Warbird Information Exchange

Thought this might be interesting for the odd nose; I'm guessing camera pod since it's a recon version?




https://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-Photo-Lig ... 3755699675

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

NS686 was a PR.XVI.TT, fitted with H2X radar in that bulbous nose. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1947.

"Mickey ships" were specially-modified Mosquitos that were equipped with the H2X radar set used on the B-17 Flying Fortress. A bulged nose housing held the H2X scanner with the amplifier and electronics crammed in the nose and bomb bay. The radar scope itself, though, was in the rear fuselage. Before the approach to the target, the observer had to climb over the equipment in the bomb bay and into the rear fuselage where he either photographed the radar display or filmed it with a movie camera. The purpose of the "Mickey ships" was to get radar navigation images of the approaches to German targets. These images would be then correlated with maps to provide the B-17 navigators with poor-weather approaches to high-priority targets in Germany.

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When I was young "sex was safe & flying was dangerous".

Do you have an example of that radar image? I'm curious what would be visible.

https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-g ... pg?id=6770
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H2S_(radar)
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/edit ... wizard-war
https://www.482nd.org/radar

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/18452

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45-47=-2

No sorry I do not would be interesting to see.

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When I was young "sex was safe & flying was dangerous".

My links above provide some photos.

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45-47=-2

Thanks Mike! Resolution is better than I would have expected. For some reason I was expecting more of a weather radar appearance.

"Before the approach to the target, the observer had to climb over the equipment in the bomb bay and into the rear fuselage where he either photographed the radar display or filmed it with a movie camera. The purpose of the "Mickey ships" was to get radar navigation images of the approaches to German targets."

The above "bogus" information appears in several of Martin W. Bowman's books on the Mosquito. The navigator entered the rear fuselage, behind the bomb bay, through the rear starboard hatch prior to takeoff. Besides navigating he also operated the Mickey equipment. He faced a scope showing images of radar returns. To his left was a "second" small remote scope with a 35mm camera attached to capture the CRT images at various distances to the target. There is NO evidence in 25th BG Rcn records, nor among their veterans, that a cine camera was ever attached to the CRT. The Mickey Mosquito radar mapping missions were cancelled in January 1945. In March/April 1945, AAF began using cine cameras to film the CRT in B-17 and B-24 aircraft according to 325 Photo Wing, Rcn records. After Mickey equipment removal, AAF assigned NS686 to train 492 BG aircrew at Harrington to fly Mosquito aircraft for OSS Joan-Eleanor Project.

NS686 at Alconbury 9 August 1944
Tropical Mk 16, Mickey H2X configured
654 Squadron, 25 BG Rcn. Watton as W-Wagon
18 March 1945, Transferred to OSS Joan-Eleanor project at 492 BG, Harrington.
44 Maintenance Unit, 22 June 1945
Scrapped 8 July 1948

The two black and white photos were obtained from color Kodachrome slides.