My Former WC51 "Flying Control Dodge" - A New Chapter

[Jessie The Jeep]

First thing this morning, I went out to the truck and painted the red of the red cross sign. There's still space below the red cross bag, and I have a spare Pyrene fire extinguisher, so that is to be fitted to that section of the truck. I've also ordered an airband radio this morning which I'm hoping will be here in time for the Elvington show this coming weekend.

The fire extinguisher was covered in paint and tarnish which was all removed with a rotary wire brush, back down to the original brass. It's a bit bright now, but clean, and will dull down in time.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The steel mount was painted in a black enamel which had partially flaked away due to rusting. The mount was treated by electrolysis to remove the rust, and then given a coat of olive drab and left to dry. This can hopefully be fitted tomorrow.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The idea to fit the fire extinguisher came as an after thought following the fitting of the first aid kit. It had been lying around the workshop for a couple of weeks, and seeing the empty spot below the first aid kit, it seemed the ideal place to fit it.

Unfortunately, after thoughts don't always work as unplanned! I suddenly had a worrying thought; would the locker open past the extinguisher mount? Simple answer was no! As a result, the first aid kit was moved up about five inches, the red cross was repainted above it, and this left just enough room for the mount with clearance for the locker lid.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

There's not much in the way of pictures to show for work done today, but I feel I've made a big step towards bringing the radio truck to life. It started about 8:15am, when the postman delivered the airband radio. I was just going to hide it in the corner of the truck for this weekend, but had better ideas. The 12v amplifier from the Jeep was removed. It's only connected by plugs and sockets, so it wasn't an issue to remove it. After searching around the house, I found a lead with a mono 3.5mm earphone jack on one end to connect to the airband radio, and a phono plug on the other which would fit the amp.

I briefely contemplated just lifting the speaker crate out of the Jeep, but it is quite big, and wouldn't fit in the Dodge easily on the side of the radios. Instead, I opened up the original Signal Corps LS-3 loud speaker and made a test connection between it and the amplifier. It worked! This was good news as I had visions of having to buy a new speaker to hide inside the original LS-3 case.

I thought about running the two wires straight from the speaker into the locker where the amp and battery would be, but that just wasn't right. Instead I made up a double ended jack lead from more of the cotton bound cable I had. One end of the cable plugs into the front of the speaker, while the other end plugs into the BC-366 Jack Box which is mounted on the front of the radio shelf.

Two further wires were connected internally to the contacts in the jack box, and then routed out of the back under the radio bench. They then run along the window with the radio power cables installed the other day, and disappear down into the front locker where they connect to the amplifier.

Now with everything connected and powered up, all the radios light up and the airband radio broadcasts its audio through the original speaker which sits under the radio bench. All being well, those coming to the 'Battlegroup North' show at the Yorkshire Air Museum this weekend can see and hear it in action.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's the little airband radio, a Yaesu VR-120D. It's only 4 inches tall excluding the aerial, but seems to have a good range as I can just pick up Newcastle tower which is 9 miles away, although aircraft on the approach frequency are much clearer having altitude to their signal. It was second hand, and so instead of over £140, I got it for about one third of the price.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

I had a great time at the Elvington "Battlegroup North" show this weekend, despite still recovering from a cold and not sleeping much. It took two and a half hours and around eight gallons of fuel to get the Dodge there, giving me an average of about 12mpg travelling on the A167/A168 to avoid the fast moving traffic on the A19. The thermometer on the Dodge meteorological station said between 28 and 30 degrees both days, and it certainly was hot, though thankfully with a nice breeze. I took just over 400 photos across the weekend, but haven't given them anything but the briefest glance so far as I'm exhausted. This one shows the nice blue sky, and while I've only had a quick look at the others, the colours are all so vivid!

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

In complete contrast to the Elvington show, the Yorkshire Wartime Experience was somewhat damp! This was the view all Friday and some of Saturday. Our tent got shreaded by the wind so we came home on Saturday evening.

It did get brighter at some points on Saturday, and the forecast for Sunday wasn't too bad, so hopefully the organisers can salvage something from the weekend.

Next week is the Great North Fly In at Eshott airfield, so hopefully, we'll get some better weather.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

I'm trading the truck in for a submarine, the weekend fly-in has been cancelled due to the weather and a waterlogged site.

[Jessie The Jeep]

We've had some really heavy rain this season and the plywood on the frame holding the astrodome had started to delaminate. After gluing down the delaminated areas, I've given it the 'Mosquito' treatment like the roof of the truck, and skinned it with cotton, applied with waterproof PVA glue. Once the glue was dry, it was given a coat of exterior white paint which is also now drying. It could do with a second coat before the dome is fastened back on.

No more events now for the Dodge until Croft at the start of August. The Jeep however, will be at Tibenham Airshow on Sunday 8th, I believe in a working capacity, and then Hardwick Airfield the following weekend.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Following on from the discovery of some original flying control documents, I've produced some paperwork to display in the back of the Dodge. The first is an airfield plan, with the aircraft serial numbers noted next to the dispersals. This is pure speculation, but is there to show people the expanse of a heavy bomber base. The second is a weather map, almost a direct copy of a vintage Atlantic/Europe chart, which I figured should hang next to the Meteorological instruments.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Document 3 is an order of take off, copied/re-produced from a tiny version found in one of the Roger Freeman 8th Air Force books. It shows the take off order, squadron and position, a/c serial & code letter, pilot, and take off time.

