Comments | little_details: did wwii planes have radios?

lindenfoxcub in little_details

did wwii planes have radios?

Nov 02, 2010 21:38

I know they had radar, or the allies did at least, but I'm wondering since the cockpits were still open, and that's the way I have my planes in my story, if the noise of the engine would have defeated the purpose of a radio on board a fighter plane of that level of technology, or if headphones would be required to make it plausible for these planes ( Read more... )

~aviation, ~world war ii, ~radio

Comments 31

tisiphone November 3 2010, 03:24:12 UTC

Which plane are you thinking of? There were dozens used in WWII, some with radios and some without, and some with closed cockpits and some without. For example the B12 bombers certainly had radios (VHF radios, I think, at least the Enola Gay did).

nuranar November 3 2010, 03:38:04 UTC

From everything I've read and seen, radios in planes were the rule rather than the exception. Pilots wore headphones as a matter of course. Depending on the situation and the mission, radio silence might be strictly observed, but they certainly had them. They were used extensively by the British in the Battle of Britain, for example, so they weren't a late-war innovation. I know B-17s were also fitted with intercoms in addition to radios, and the B-17 was developed in the 1930s. The older the plane, the more likely it wasn't originally built with a radio (for example, biplanes used for reconnaissance); but that's certainly not to say they couldn't be retrofitted. Radios weren't terribly expensive.

alicephilippa November 3 2010, 04:00:56 UTC

The Fairey Swordfish (open cockpit biplane) which entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1936 was fitted with radio as one of its roles was as a spotter aircraft.

http://www.twinbeech.com/radio.htm should be of interest to you.

janenx01 November 3 2010, 04:12:38 UTC

I'm pretty sure planes in WWII didn't have radar. Radar was in existence at the time, but the necessary equipment wouldn't have fit on a plane.

thejim November 3 2010, 04:25:20 UTC

Night fighters and some heavy fighters/strike aircraft certainly did carry radar arrays. The DH.98 Mosquito NF variants carried AI Mk. IV and Mk. V radars and the Beaufighter Mk. VIF carried the AI Mk. VIII array, for example.

janenx01 November 3 2010, 04:28:08 UTC

Excellent, thanks! I didn't know that. I thought the equipment was so big that it wouldn't have fit. Was it a common thing for fighters to have radar?

thejim November 3 2010, 04:34:57 UTC

Most American, German and British night fighters and heavy/strike fighters carried a radar array in at least one of their variants. Here's a list of WWII night fighters and most of them had radar-equipped versions which were used quite regularly.

The Italians, Russians and Japanese tended to not have them as their research facilities were not as advanced as the others and, thus, their aircraft tended to be simpler than the other Allies or German aircraft. The Regia Aeronautica continued to use biplanes, for example, through until the end of the war!

Thread 12

janewilliams20 November 3 2010, 07:11:16 UTC

I'm curious as to why you feel it was the norm for WW2 cockpits to be open? The more famous planes as seen in books and films, such as the Spitfire, Hurricane, Messerschmitt and Lancaster, all have closed cockpits, and the pilots are usually seen wearing headphones and talking over radios.

A bit of hunting on YouTube finds me some radios in use... by non-English-speaking Poles :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXf1bhEEXd0&feature=related
and the Dambusters talking on their radios on the way to the first dam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCRIsjJFRNo&feature=related