Page:Objects Dropped From The Air p37.jpg

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37

Figure 55.—Auxiliary Petrol Tank

Figure 55A.—Metal Auxiliary Petrol Tank

12. WIRELESS APPARATUS

A form of portable wireless, for use by German airmen who may come down in the sea, is sometimes thrown out of aircraft which break up in the air or crash. This is packed in a sealed metal canister, painted yellow; it is 16 in. by 17 in. by 9 in., with handles on the side and German inscriptions on the top.

13. GERMAN RADIO TARGET BEACON

The Germans have developed a radio target beacon designed for dropping from aircraft and having the general appearance of an H.E. bomb probably of 50 kg., though it may be of 250 kg. It contains a small short-wave wireless transmitter designed to send out signals at intervals to guide aircraft to their target. Neither the exact size, colour nor markings of the device are yet known, but it has a tail unit of insulating material with a vertical-type aerial about 3 ft. to 4 ft. long protruding from it. If dropped from the appropriate height it is believed that it will be just buried in soft ground so that the aerial projects above the surface.