Air Navigation Aids

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27410, 24 July 1954, Page 6

Air Navigation Aids

The upsetting of the trans-Tasman air services to and from Harewood this week re-emphasises the desirability of installing at the New Zealand international airports improved navigation aids which will make the regularity of the overseas aervices virtually independent of the weather. Many experienced overseas pilots who have come to New Zealand in the last year or so have pointed out that the Dominion is lagging behind other countries in this respect. But while it is true that New Zealand cannot afford to lag too far behind, there has, up to the present, been good reason to “ hasten slowly ” in the footsteps of the more advanced aviation countries. For the kind of navigational aid which enables aircraft to be brought down “blind” to the landing-strip is a comparatively new development in which great advances have been made in a short time and are still being made. As the equipment hitherto has been very expensive and the weather in New Zealand—at least at the main airports—is not as serious an obstacle to visual navigation as it is in many other countries, there was a good case for a “wait and “ see ” policy. The “ ground control “ approach ” equipment used at Harewood for the finish of the England-to-New Zealaad air race is

American, and costs between £200,000 and £300,000. Recently, however, British equipment has been tested in this country; and if the claims made for it are substantiated and confirmed by the tests it should be possible to equip Dominion airports at a cost of less than £ 10,000 each. The Government and the Civil Aviation Department will be expected to satisfy themselves and the public that this equipment is completely satisfactory for the purpose. It is not known whether the system has yet been approved, for instance, by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, as the American system has; and the

country should certainly hesitate to countenance any further infractions of 1.C.A.0. standards. But if these requirements can be satisfied the Government should not delay. With the increasing frequency of Tasman flights, travellers will expect to work to tighter timetables, whether travelling for business or pleasure; and delayed flights will cause increasing inconvenience. It should be noted that the postponements of the flights to Harewood this week were caused by the forecasts, not the weather, which turned out on each occasion to be good enough not to upset the schedules of the internal air services. Weather forecasting is anything but an exact science; and in New Zealand it is officially admitted to be less precise than in many other countries. But decisions on 12,000-mile flights must be made, seven or eight hours ahead, on the forecasts of the weather at the terminal airports. When there is any reasonable doubt about the weather at their destination, airlines and aircraft captains rightly choose to delay their flights rather than accept the risk of a difficult landing. Proper landing aids would make the choice unnecessary.