A brief history of Luftwaffe electronics - from radio to radar in the valve era

We survey the most significant advances in German aviation electronics - or avionics - from the first steps of airborne radiotelegraphy in 1917 to beam navigation, onboard radar and sophisticated tactical VHF vox radio communication in the last days of WW2. (In a hurry? See the index below and jump straight to the instrument that interests you)

Our survey takes the form of a detailed grand tour around one of Europe's finest collections of German valve-era avionics, covering communications, navigation and combat. Over several decades Dieter Beikirch has assembled one of the world's largest and most comprehensive private collections of German avionic instruments produced during and after the First World War until the early 1960s and the end of the valve era.

The second world war lasted six years and one day and marked one of the worst periods of tragedy and cruelty in human history. But the intense conflict spurred invention and accelerated the birth of much of the technology that defines our modern world. Most of the collection's most important specimens originated during the years of intense conflict during the Second World War. Dieter's collection extends to well over 80 complete and immaculately restored systems; in this walking tour, we show you over 30 of the most important.

00:00 Intro
00:11 Our intentions
01:25 Telefunken D4 spark-gap transceiver
03:48 Telefunken 378 valve transceiver
03:59 The rise of the Luftwaffe
05:01 FuG VII first tactical VOX
05:20 Telefunken Stat. 1001 bF
05:39 FuG III
09:57 FuG 10 transeiver system
17:14 FuG 17 10 watt VHF transeiver
18:50 FuG 16 the standard radio (with Peilfuf DF)
24:46 FuG 16 ZY
28:25 101 N Telefunken ground DF with HE1 receiver
30:00 Peil G IV
33:04 Peil V
36:24 Peil VI
38:53 German vs American DF
39:14 Lorenz FuBI 2 Blind Landing Sys.
43:03 Fus AN 726, FuG 125 "Talking Beacon"
44:07 Sea Rescue systems
45:40 X-system (Wotan I) with X clock
49:13 Knickebein "Crooked leg"
50:20 Wotan II with Y method ranging
54:39 The Y method explained
56:44 Course Control
56:55 Siemens K4 electro-pneumatic CCS
58:14 Horizontmutter horizon display and autopilot
1:00:14 FuG 101 fine alt. FuG 102 Course alt.
1:04:34 Naxos FuG 350 Z vs HS2
1:07:58 Neptune FuG 217 rear attack warning
1:12:17 FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN2
1:21:15 Hohentwiel FuG 200 ship hunter
1:28:17 Würzburg and Chamois IFF sys.
1:30:56 FuG 25a IFF transponder
1:32:50 BZA-Stuvi dive bombing computer
1:37:33 BZA synchro (Selsyn) remote control sys.
1:43:43 Henschel Radio Control for Hs293 and Fritz-X
1:55:39 Hs293 D TV guided version
1:56:53 coming attractions!
1:57:11 The electronics of the V2 rocket
1:57:26 End credits

Please see our back catalogue for longer and more detailed treatments of some of the instruments listed above.

Presented by Dieter Beikirch and Robert J Dalby.

Special thanks to Reiner Sigmund for his assistance in the making of the Hs293 video.

The two still showing the Hs293 in the introduction are from Wikipedia and the full credit reads: Deutsches Museum Munich photo Jean-Patrick Donzey

Video produced by Astronomy and Nature TV

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