ROWE MISSION #8 - 3 October, 1944, Tuesday

28
any set of valves to serve any engine in an
emergency. Fuel gauges monitoring quantity were
on the bulkhead in front of John. Joe, our radio
operator, would shut down the radio during any
fuel transfer because of the risk of fire. John also
monitored the four generator switches, ammeters,
voltmeter and the engines.
Joe Zonyk, our radio operator, was also
stationed on the flight deck behind the bulkhead
and just behind Bruce, our co-pilot. Joe was
responsible for all the electronic equipment and
especially the pilot's and co-pilot's radio gear. He
manually tuned the liaison transmitter and with
additional removable units, he had a tuning range
of 200 to 12500 kilocycles. He operated the CW
(communication wireless) key and controlled the
trailing antenna from his radio operator's table. He
could improve reception by deploying that 150
foot long antenna, but a lead weight at the end
could easily pull it off if he didn't stop before the
end was reached. Our heated wool flight suits had
coiled wire in the linings and the control boxes
were above
his station.
Suit temperatures
were
a d j u s t a b l e ,
but could
become too
hot when
wires got
bunched up.
Marty Miller
got a hot seat
as noted in the
synopsis of
mission #5
that follows
later in this
report . Joe
was wise
enough to
kept a log of
our missions.
This flight report
uses that personal
diary of his as the basis for the mission records.
Bruce and I were located just forward of
STRUCTURAL TOUR OF THE B-24
the flight-deck bulkhead and seated without any
excess room, in a world of controls, instruments,
RADIO OPERATOR’S TABLE (Note the CW key)
steel and glass. It is a cockpit with a definite
military touch
compared to
c o m m e r c i a l
flight decks.
The cockpit
pedestal was
between us
w i t h e a s y
access to both
of us and
housed the
throttle levers
and engine
controls. The
aileron tab
control was on
the front edge
of the pedestal,
just above it
was the rudder
t r i m t a b
control, on the
FLIGHT DECK LOOKING TOWARD THE COCKPIT
left side was
the flap lever,
and on the right the landing gear lever. The cockpit
panel in front of us held over 150 dials and gauges