A commerce raider's scout plane as a radio decoy

Could a commerce raider send its scout plane away with a powerful transmitter to enlarge the enemy's radio-direction-finding search area?

Yes in principle, provided the aircraft remains serviceable; Graf Spee's aircraft illustrates how quickly the concept fails when the scout plane breaks down.

The proposal uses the scout aircraft to separate radio emissions from the mothership and complicate enemy direction finding. The idea could help, but aircraft reliability is the decisive caveat. Graf Spee is the practical warning because her scout plane was no longer functioning when it was needed. Commerce-raiding deception therefore depends on the maintenance limits of embarked aviation.