[MRCG] SCR-274 as installed in P-51C Lopes Hope

[Mark J. Blair]

> On Aug 31, 2017, at 2:57 PM, Jim Falls <radio-tuber at att.net> wrote:
> 
> I often wonder if these birds end up better than they were coming off the assembly lines.

I bet that most of them do. I recall seeing a period photograph of a truck assembly line during WW2 in a magazine. There were greasy fingerprints all over the fenders. That was the moment when I suddenly lost interest in spotless, showroom-quality restorations of military trucks in my own collection. I'm personally more of a "motor pool" guy than a "showroom/museum" guy.

Prior to that, I had spent plenty of time in the auction yards, seeing what the trucks looked like after military service. In service, not a care was given in keeping trucks in "original" or "correct" configuration. Need a place to hang a rolled-up cable? Weld some scrap steel together and bolt it to the back of the truck. Truck the wrong color for an invasion? Spray on paint sloppily and turn on the windshield wipers on the way out of the painting tent. Need better drainage in the floor of a HMMWV for fording operations? The holes in the floor of my HMMWV all looked a lot like they were made with the pickaxe carried in the pioneer kit, and/or a bayonet blade, and/or a 9mm or 5.56mm power drill.

That all being said, the planes that John has been working on are certainly gorgeous.

-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/