TIMING FOR AIR RACE

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27151, 22 September 1953, Page 10

TIMING FOR AIR RACE

BATTERY OF SIX CHRONOGRAPHS ELECTRICAL CONTROL SYSTEM Time signals from the Dominion Observatory will be especially safeguarded for accuracy next month. On them may depend the places of aircraft flying in the London-Christchurch air race. A bank of precision Swiss chronographs, lent for the timing of the race, will be checked twice in every 24 hours against the time signals, and double checked against a marine chronometer which, in its turn, will be j checked against time signals every two hours. The chronographs, each worth £BO. will be controlled by a system of switches and buttons through an electrical circuit. Three men will be responsible for the operation of the watches, and the calculations which will follow each aircraft’s arrival. Leader of this important team is Mr F. W. Thrower, a watchmaker and past president of the I Canterbury branch of the Horological Institute of New Zealand, who lives in Christchurch. His assistants will be Mr G. Foster, an indent agent noted for his collection of antique watches and clocks, and Mr H. Bullock, an ■ accountant on whose shoulders will rest the responsibility of making the necessary calculations. As the Royal Aero Club sends off each competitor from London airport the departure time will be noted. As soon as all have left the ground these times will be cabled to Christchurch and from there it will be in the hands of Mr Thrower and his team. All will be at the airport during the whole time of the race. The finishing line will join the top of the Harewood control tower with a 35ft pylon near the main runway. Each aircraft will carry large race numbers for easy Mentification during daylight. At night the crew of the radar installation will flash a signal lamp as the aircraft crosses the line. The bank of rh rnn ographs is needed because of the possibility of several aircraft arriving about the same time. Each of the Swiss chronographs carries a certificate from the National Physical Laboratory at Kew and has been checked for accuracy in temperatures varying from four degrees to 36 degrees Centigrade and in different positions. They are similar to those used to time the Olympic Games at Helsinki last year.