[Milsurplus] can anyone id the radio used on this clipper?

[Mike Morrow]

Dave wrote:

>Here is another neat video on a the subject
>
>China Clipper Air Service
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqOSQ5qSHXI
>
>Their are a few radio shots and a guy sending CW with a bug.

The long-range over-ocean airliners into the 1950s carried a Morse
Radio Officer similar to the merchant marine Radio Officer. He had
to have at least a Second Class Radiotelegraph License (20 wpm
plain, 16 wpm code groups, plus written test elements 1, 2, 5,
and 6) and the Aircraft Radiotelegraph Endorsement (25 wpm plain,
20 wpm code groups, plus written test element 7).

Element 7 was still being offered in FCC offices as recently as
the early 1980s, even though airline radio officers had not been used
anywhere for more than 25 years.  I always wanted to get an Aircraft
Radiotelegraph endorsement on my second class telegraph ticket, just
for the historical novelty of it.  But I never got around to it.
I even let my hard-earned telegraph license expire 15 years ago.

I would think that would have been pretty interesting duty as radio
officer on a China Clipper in the 1930s.  I'd bet there was a lot
of competition for the job.

Mike / KK5F