that black wrinkle paint was above all chosen " so light may 
not reflect off the equipment and thus give away your position.
Take note that the earlier sets were well painted, along with the 
airplane.  If we take not of the pictures as the war progressed silver 
birds started to appear.   War production and who cared if light 
reflected off the airplane skin  you were on RADAR any way.  Just one of 
hundreds of flying bombers in the air.   Digging through records  one 
will find this was a shortcut to speed up production...!   We were 
outproducing the the Axis on all fronts.

This is how we got fire ants in the southern USA!  Oops I digress..

In fact this is why we have these nice radios!

Well that is my take.

Hutch



On 2/18/2010 9:35 AM, Mike Morrow wrote:
> Mike/N2MS wrote:
>
>    
>> What was the purpose of the paint in the first place? ...
>> The Navy ARC radios continued to be painted so the corrosive
>> environment theory makes sense.
>>      
> I'm not a subscriber to the protective paint theory, at least
> as it applies to the aluminum which comprised most of the
> structure of almost all aircraft radio sets (connectors often
> being a notable exception).
>
> I believe that black wrinkle paint was above all chosen for its
> cosmetic appeal, in spite of the fact that it scratches and flakes
> easier and is harder to clean than more practical finishes such a
> paint with a non-wrinkle surface, or just bare aluminum with its
> natural oxide layer protection.
>
> Western Electric had the philosophy that best suited practical
> war time needs.  They often eliminated features of little value,
> such as the paint on most SCR-274-N units.  The W.E. Co. R-28/ARC-5
> and T-23/ARC-5 were always left in bare aluminum.  These VHF units
> were widely deployed in U.S. Navy aircraft during and after WWII.
> If corrosion was any more of a problem for these units, compared to
> the pretty black wrinkle finish on the R-26/ARC-5 and T-20/ARC-5
> sitting in the same racks, I've not heard remark on it.  The oddest
> thing is that R-4/ARR-2 receivers made by W.E. Co. *were* painted.
>
> As a former Navy guy, I still vote cosmetics as the principal
> reason behind black wrinkle on Navy gear made of aluminum.
>
> Mike / KK5F
> ______________________________________________________________
> Milsurplus mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/milsurplus
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>