Rebecca Mk 8 aerials
 

Would welcome any details of dimensions/introduction to service and use of . Seen on the fuselage and wings of DH Vampire T.11's,Meteor NF.(T)14.

T-21,

I believe that you are confusing Rebecca IV with something else.

I never saw it installed in any a/c that did not have a Navigator. Its use was far too operator intensive and heads down for a pilot to use.

Rebecca Mk VII, also called DME, was fitted to Hunters and other a/c without navigators, and worked on the same frequencies, in conjunction with the same Eureka beacons.

You can see the Rx aerials on either side of the BBMF Lancaster. They are half wave dipoles with one director, or 'H' aerials approximately 50cm high.

Rebecca IV found on Vampire NF 10's, I am sure there is a thread here somewhere with pics.

I thought the standard fit on T11s was Rebecca 8 with two obvious dipoles on each outer upper wing, sometimes mounted underneath. Its gubbins was in a black box located in a hatch behind the left hand pilots seat. It was the size of two loaves. Just switch on, dial and watch the single meter on the central control panel.
Rebecca 4 was a previous generation it was much larger and needed a dedicated operator to watch and interpret a CRT display. I never saw it on T11s.

Gents, Thank you for the helpful replies ,as I did not realise there were so many versions of Rebecca. It seems Mk.8 is the version I am interested in .

I can confirm that the Vampire T.11 was equipped with Rebecca Mk.8 when I flew it in 1961. I can also confirm that I don't remember a damned thing about it.

The attached photos were taken at Biggin 1954/55 and show aerials on the top of the 41 Sqn Meteor and one under the starboard wing of 41's Vampire T11.

Possibly Rebecca aerials?

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...nMeteor8-2.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/DiaTest6.jpg

The Vampires I flew had them on the outer wings. There was a needle and a veeder presentation with the range. The ariel were mounted backwards with the sharp edge forward and if you entered icing condions they would pick up a load of it and practically shake themselves to pieces.

The Meteor has Rebecca aerials on both outer wings. A true anorak note is that these would have been coated in seaplane vanish to prevent corrosion. The varnish did however get chipped and was almost impossible to remove, the ignorant took to removing it with a bastard file causing nervous breakdowns and hissing fits by Engineering Officers.
There was a hi-tech development where all the aerials were cleaned of varnish and dipped in day-glo non-corrosive paint.

ColinB

As a former Air Radar Fitter, who cleaned many a Rebecca aerial, in my day the tool of choice was a ground down hacksaw blade. The 'handle' being made with insulation tape.

The purpose of the seaplane varnish was to prevent insulation breakdown. If left uncovered, the aerial would be covered with dirt, a proportion of which would be conductive. A standard check was to use a 'Wee Megger' to measure the resistance between the disconnected aerial and the a/c frame.

The access to seaplane varnish by radio tradesmen had certain advantages. While at Marham and a member of the Sailing Club, those of us on a certain Valiant squadron, used seaplane varnish to maintain our allocated Firefly during the winter 'off season'.

Just how our demands for seaplane varnish got through the stores system, when ordered by a squadron that were flying a/c with no external aerials I don't know. But they were never queried. :ok:

The Jet Provost Mk3's and 4's also had Rebecca Mk8 fitted, our JP4 XS186 had Rebecca re-fitted as art of it's restoration a couple of years ago, and we have been pleasantly surprised to see that on switching on, a reading of 12 miles is shown to the beacon......and the tone in the headset is strong.....

It would probably get a few of the old timers all teary eyed.

If you want aerial dimensions I can measure them up for you at the weekend?

Gents, Just catching up thanks for all the replies very humourous. I would like the dimensions thank you for the offer.

Not sure if this helps, but shows the Rebecca aerial on a FEAF Valetta in 1958.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps39caf471.jpg

Toastie,

Thanks

They are the aerials that I attempted to describe in post#2

To my knowledge they were also used on Lincolns, Varsities, Hastings and Beverley's.

There must be other types that I didn't experience.

The Rebecca aerials shown on the Meteor and Vampire aircraft shown above are the same as the type fitted to the Jet Provost, and those fitted to our JP Mk4 XS186 are 14 inches long and 1 and 1/4 inches wide.
I can post close up photos if required.

As on these Vampires?

http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...ps42998703.jpg

Thankyou relight for the dimensions and the photos and painting that others have posted . Are they Linton Vampires in the painting ? as Shawbury CNCS aircraft used alphabet code letters.

We had similar installations on the Long Nose Lincoln Mk 31. The operating box was called "Lucero". Used for homing to a ground station and giving distance on a Cathode Ray display. Not sure what the technical difference was between Rebecca and Lucero, though? Anyone know?

This site may help:
EW - Eureka/Rebecca II

T-21,

Indeed they are Linton Vampires, 1963

Cue