Evening star., 1945-08-16
Rodor Provides Planes With Eye to Pierce Fog
BY ROBERT BRUSKIN.

Lne WOnQeTS OF faQdr. But we
might have been half way to Tokyo
for all the awed reporters aboard
could tell.
| We were to follow course which
would take us directly over a cause
way in Biscayne Bay, bomb" al
bridge and return to the Boca Ration
Airport. But not star showed to
guide the course or to illuminate the
target-or to tell the reporters if
they were destined for a raft in
mid-Atlantic.
Mickey to pilot" said the radar
operator over the intercom. Switch
on the generator"
Big Navy Ship Below.
A pause, and suddenly an erie
light showed, inches in circum-
ference. 1t. Nick Vrabel of Youngs-
town, Ohio, the mickey operator,
inched up close to the ghostIy light,
gazed into his radar scope and
said:
There's a big Navy ship below
That other Bit is about 1,00o feet
below us to port. We oughtd be-
yep we are-right over Delray See,
here's where we are" he added,
pointing to fly speck on the map
We'll be over the Indian River soon
Have a look"
We were, too. At least the in
dentationS of the coast as shown by
the map tailed exactly with the
relief map which showed on the
oScilloscope. The land appeared as
bright blob of light which ended
sharply and became dark-which
was the ocean. AS we passed over
town. brighter blobs-called pips-I
showed buildings. The bigger they
were the brighter were the pips.
The darkness of the ocean was re-
lieved only by small pip, about Q
miles off shore.
That's the Navy ship" said
Mickey, which in Air Corps code
means radar operator Its a de-
stroyer, I would say. And that pip
off to the left is the other Bit"
Radar in Action.
This was radar in action, the
miracle of electronics which enabled
Flying Forts to pulverize Germany
and their big brothers, the Super
Forts to smash Japan's dreams of
conquest. 1t was the eye which per-
mltted them to navigate and bomb
despite zero weather and long
voyages requiring the finest navi-
cation.
The B-29 Super Fort contained all
the newest radar devices known
as the "fiying radar set" they could
strike with precision after being
guided to their target by Mickey
who worked in collaboration with
the navigator. and bomb with ac-
curacy through the overcast because
Mickey could transmit his sight to
the bombardier.
Mickey warned the pilot if he was
flying into mountain by using an
altlmeter, radar device which
measures altitude above terrain. an
improvement over the usual baro-
metric measurement which indi-
Gates only altitude above sea level.
Another radar set warns of the ap-
proach of enemy planes and is able
to identify friendly plane or war
ship below. Long-range navigation
gives navlgators positive guide to
their destination and return. And
II fog closes over the home airport,
a ground control approach set could
see the approaching plane in its
relation to the runways and talk
the pilot in. The first three B-2es
to land at Oklnawa were brought in
by this means with fuel practically
exhausted.
First Used in 1943.
Development of radar for bombing
through overcast radar permitted
continuous bombing of Japan and
Germany despite the months of in
clement weather during which tar
gets were invisible. The Eighth Air
Force first used microwave radar on
November 3. 1943, for bombing the
dock areas Of Wilhelmshaven, a tar
get missed in eight previous raid.
The raid was success although the
target was entirely invisible to pi-
lots. BY use of this equipment. the
air force was able to continue effec-
tive bombing during months which
in previous years had kept planes
grounded.
So spectacular was this ability to
bomb through the overcast that
bombers, despite poor visibility, were
able to set up rolling barrage of
bombs on the coast of Normandy on
D-day which stunned Nazi soldiers
and destroyed many pill boxes 80
minutes before the first American
soldiers set foot ashore.
The success of night fighters
against German bombers which used
darkness for protection was equally
spectacular. Early in the war, the
British developed night fighting to
the point where they were de-
stroying most of the bombers at
tempting to level London. This pro-
cedure was adopted and refined by
American night fighters with dis
astrous effect upon japanese and
German planes.
Tough Trade to Learn.
Although Mickey is king of his
bomber, he's had tough time learn
ing his trade. Air Forces radar op-
orators first get a 22-week course in
radio maintenance. The best stu
dents receive % weeks more of elec-
tronics. And the best in that course
are finally selected for ten-week
course of radar in which the Boca
Ration Radar School in Florida is
among the pioneers.
Mickey will undoubtedly have a
major part in peacetime transpor-
tation safety. Scientists say that
the best peace-time application of
radar is in sea or air navigation and
in preventing collisions 1t has not
yet been developed sufficiently to
be feasible for land transportation.
c.l,, Eli >:1..