RADIO BEACONS FOR FLYING

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 223, 17 June 1936, Page 12

RADIO BEACONS FOR FLYING

Establishment Advocated

REDUCING DELAYS DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Establishment of radio beacons Io reduce the danger of flying in fogs and storms in Now Zealand is advocated by Mr. Harold Gatty, Australian and New Zealand representative of Pan-American Airways and the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. He considers that, as lighthouses are provided for the safety of ships, so should radio beacons bo provided for the safety of aeroplanes—by the Government.

Explaining the operation of the radio beacon system in an interview he said that the stations which projected the beams along which aeroplanes could fly were effective up to about 200 miles, so that stations separated by that distance were needed for effective coverage of a route. The beam signal was projected through the air in the form of a cone, which was not more than four miles across at its widest part, and consisted of the constant sending of two letters, one sent on the right-hand side of the beam and the other on the left.

The general practice was for the pilot to fly along the right-hand signal of the beam, keeping to- it by listening for the letter signal on the radio re cording set in his machine. By this “keep to the right” rule there was no chance of collision in the air, because machines flying in opposite directions along a beam were on opposite sides of it. Keeping a Straight Course. Flying along the radio beam the pilot could maintain a straight course from point to point as long as he kept on the beam and there was no danger in flying blind through fog or rain or storm, because the pilot would know the highest obstacles along that track and could keep above them, still on the path of the beam. Without a beam it was possible for a machine to drift off its course without the pilot knowing it when flying blind and strike obstacles against which the pilot had not taken precautions because he did not expect them and did not know that he was in that vicinity. Each radio beacon could send signals in four directions, which could be controlled. , A beacon at Palmerston North, for instance, would be able to throw a beam toward Wellington, Blenheim, New Plymouth and Auckland, or in any other four directions. With a beacon guiding him a pilot could fly through storms or fogs with safety and on time as long as he knew that the ground on which he had to land was clear. This entailed the provision of an accurate and prompt meteorological service, which would give reliable predictions of the weather to pilots before taking off and also quick advice of changes when the machine was in the air, so that, if the destination ground became obscured, the pilot could make for the nearest other clear landing ground. For dispatch and reception of meteorological information radio service between the ground and the machine was necessary. The Meteorological Department already provided a weather service and radio communication was maintained between the planes and the ground. Australian Example. Radio beacons were essential to the maintenance with safety of regular services. Without radio aids there would always be delays through feg and other weather changes. There would still be some with radio beacons until blind landing facilities for aero-; dromes were perfected and installed, but the number would be reduced considerably. The cost of a beacon system would not be very great, and could be justified on the ground that it would almrst eliminate the risk of loss of lives and equipment in a possible aeeid'ent. Lighthouses were provided for safety at sea, and the cost was not measured against the need. The provision of beacons came into the same category as the provision of lighthouses, and was a matter for the Government. Expenditure on beacons would be expenditure in the interests of public safety. Referring to the provision of beacons for flying services In other countries, Mr. Gatty mentioned that one had been erected at Canberra by the Australian Government, which was embarking on a big programme of beacon installation along the air routes between the' capital cities of Australia. New Zealand was in a fortunate position in that its air services had been rather slow in establishment, so that the knowledge gained by extensive and expensive, research and experiment in other countries was already available for application here. Equipment had become practically standardised, and there was little need for further experiment. New Zealand had simply to apply the knowledge gained in other parts of the world. SERVICE UPSET Cook Strait Flights Cancelled Yesterday's storm caused the cancellation of some of the flight’s of Cook Strait Airways Ltd. The morning trips from Blenheim to Wellington ami from Wellington to Blenheim were not made, but one machine crossed from Blenheim to Wellington at noon. However, it was unable to make the usual early-afler-noon Wellington-Nelson flight but rhe machine which flies from Nelson io Wellington, via Blenheim, in the afternoon arrived on time. Two machines wore thus in Wellington at. onyc. ami both made the last scheduled flight of the day to Nelson via Blenheim. A strong gusty wind :t(i<l driving rain made flying conditions unpleasant. The anemometer registered up to 45 miles an hour al Itongolai Aerodrome.