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Aeronautical Ground Station WG2
based on German FuG16, C.Lorenz
C. Lorenz AG, Berlin

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überarbeitet am 4.1.2013

In the year 1943 acquired twelve German fighter aircraft Messerschmitt Bf 109 G (in exchange to give the Germans permission to destroy a night fighter aircraft Bf 110 with an ultra-secret night chase (radar-like) Lichtenstein apparatus on board, on the ground to prevent it falling in the hands of the allies - this was later called "Kuhhandel", cow deal - a Swiss word for logrolling) - and in these the German standard aircraft radio FuG16 was installed.
So the Swiss got some planes, but had no suitable ground station covering the frequency range of the German FuG16.

The technicians decided to re-use the FuG16 aircraft transceivers from two German fighter aircraft, which had made an emergency landing in Switzerland and had been interned, and which already had been used for propagation trials, to contruct an improvised ground station. The WG2, a FuG16 on a rack with a power supply and a control box, was then used to communicate with the Swiss Messerschmitt Bf 109 G.

Transceiver,

38,5 - 42,3 MHz, analog dial, four mechanical frequency presets

A1 pout 5 W; A3 (telephony)
Sensitivity

Selectivity
 

antenna tuner, rotary transformer power supply; control box to connect microphone and headphones made in Switzerland.

In 1943, a night fighter aircraft with an experimental thus ultra secret night chase radar-like Lichtenstein apparatus on board, made an emergency landing in Switzerland. The German side threatened Switzerland to bomb Dubendorf military airport to prevent this equipment falling in the hands of the allies, they finally made a deal, the so-called "Kuhhandel": the Swiss side agreed that the German destroyed the equipment on the ground and got twelve modern German fighter aircraft (and probably two Wurzburg radar for tests) in exchange.

So the Swiss Air Force ended with twelve fighter aircraft equipped with the German standard aircraft VHF radio, and no ground station for their frequency range was available.

Two FuG16 radios, taken out from two other german fighter aircraft after an emergency landing in Switzerland for testing purposes and propagation trials, were used to construct improvised ground stations to communicate with the newly Swiss Messerschmitt Bf 109 G. The two WG2 ground stations were installed at Dubendorf and Payerne.

The WG 2 stations were in use from 1944 to 1947. After a short period of service, the notoriously unreliable Bf 109 G have been withdrawn from use in 1947. Probably the poor quality was due to the war conditions of production and supplies in German WWII fighter aircraft production.

I would be very thankful for further information and images from field use.

further information:
The station is displayed at the Swiss Air Force museum at Dubendorf.

© 4.1.2013 Martin Bösch