Warbird Information Exchange

96th BG

Great shots Jack, thanks.

Taigh

Yes, thanks Jack.

Also, if anyone else has photos of especially the interior fitments of the radio equipment and the radome and mounting we'd be very grateful. We're in the planning stages of putting all the H2X equipment back in Chuckie and can use all the information we can lay hands on. Paul Bellamy has already given us some great stuff over on the Chuckie thread in the Maintenance Hangar.

Scott

Scott,

I've posted some new goodies in the Chuckie thread for you and the team.

All the best,
Paul

Thank you Jack and Paul!!!

43-39262 was at one point allocated to the 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron on Saipan, and the scanner is in the correct position for a B-17H lifeboat carrier.
As the B-17H was a converted B-17G, and there appear to be lifeboat fittings visible under the bomb bay, I'd guess this one either had a shorter-than-normal lifeboat which meant the ball turret could be retained, or it's part-way through the conversion.

EDIT: It's an early B-17H conversion, when the ball turret was retained.

All the best,
PB

Wasn't the earlier British H2S radar tried on B-17s, mounted in place of the chin turret?

Yes, I know that's not the case with the one in the picture, I'm just asking. . .

Cheers,

I have some shots of that set-up

A B-17 antenna query that came up on AAF.com, I know a few here have already commented

44-8588 at Bassingbourn, seemingly a standard US-modified PFF ship, but with one unusual addition....


Closeup of the tail, with a "something" fitted underneath the Cheyenne pumpkin:


Any ideas anyone?

All the best,
PB

Could it be a kind of tail warning radar like the RAF Monica system?

... It also looks like the tail pumpkin doesn't have any guns fitted. Perhaps and early style tail early warning radar as previously mentioned, that occupies the entire tail blister?

Ta chaps,

The 8AF used a version of Monica MkVII on their fighters, as the AN/APS-13.
Trials commenced in late 1944, with regular installations starting in March 1945.
The antennae used were very small, and were fitted on either side of the fin.
I've not yet found a good image of the original RAF Monica antennae for comparison.

The tail guns do appear to be fitted in the original image, it's just that they are slightly below the horizontal and merge into the shadow on the underside of the B-17 behind.

All the best,
PB

If you also noticed in the picture, while "DF" is the squadron code for the 324th BS of the 91st BG, the tail has a Triangle L, which is the group code for the 381st BG. The 91st BG was, of course, Triangle A.

The 91st and 381st did fly in the same bomb wing (1st BW, IIRC) along with the 401st (Triangle W)

A caption I've seen for that photo indicates that the airplane had just been reassigned to the 91st. That explains the 324th codes and semi-obliterated "L" on the tail. It seems that H2X ships got moved from unit to unit to provide enough Pathfinders for each Group later in the War.

That photo is of special interest to those of us at Vintage Flying Museum as 44-8588 came off the Vega production line just forty-five airplanes after Chuckie and went through the same Pathfinder modification program.

I still haven't found anything on that tail mod, Paul.

Scott