4th is from a hand written record from the 100th Bomb Group archives, showing radio frequencies, code words and flare colours for a mission. Reproduced in my handwriting complete with crossing out where mistakes/changes had been made on the original.

Lastly, also from the 100th BG, is a re-production of a hand written, un-official log from the flying control officer at Thorpe Abbotts, recording everything that happened on the flightline/runway across the day.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

For a while, I've been thinking that the Dodge has been lacking a bit on the aerial front. It has the standard MP-48 aerial mount on the back, but felt that it needed something a bit more airfield specific. What ever I ended up with, It needed to pack away into a small space for transport, as the Dodge gets pretty full on a camping weekend. At the Tibenham airshow in early July, they had a Bedford truck converted into a Flying Control vehicle. It had a number of interesting aerials, plus weather vane, wind sock and anemometer.

 

I quite liked the look of the "exploded umbrella" aerial, and it was similar to aerial configurations I'd seen on wartime pictures, so thought it would make an interesting addition on the Dodge, although I want to add some wire 'washing line' type aerials too.

So after a shopping trip to B&Q for some metal rod, and a search in the scrap metal box, I came up with the aerial seen here. As yet, I haven't got any wiring connected, but at least it's presentable for Croft.

It dismantles back into strip metal for transport, so doesn't take up much space at all. A small flat plate with a tube welded to it is bolted to the roof of the Dodge for the mounting point.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

I forgot to mention, yesterday, August 11th, was the Dodge's 68th birthday.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Over the Bank Holiday weekend, Lynne and I took the Dodge and Jeep to the Durham Light Infantry Museum for the annual NE Military Vehicle Club show. Sunday was sunny and warm, Monday was cool, cloudy and ended up with rain. There were a reasonable number of vehicles there, but I think down on previous years.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Just arrived today is this hard to find FT-154 mounting tray, complete with terminal block. Well, I've found them hard to find. So many must have been scrapped in the aircraft they were installed in, as while the radios were removed prior to scrapping, the mounts were usually left. I found a tray for the BC-375 transmitter not long ago, and never expected to find that, never mind win it. Now I have a tray for one of the BC-348 receivers.

I started making one of these some time ago, but came to a halt pondering over how to make the rubber shock mounts. I spotted this one on Ebay, and put in a stupidly high bid in the last few seconds, and won! Now I have one to copy, I'm hoping completing the copy will be much more easy. I now need to find the corresponding plug to fit in the receiver to match the socket on the tray.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Having the correct mounting tray meant I needed some form of plug/socket to allow power to reach the receiver lights. Until I can find a correct Jones 8 pin SO-143 plug to fit in the receiver, I needed to make something. The FT-154 mounting tray has the correct and difficult to find PL-P-103 socket, so I needed to make a connector that would mate with this.

Some brass strip formed the contacts, and this was glued into a block of chemi-wood. This block was fixed into the BC-348 housing with two aluminium brackets, bolted through the original plug mounting holes. All I need to do now is connect some new wires from the truck into the socket in the mounting tray. If I find a proper plug, it will be an easy swap to replace.

The receiver fitted to the tray.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Just arrived in the last couple of days are these NOS PL-61 and PL-64 plugs for the side of the transmitter. The next step will be to find some suitable wire, and use the plugs to connect the 12 volt power supply to power up the dials and lights, rather than the small internal battery.

Something else which came in the post this morning was a correct tuning knob for one of the BC-348 receivers. All I'm waiting for in the post now are four rubber shock mounts for the second receiver mounting tray, and a PL-59 plug for the remaining hole in the side of the transmitter.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Another parcel turned up yesterday from the USA. Inside was a PL-59 aerial plug for the BC-375 transmitter, and four shock mounts for the second receiver radio tray, which was started back in November 2010! From another source, and arriving a few days earlier, was a new tuning knob for one of the receivers. When I got the receiver, it was fitted with a non-standard type, and it's taken a couple of years before I spotted one by chance on ebay.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[fayjo56]

Just to say this is a facinating thread, all credit for your ingenuity and patience! I really hope to see the Dodge in the flesh one day.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Cheers! It's a fun project, and goes some way to explaining this little heard of, and little represented side of the USAAF. While visually the truck and display looks complete, there's still plenty of tinkering to do.

[Jessie The Jeep]

After a little while of inactivity on the Dodge project, I got back to the BC-348 receiver tray on Sunday. I bought one original tray recently, but also started making one back in 2010. With the recent purchase of some shock mounts, I was in a position to complete the scratch built tray for the second receiver. The aluminium sheet was cut to size and shape, and the edges added with my sheet metal folder.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

I need access to the back of the rubber mounts to fasten the bolts, as per original, so holes needed to be cut in the base of the mounting tray. This was done by chain drilling holes until the centre piece could be broken out. The holes were then dressed with a file to the final size, as seen below.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The rubber mounts can be seen through the underside of the mount base plate. The rubber mounts would be riveted in place after painting of the tray is complete. The top side of the base has been painted and left to cure in the airing cupboard.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Back in 2010, I had got most of the upper part of the mount made, working just from photographs, and estimating the size based on the pictures and the receiver size. After buying the original, it turned out that my guesswork was pretty accurate. This just needs the two retaining pins machining that the receiver locks on to, and they need fixing to this piece. It can then be painted and assembled to the base.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The lower part of the mount was left to bake in the airing cupboard overnight to fully harden the paint. It was meant to be satin, but it's come out quite glossy, so I gave it a dust over with some quick drying water based matt clear. The rubber mounts were riveted in place on Monday morning.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep