ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 4260, 4 November 1933, Page 4

ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

“BLIND” AVIATOR’S TRACK,

CONQUERING THE FOG,

A transcontinental mail aeroplane left Cleveland, U.S.A., on the last stage of the run to New York. Shortly after the pilot took the allmetal craft into the air, he ran into a fog and climbed to the top of the clouds. All the way across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the machine was above the clouds, excepting for several short periods when showers were in its path and it had to plough straight through them. Throughout this time the pilot was Ilyin" blind, riding along a radio-directed course, every few minutes receiving his actual bearings from ground stations aloug the system. When the plane entered the first cloud, a Avoman passenger sat up and peered out at the misty Avhite enveloping the wings. When the next cloud appeared, she leaned back and dozed off to sleep. The passenger Avas Mrs Amy Mollison. The air lines have already conquered fog along the routes, and are now on the Avay toAvard conquering it at the air terminals. Every transport pilot in charge of the big-winged liners that race along American skyways to-day is qualified to fly Avith instruments. Railroad engineers ride on the right side of the cab in order to read signals Avhicli, since the beginning, have been placed on the right side of the rails. The opposite rule prevails in flying. The chief pilot rides on the left in order to see the flashing beacons along the airway and to pick up the ground signals Avhen landing. Air liners folloAV a path to the right of the beacon at nght, and to the right of the radio beam by day. The beam is there at night also, but there is no need to listen to the “dot-dash” of the radio beam at night when poAverful revolving beacons light the Avay for miles ahead. In thick weather at night, when beacons are not visible, the engineers hold a true course to the right of the radio beam, and remain at the altitude ordered by the despatcher from his office on terrafirm a. East-bound traffic is given one level to fly along, and Avest-bound another. Head-on collisions in bad weather are avoided in this way, for, if an aeroplane should drift over to the left of the airway course, it Avould be safe from collision because of the difference in level at Avhicli they Avere. flying. The department of Commerce is experimenting with the landing beam method of landing a plane on a fog-bound airport. The Army Air Corps is folloAving out an entirely different method Avithout the expense of the installation of the fixed beam. It has met Avith remarkable success, and has already trained two classes of pilots to make blind landings at the experimental station in Dayton, Ohio. When the element of hazard is taken out of blind landings, just as it has been removed from blind navigation —and experts say that success is in sight—air lines will become the biggest pasenger carriers.