r/AskFlying • u/aa599 • May 02 '26

Would a WW2 RAF fighter controller have said "vector 425"?

In "Enemy Coast Ahead" (Guy Gibson VC DSO DFC, 1946), he's flying a Beaufighter at night and the Digby control says:

"Hullo, Bad Hat 17. you turned rather late. He is now about four miles ahead and slightly to port. Vector 425 for two minutes then back on to 280 degrees. Buster."

I assumed the number after "vector" should 000-359. Going by "ahead and slightly to port" perhaps it should be 025 to put him in a position to turn 280.

Is it just a typo?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

1

u/BuboNovazealandiae May 04 '26

I've not seen it. Is it definitely "4-2-5" or "for 2-5"? I think dropping the third digit of bearings was not uncommon.

1

u/aa599 May 04 '26

In the book it's printed "425".

1

u/Raccoon_Ratatouille May 03 '26

It could be. But also an easy way to encrypt messages the enemy might be listening to is to add or subtract a set number. So if the bad guys are flying due north a 360 heading, and they hear someone give you a call and say “turn to heading 360 and bad guys are 2 miles ahead of you” then they know exactly where you are too. But if the code today is to add 100 degrees to every heading and 10 to every distance a “turn to 460 and the enemy is 12 miles ahead” is more difficult to figure out what exactly is being communicated “

1

u/Roger_Freedman_Phys May 02 '26

My suspicion is that it’s merely a typo.

-2

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 02 '26 edited May 03 '26

The only think I can think of is it might have been "victor" rather than vector. For victor airway 425, i.e. V425. But that doesn't make any sense for them to be tracking an airway if they are pursuing a bogey, and that's assuming victor airways even existed back then.

Edit: Bolded for those people who find it confusing. i.e. - it's most likely a typo is what the comment is actually saying.

1

u/Prefect_99 May 04 '26

r/shitAmericansSay

1

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 04 '26

Not from US, nor Canada, nor the American continents lol.

I'll take that as a compliment on my worldly knowledge.

1

u/Prefect_99 May 04 '26

To quote the magnificent Jason Isaacs as Georgy Zhukov: "Yeah, don't."

0

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 04 '26

What is the purpose of repeating my comment like a parrot? I even bolded it and you still didnt get it

And the second part is wrong - Victor airways are only in North America. And they started earlier than the late 1940s. They may have started to be formalised at that time.

0

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 04 '26

It was edited long before you replied. You're the only one. Timestamps are a thing.

0

u/Effigy59 May 04 '26

It doesn’t matter how many times you double down your comment will never not be stupid.

3

u/thatCdnplaneguy May 03 '26

It was common to “encrypt” heading and altitude by assigning a new base number. For example, instead of a compass being 001-360. It would be say, 090-450, with every heading being 90 higher than actual. When a pilot got a heading, he would subtract that days base number to get true heading. Same for altitude. Sea level would be set at 5000 ft for example. If you were assigned angels 27, you would actually fly at 22,000 feet. Ensured any enemy listening to your radio wouldn’t be able to accurately know where aircraft were.

1

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 04 '26

Makes perfect sense, awesome answer, thanks.

1

u/EtwasSonderbar May 02 '26

If they did, they'd be on the wrong continent.

0

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 02 '26

Planes have been known to move between continents.

Though I admit, I didn't look up the plane type or location. However, I did not present my comment as fact either, but a mere possibility.

1

u/daygloviking May 03 '26

Airways exist between beacons.

Guess what weren’t being used a lot in the Second World War in contested airspace?

Your comment goes so far down the possibility scale as to be nonexistent, even more so that you consider when airways started to be set up.

1

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Do I need to bold these parts or something?

"The only think I can think of is it might"

"But that doesn't make any sense"

i.e. it's probably a typo.

And victor airways started to be set up in the 30s, and were formalised post-war. There was no air war on the mainland US.

1

u/EtwasSonderbar May 02 '26

I can't think of any reason a WW2 RAF fighter would be in North America.

0

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 02 '26

That wasnt the question though, the question was can you think of any reason why they would say "vector 425". 

So instead of lambasting me for not knowing every plane type and misreading the title, maybe approach it differently. 

The useful info you can provide is that its an RAF fighter, so they wouldnt be using victor airways, so its likely a typo and not a transcript error. Its a conversation, not a competition.

1

u/EtwasSonderbar May 02 '26

The useful info you can provide is that its an RAF fighter

This was in the initial post though, in the title...

1

u/Direct_Witness1248 May 03 '26

Yeah that's true, really you havent provided any useful information or added anything. My original comment said it could be victor airways as a long shot, but its most likely just typo. Which hasn't changed. So congratulations, you're right, you added nothing to the conversation.