Future Navigational Aids

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22852, 24 January 1949, Page 4

Future Navigational Aids

It appears that this condition invariably exists during bad weather and in particular when there is a high static level. It is clear enough that an adequate filling of this gap in the radio homer system between Wanganui and Hamilton would have ensured that the aircraft was at no time out of range of at least one of these installations and that any navigational error would have been immediately detected by the pilot. “We have no evidence before ns which enables us to make general recommendations in regard to the safety of all airlines in New Zealand such as the installation of radar in certain localities, or the installation of any one particular system, to replace the present system of radio ranges and homing beacons,” stated the board in.the course of its findings. “We have been told that such installations would be governed by economic considerations or by technical difficulties which are still the subject of international discussion.” The board added, however, that it had been told by the operations manager of the National Airways Corporation that the system in use in New Zealand was obsolescent. No matter what difficulties may lie in the way, the public will conclude that there is a strong case for the earliest possible installation of improved devices for ensuring their safety in air travel. Radio has made it possible for aircraft to be navigated under blindflying conditions with an impressively high degree of certainty and safety. The fine record of the New Zealand internal airlines has already proved this. But as long as any weakness exists in the system, then that vulnerable point must be fortified.