[Milsurplus] MODEL 31 TELETYPE RESOURCE PAGE All variations of Model 31 p...

[Ray Fantini]

Would never disagree about the usefulness and value of an airborne teletype system, but my statement was in regards to the idea that it would be implemented before 1950 being that the equipment in terms of radios, TU and teleprinters would not be up to the task. Although you have many Hams who ran TTY with an ART-13 and BC-348 (ARC-8) cannot see the government using that configuration. Radios like the ARC-21 and later radios like the ARC-94(Collins 618T) would do TTY all day long but that old WW2 stuff may have been good for an experiment or example but none of that stuff was designed for TTY service. Then the printers before things like the Mites were huge, heavy and used AC sync motors designed for 60 Hz or shunted motors with tuning forks. The primitive old TU used for TTY had polar relays and lots of weight with all there tubes. The Navy did a lot with small TU like the CV-57 and the like but in all these years I have never seen any vacuum tube TU designed for aircraft use. I know it's antidotal but in my experience I have never seen on the surplus market, in museums or anywhere vacuum tube base pre 1950 airborne teletype equipment. Tons of stuff produced in the late fifties and early sixties but I am still not buying the idea of flying teletype before 1950, by 1960 can see systems installed everywhere and who knows there may still be a UGC-129 in operation somewhere out there but pre 1950 is going to  take more convincing for me to buy in.

Ray F

-----Original Message-----
From: milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of B. Smith
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 7:18 PM
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] MODEL 31 TELETYPE RESOURCE PAGE All variations of Model 31 p...

I am sure  teletype was installed , the majority of traffic that flows between a VIP aircraft and  airways ground comm is devoted to non-classified, non encrypted material, such as  golf course weather, changes in flight plan, golf tee times, itinerary changes, messages for the press, personal traffic for passengers and special guests ,  golf tee times for 22 people, hotel reservation changes, more golf tee times,  food and beverage menu changes for the next leg, pages and pages of hand copied material was finally  eliminated by the teletype machines on board, and a "hard copy" is always better. Much faster and more accurate than having one of the radio operators (there were several) copy by mill, proofing the copy and then finally releasing it to the addressee. With teletype you just had the ground station  send it twice for verification. If necessary message traffic could be coded and then decoded on board the aircraft, all it took was use the "secrets", no mechanical device was necessary.
Those that are familiar, remember  HAMM's beer H A M M and what it stood for when decoding of encoding.
  VIP flying is a complete pain in the arse.

BTW I would take those static displays at Wright Pat with a grain of 
salt as far as the radio equipment installed.   MATS VIP aircraft were  
not the same as the rest of the MATS fleet and each aircraft had custom equipment installed and often installed at the last minute for a particular mission and then it was removed for the next. etc.
Z