EX:p-38L,p-51D
so:who can made it? :roll:
sorry for my English
I can't describ it clearly
I mean radar----'RT-34/APS-13' is fixed on the rear of p-38&p-51
it's true!
U can Google it
There was a light in the cockpit next to the gunsight that would come on when an aircraft got on the plane's six.
I got some info :
The RT-34/APS-13 is a low power UHF tail warning radar transmitter/receiver which was used in Allied aeroplanes such as the P51 Mustang and also the P-38L, P-47D, P-61, P-63, P-82D in the later stages of the war.
The equipment operates at 420 MHz with a receiver IF of 30 MHz and is powered by an internal rotary generator which is supplied from the aircraft 27V dc system.
The electro-mechanical construction is all aluminium, and the equipment uses all miniature glass valves except for the voltage stabiliser which is a VR105V (0C3). The PA is two 6J6s.
Three modified APS-13 were employed as the primary radar altimeter fuse in the
AN/APS-13 (SCR 718) airborne "tail warning" radar. "L" band used in fighter planes. Receiver-transmitter, Radar, 410-420 MHz, Pulse, IF 30 MHz, 17 Tubes, Used as a tail warning radar American radar helped deal out the final blows. Both atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of the war were triggered to airburst at 580 meters (1,900 feet) by a proximity fuze system, though it was derived from the AN/APS-13 (SCR718) tail-warning radar. The fuze system included four redundant units, known as "Archies", to reduce the possibility of a premature detonation, with the bomb detonating only when two of the Archies agreed that they had dropped through the critical altitude. There was a backup mechanical fuze system in case the electronic system failed, but it worked as advertised. ABA-1 (SCR-515-A) airborne IFF transponder, Mk. IV system. ABK Airborne IFF transponder, series, Mk, II system. AN/APN-1 (Formerly AYF) airborne radar altimeter--L band.
Tater718 gave an exact explonation. We also know now that P-38L and some late Mustangs (sorry, I don't know so much about P-51s to tell the exact model), but why??? Passive warning radar had no real use on an agile ww2 fighter, even not on an agile ww2 day fighter. Enemy aircrafts - Bf-109s, Fw-190, Zeros, Franks, Tonys, etc. didn't have any search radar, what this tail warning radar could detect. I hardly believe that some German twin-engined nightfighter could slip on the six of a Lightning/Mustang during a daylight operation. I know that some Fw-190s (maybe A-6 subtypes?) used at Wilde Sau squadrons fitted with search radar and a lot of antennas on the wing and on the fuselage (look like a hedgehog), but they were uncommon and I think Americans wouldn't install some insturment in large scale because of this irrelevant threat.
It works because it's an active radar. Tater's definition is completely correct, it's an active radar with only a warning bell and light.