Radio Navigation in World War II | The Battle of the Beams

One of World War II's most important battlefields was in the air, and fought with invisible radio signals. The Battle of the Beams during the air war over Britain saw a succession of radio navigational aids, with names like Knickebein, X-Gerat, and Y-Gerat, and sophisticated means of disrupting them. These innovations led to the modern navigation system used in aircraft for the remainder of the 20th Century and beyond!
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[@chrischamberlaine4160]

I write books on aviation technical history to de mythify subjects. This is one of the best accounts of the 'beams'. No stupid music or flashing graphics and the commentary is clear and well paced without any of the overdramatised nonsense which many youtubers use to get attention. 10 out of 10. I will look for more of your output. Thank you. (search Transonic book Chris Freer)

[@colinboone9920]

Criminal this doesn't have hundreds of thousands of views.

[@stevekirk8546]

I read about The Battle of the Beams many years ago but never have I seen such a detailed yet succinct explanation. Brilliant. Thank you very much.

[@gonetoearth2588]

The content on your channel is wonderful. More of this history please! It’s cool to see the evolution of VORs and ILS. Thanks for Thoroughly entertaining channel

[@captaincurd2681]

Yep it is so good.

[@rightonasisya6856]

I'm a commercial pilot and a check airman, I have been following your channel and almost never skip any video you upload. I must say your videos are very informative and well researched. Thanks for all the hardwork you put into creating them for the benefit of all of us who loves anything aviation. I hope your channel gets more subscribers. It's simply impressive. 👏👏👏👏👏

[@cammyers1487]

Thank you for this great explanation and graphics! You made it so easy to understand.

[@gcamp83]

If you ever find yourself in Berlin, go see Templehof! It wasn't damaged at all in the war, it's totally intact. It's a park now and you can hangout on the runways. Super cool.

[@MartinMcAvoy]

This video was a fascinating explanation of WW2 electronic navigation. Thank you for posting! Subbed!

[@joe36451]

Really appreciate your work and research. It’s crazy how things evolved in such a short amount of time. Love this format as well.

[@flightinsight9111]

Thanks! I used to teach this in ground school when introducing VORs, so been wanting to do this video for a while.

[@sketchy74]

Your ground school is epic enough, now this! Fast becoming my top YT channel. For my next rating I am definitely using your syllabus. Keep it up!

[@wolffepackaviator12]

I love learning about WW2s contributions to the advancements of aviation as well as this awesome and rich history of early forms of localizers, VORs and ILS systems. Love your content. Keep up the great work! I’d love to see more videos like this!!

[@NandanV]

I'm training for my PPL right now (preparing for checkride) and planning a career in aviation - this type of content just makes it even more interesting to learn about! great work man, gonna try out the IFR ground school once I get to my instrument rating

[@ericfaz1427]

Mostly correct. However, one of the episodes of the BBCs "The Secret War" series (1977) discussed this. Scientists couldn't figure it out on their own. So they bugged their Luftwaffe POWs quarters and one of the POWs made a vague comment which led the British to go back to their planes and pore over all the equipment with a fine tooth comb. That is when they found the receiver.

[@masterswitchaviation]

Wow Cool! Learned something new.

[@tomdchi12]

I really enjoy the history of how we got to where we are today - thanks!

[@trevorwilliamblank]

So interesting

[@budspaulding7121]

Just a side note, there was a radio beacon (NDB) in Stornoway Scotland, the New aircraft were to home in on after crossing the Atlantic. The Germans set up and NDB on the same frequency, and much more powerful up in Norway, just a few degrees off course. Lots of brand new aircraft & crews landed in Norway. My Dad was a B-17 navigator, and knew about it when they crossed. He said he saw the needle start to quiver, finally showing about 10 degrees of course. Ha! That's the Germans. They carried on by his calculations and right on time, the ADF needle swung towards Stornaway. They made a right turn when the hit land, and continued on down to RAF Valley, Wales

[@ignaciovaldovinos4735]

This video was 🔥🔥

[@bravocharlie639]

On July 6, *1920, US Navy* seaplane pilots used a radio compass *to locate and navigate their way to a ship 100 miles offshore,* marking *the first use of radio navigation by an aircraft.*

[@aviatortrucker6198]

So was born the radio compass or NDB. Still a fun way to navigate. This can also be used with a VOR on a G-1000 with the bearing function turned on.

[@bravocharlie639]

@@aviatortrucker6198 True indeed. I'm not a fan of the G-1000 but yes, in fact regardless of how advanced Cockpit Navigation will become, there's nothing like a tried and true set of tools.

[@TheoneandonlyEETFUK]

Damn this is awesome

[@WG-0]

Really blessed that I found this channel. Keep up the high quality content!

[@ankhtahr1401]

I love how simple the idea of combining opposing morse signals to create a narrow beam with a constant tone is, and that you just need a AM radio receiver for it. I've tried low frequency radio range navigation with the A and N morse signals using the Wing42 Boeing 247D in MSFS, it's not as easy as it sounds :D

[@sierrarotorcraftclub]

My mother was a "wax" (enlisted female) in the Army and stationed in England. She said it was really scary when the German Bombers flew overhead and dropped bombs.

[@PassionForGrammar]

So cool

[@AMoose454]

I'm a pilot and we still train and use some of the old school ground based radar services like VORs. Crazy to think that they crossed oceans with dead reckoning.

[@slehar]

Interesting!

[@GunMaster6542]

Amazing video! I've always wondered how IFR "started".

[@flightinsight9111]

Thanks! Been wanting to do this for a while, helps give some background on IFR.

[@pisymbol]

Since I think your local to it, you should talk about CGS.

[@braininavatnow9197]

Maybe this is why the allies bombed only during the day and VFR which was much more dangerous than at night. Many years ago I read about this but had forgotten it. Excellent video with very high "Gee Wiz Cool Factor" (GWCF+8.7). Thanks😁

[@maxcfi7718]

super interesting! you should do a video on the british radio navigation systems like gee and oboe

[@dave-j-k]

Fascinating, thanks

[@matthewwallace9380]

Great video, fascinating history.

[@gerhardcombrinck7026]

Great video. 👍🏻

[@flightinsight9111]

Thanks! Bit off topic from the usual stuff but I love this subject

[@smurphy131421]

Interesting video. I never knew about this. Well done.

[@rickjaime100]

Seriously, your videos are awesome! With this one, you've taken it next level! You're a professor, right? Are you also a CFI or just an aviation enthusiast? What kind of plane do you fly?

[@flightinsight9111]

Thanks! CFI first and foremost, and a professor. I fly a super powered, ultra fancy 172M!

[@andrewcullum8437]

Moonlight Sonata raid was Coventry, not Birmingham....

[@user-lw6xv6yz8g]

3:24. subtitles on. " the germans shifted tactics to KNIGHT bombing" 😵

[@dougkehoe3758]

Absolutely...who doesn’t like a taste of compared to what. Kids these days ...no idea where vortices evolved from. Outstanding .

[@familyguy1182]

Why didn't they take earth curvature on consideration?

[@conspiracythings]

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[@robinj.9329]

We humans are very inventive when it comes to ways of murdering each other! So very sad.

[@photosphotos]

The line of sight proves the earth is flat.

[@braininavatnow9197]

No need to prove the obvious.

[@conspiracythings]

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[@DJ-JGO]

I'm astounded how we got suckered into believing the heliocentric pagan model that does as it said, puts the pagan god helios at the center of the soul lure system. I can use math, science, video evidence and logic to easily show the earth is NOT a spinning ball, and yet people cling to it and deny their sense, logic, and reason for what? This I would like to know.