[Milsurplus] B-17 "Second Operator"

[Hubert Miller]

The text calls the waist positions Engineer and assistant, and First Radio and assistant. I’d guess the ‘assistants’ became the waist

gunners, or all four of these filled gun positions. Apparently crew size varied from 8 to 10 depending on mission.  The text calls

the R.O. “First Radio Operator”. In cursory reading elsewhere i read that the manned ball turret was added later, and the tail gun

was not always manned – in that case, the plane jinked to give the waist gunners a shot at pursuer. ( That sounds ‘iffy’. )

I cannot tell from the photos what B-17 variant this is.

-Hue 

 

From: Milsurplus [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bill Carns
Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 2016 11:43 PM
To: 'Hubert Miller' <kargo_cult at msn.com>; armyradios at yahoogroups.com; milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] B-17 "Second Operator"

 

Actually, the picture does not refer to a “second” radio operator.  It calls the second guy in the photo an assistant (not a term that would be used in the military for sure).  Could well be a gunner pulled into the act or just staged.

 

Bill

 

From: Milsurplus [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Hubert Miller
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2016 1:31 AM
To: armyradios at yahoogroups.com <mailto:armyradios at yahoogroups.com> ; milsurplus at mailman.qth.net <mailto:milsurplus at mailman.qth.net> 
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] B-17 "Second Operator"

 

Absolutely right, Dennis. Most of the for-magazine photos are staged. “Do something like you’re working the radio.” ( Isn’t there a ‘codetalkers’ photo with a TBY with no power supply attached? )

Still, the point was, i cannot imagine what a 2nd radio operator was needed for. 
Yes, of course the transmitter for this TU had to be the BC-191 type, as Mike pointed out.

Since BC-224-A in situ photos are not as common, i usually keep the magazines they appeared in.

 

I saw in a Japanese photo the other day the view inside a Japanese ‘Mavis’ seaplane looking forward. 

The radio, one unit, even tho it was a relatively high-powered liaison set, was suspended from bungee

cords. When i saw that, i realized how easy it was for those scuba divers to remove the radio from 

the sunken Japanese plane – that photo that appeared in QST maybe 20 years ago. The radio went to

the local museum – taking souvenirs is now forbidden, with some exceptions made for bribery or

as they call it, ‘licensing’,  at Guadalcanal. 

-Hue

 

-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] B-17 "Second Operator"

 

And maybe just a kluged up photo session…  “You two guys.  Get over here and act like you know something about these radios…”  See a lot of this kind of stuff in the Radio News Magazine “Special" issues put out during the War.  

 

Dennis D.  W7QHO

Glendale, CA

 

 

 

                                                                                

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