AUSTRALIAN AVIATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 14

AUSTRALIAN AVIATION.

FACTORS FOR SAFETY. THE RADIO COMPASS. Discussing the.search for the Southern Cross the Daily Cornmcricial News, Sydney, says that one of the conditions upon which transcontinental flights should be allowed in tho future is that every plane must be equipped with a radio outfit that can be worked when the plane is on the ground and tho engine wrecked. '1 his could be ensured by the provision of a small internal combustion engine to generate sufficient power to enable tl.e aeroplane, in the event of a smash, to send out signals. The rescue planes, if equipped with , radio compasses, could then pick up the signals, and, following the direction indicated by the radio compass, fly straight to the assistance of the stricken crew.

"The remarkable thing about this compass," stains the journal, "is that it will always point directly toward the source of the signals that it is picking tip. So long as the fallen plane can continue to pour out signals, any plane with a radio compass <an go straight as an arrow to where the stranded machine is. Even if it is unable to land and thereby render assistance, it can drop supplies of food or other essentials. It can definitely locate the scene of the smash within at the most a few hours, and once that position is known all sorts and any kind of relief expedition can bo swiftly organised and proceed direct to the scene ol the catastrophe. "This should be part of our national organisation. Australia is the land that most requires aerial services of any in the world. Our distances are gigantic. Our desert areas in which aeroplanes may crnsti or come to grief are so wide that this latest adjunct to safety first should be part of the obligatory equipment of every plane traversing lonely areas and long, dangerous flights."