Tail Warning Radar

Summary of Tail Warning Radar AN/APS-13 from Radar Observers’ Bombardment Information File, July 1945.

Tail Warning Radar AN/APS-13

Radio Set AN/APS-13 is a lightweight radar set which gives an airplane pilot, or any other aircrew member who can see or hear it, a visible and audible warning that a hostile airplane is behind or approaching from the rear.

The usable range of this set is from 200 to 800 yards, and within an area extending up to 30° on both sides of the airplane and from 45° above it to 45° below it. The set doesn’t work above 50,000 feet or below 3100 feet. Ground reflections determine the lower limit.

Tail Warning Radar AN/APS-13

The main units include the antenna, transmitter-receiver, indicator light with brilliance control; warning bell, ON-OFF switch, and test switch. The set operates on 27.5 volts, which is the primary aircraft power supply.

Operation

1. Turn the power switch ON.

2. Wait at least three minutes for the tubes to warm up, then hold the test switch up. If the indicator lights and the warning bell rings, the equipment is operating properly. You can adjust the intensity of the indicator light with the rheostat.

3. You must set the GAIN CONTROL correctly. Adjust the screwdriver control on the front panel of the transmitter-receiver so that the receiver sensitivity is well below the level at which the tube noise can trigger the relay and give a false warning. If you reduce the sensitivity too far, however, it won’t detect aircraft within the required range. Have a competent radio technician check this before you start out on a combat mission.

Caution: The warning bell must be where the pilot can hear it clearly but where crew members cannot hear it; they might mistake it for the bailout signal.

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Take the “HE” Out of Summer’s Heat

“Take the ‘HE’ out of summer’s HEAT!” from Army Motors, Vol. 6, No. 3, June 1945.

Take the HE out of summer's HEAT!

Hot weather can stop your vehicle just as dead as a burst of hot steel—it takes a bit longer, that’s all. Summer-wise GI’s will bear down early and often on vital items like these:

  • COOLING SYSTEM—Drain antifreeze, flush system, install rust inhibitor. Check cylinder-head and filler-cap gaskets, thermostat, fan belt, pressure-relief valve, hose connections. Police up that radiator core. Look for leaks everywhere and always.
  • AIR CLEANERS—Keep elements clean—with solvent. Maintain proper oil level (if any).
  • FUEL FILTERS—Drain and clean element frequently.
  • MANIFOLD HEAT-CONTROL—Switch valve to summer position.
  • ENGINE—Wipe off heavy dirt and grease.
  • VALVES—Adjust timing and clearances with extra care.
  • BATTERIES—Watch electrolyte level. Water must be added more often in summer months.
  • TIRES—Keep air pressure what it should be. Check tires when they’re coolest—and don’t bleed them when they’re hot.

 

 

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XB-42 Experimental Bomber

A report on the Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster experimental high-speed bomber from the Air Force magazine Impact, Vol. III, No. 8, Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence, Washington, D.C., August 1945.

EXPERIMENTAL BOMBER
XB-42 is First in 400-Mile-per-Hour Class

Although there is no present requirement for the plane pictured here, its approach to the basic problems of bombardment is so unusual that it is felt that IMPACT readers will be interested in hearing about it.

Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster Bomber

Nose view reveals XB-42 as our sleekest bomber, with no turrets or engine nacelles to interrupt streamlining.

The traditional American bomber, the B-17 or B-24, is a large, relatively slow plane capable of carrying a moderate tonnage a long distance. It is less efficient as a freight car than its British counterpart, but it is more heavily armed and armored. This means a loss of range or load, also of speed because added turrets, etc., do not improve streamlining. The B-29, the B-32 and yet-unborn monsters like the B-36 are basically like the B-17. They are faster, better armored, but are still “flying fortresses,” depending on their inherent durability to keep them going. Increased armor or range means more weight and more gas, which means bigger engines, which means bigger wings, which again means more weight, etc. The result of all this is that the plane gets larger and larger as its efficiency improves.

However, the bigger you are, the better target you make. Perhaps we are on the wrong track in bomber design. There is no sign of this yet, the B-29 being well able to take care of itself against present countermeasures. But the development of new anti-bombardment weapons. such as the German X-4 and Viper (IMPACT, Vol. III, No. 7). could conceivably prove its wrong.

XB42 Mixmaster Experimental Bomber

Side view shows counter-rotating pusher props, flexible wing guns. Maximum speed is 410 mph at 27,100 feet.

Hence the B-42, which depends primarily on speed for safety. It is small (35,702-lb. gross weight), is beautifully streamlined, has a laminar-flow wing, with its two engines in the rear so as not to lower the efficiency of this wing. It has no gun turrets, thus saving weight, which is used instead for gas or bombs (it will carry up to four tons internally). The theory behind this is simply that high speeds multiply gunnery problems. Closing speeds between two high-performance aircraft make nose attacks impractical. Deflection shots do not pay off. This leaves level and pursuit curve attacks from the rear. To combat these are remote-controlled flexible guns in the wings, aiming aft. Furthermore, one pass is about all the conventional fighter can make. By the time he is back in position, the B-42 is many miles away. Interceptors are given very little time to reach the B-42’s altitude. In addition, its speed and maneuverability permit violent evasive action.

A ground-attack version has fixed nose guns in various combinations ranging all the way from eight .50 caliber guns to one 75-mm cannon and two .50s.

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P-61 Black Widow Guns

Northrop P-61 Black Widow Gunnery Equipment from P-61 Pilot’s Flight Operating Instructions:

P-61 Black Widow Guns and Gunnery Equipment
 

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VHF Ground-to-Air Radio

A somewhat fanciful illustration from a U.S. equipment manual showing the VHF Ground-to-Air Radio Set AN/CRC-1 being used by ground forces to call in air support.

VHF Ground-to-Air Radio

When assembled for operation, Radio Set AN/CRC-1 may be used as a ground-to-air command set to transmit information from ground troops to combat aircraft relative to strategic ground targets against which strafing or bombing action is desired.

 

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Message to Messengers

“Message to Messengers” from Combat Lessons No. 6:

Message to Messengers

From Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Calidonna, Signal Officer, 34th Division, ITALY: “Messengers have to be good to do their job properly. They have to use a great deal of initiative and common sense in locating units to which they must deliver messages. Because they work alone and have to cover much territory, sometimes in forward areas, they have to exercise enough intelligence to keep from being killed or captured. In addition to all this, messengers must be able to report intelligently on what they have seen while making their runs.”

Message to Messengers

Messengers must use initiative in locating units.

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Maco 1/72nd 15cm Panzerwerfer 42 auf sWS

Maco continues to add to their 1/72nd series of schwere Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS) kits with the new 15cm Panzerwerfer 42 auf sWS (1/72).

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FW-190 near Frankfurt

U.S. Brig. Gen. George C. McDonald stands in front of a German FW-190 fighter captured near Frankfurt, Germany. (U.S. Air Force Photo)

Luftwaffe Fw 190 Black-and-white Photo 1945

U.S. Air Force Photo

 

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Tanks Train in the U.S. Deserts

From Newsmap, September 1942:

Tanks Train in the U.S. Deserts

M3 Grant Tank Grim Reaper Desert Training

While some U.S. tank men already are fighting in North Africa others go through maneuvers in California to toughen them against the enemy. Men wear coveralls and dust masks as they survey the bleak wasteland.

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New Master Box Figures

New 1/35th figure kits from the Ukranian company Master Box.

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