SFC John Chereski (321st BG/445th BS) circa 1944

B-25 History Project Radio Restoration

Radio Restoration Project: In January of 2018, we announced an exciting restoration project. We will be restoring multiple complete B-25 radio sets to full working order. The project lead is our Combat Historian Mike Laney. Mike's grandfather flew 52 combat missions with the 486th BS, 340th BG, 57th BW from January 28 through August 15, 1944. This multi-year project will include, command, liaison, and emergency radio sets. One set will be donated to the Sandbar Mitchell restoration project. The second will be a mobile set to be used for education. A third will be part of a static "hands-on" museum display that will become a base for a WWII enthusiast ham radio club. If you would like to donate manpower or material for this project please contact us. To donate to this project, see link at bottom of page.

We are restoring to operating condition command (SCR-274-N) and liaison (SCR-287) radio sets for installation in a flying B-25 and as a ground station to demonstrate how these radios worked in World War II. The command set was operated by the pilot and was used for airplane to airplane communication. It consisted of the following:

Transmitters (35- BC-459 [7.0 to 9.1 MHz] OR BC-458 [5.3 to 7.0 MHz]; and 37- BC-457 [4.0 to 5.3 MHz]), Receivers (26- BC-455 [6.0 to 9.0 MHz]; 27- BC-453 [190 to 550 KHz]; and 28- BC-454 [3.0 to 6.0 MHz]), Command Radio Modulator (33- BC-456) and antenna relay (39- BC-442). The pilot used the following to remotely control the radios: Transmitter control box (5- BC-451) and receiver control box (3- BC-450). The transmitter control box had a button on top that allowed the pilot to send transmissions using CW (Morse Code). The transmitters and receivers usually were preset and tuned for the mission, and if needed the pilot could change the frequency using the control boxes. The BC-453 receiver was used for navigation beacons.

Photos of the Command Set in B-25J-5 Apache Princess (43-28059) circa 2004

The liaison set was used for long distance communications, such as talking with the home base. This was located behind the bomb bay and operated by the radio-gunner. This consisted of the following components:

Transmitter (H- BC-375D), Receiver (G- BC-348), Tuning Units for BC-348 (35- Spare TU7B and TU6B installed in transmitter), Dynamotor (E- PE73C) and antenna tuner (J- BC-306A). The radio operator operated this equipment directly using microphone or transmitting key (34- J37).

Sgt. Daniel Shambaugh (310th BG) circa late 1944.

SFC William Jolkowar circa 1944 (note the Flak Helmet)

Radio set-up in Apache Princess in B-25J-5 (43-28059) circa 2004.

Currently, we have assembled our ground liaison set and need to work out some kinks.

Future projects include obtaining an ARC-13 set (used later in the war) which was a advanced transmitter compared to the BC-375 transmitter. This was more compact and capable of changing frequencies without having to change out tuning units. The ultimate long-term goal is to have a museum type display that compares all the radio set-ups used in the B-25. Right now we are trying to figure out best way to provide the 28Vdc to the equipment to test it and ultimately operate it.

Items we need include:

DM-33 Transmitter Dynamotor (we need 3)
DM-32 Receiver Dynamotors (we need 6)
B5A Antenna Tuning Switch Mount (we need 2)
FT-151A Transmitter Mount (we need 2)
FT-154A Receiver Mount (we need 2)

If you would like to help with expertise, materials (e.g. know anyone willing to donate an ACR-13) and in other ways please contact Mike Laney (KEØGHU) . If you would like to donate to the restoration fund for this project, please use the link below.