FULL RADIO AIDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26781, 26 May 1948, Page 4

FULL RADIO AIDS

MAIN AIR ROUTE OPERATION NEXT WEEK AVOIDANCE OF DELAYS EXPECTED P.A. AUCKLAND, May 25. Full radio aids on the main trunk air route between Auckland and Dunedin will come into operation next Tuesday, in addition to the radio range that has been in use at Whenualpai for some years. The chain of aids on the main trunk route consists of 10 separate installations which will enable air services to be maintained in any but the worst weather. The provision of the radio aids is expected to put an end to the delays that have occurred through the enforcement of visual flight On at least two occasions this year since January 1, when regulations based on the international standards were introduced in New Zealand, pilots of the National Airways Corporation on occasions have found it impossible to undertake scheduled trips because the visibility fell below the minimum in which they were permitted to fly without the help of radio ranges and homer beacons. The new equipment, all of which will have been tested before the end of this month, meets the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, of which New Zealand is a member. It will be operated by a trained staff, and will function in conjunction with the air traffic control centres, one of which is at Auckland. Apart from that at Whenuapai, there will be operating next week radio ranges at New Plymouth and Christchurch, fan markers at Mangere and Christchurch, and homers at Rukuhia, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Ohakea, Paraparaumu, and Kaikoura. The fan marker is an auxiliary unit installed on one “leg” of the radio range. A pilot coming in to Whenuapai on range, with a steady range signal clearly heard on his radio, will, as he passes over Mangere, hear a momentarily contrasting signal that will give him his definite location. All civil air liners flying on the main trunk route in New Zealand are already equipped with instruments to enable them to make use of the newly installed ground units. The full equipment for the flying control centres which are essential links in the operation of the new system is not yet available, but enough has arrived and been installed to enable the centres to play their part. Radio aids have also been installed on some sections of the feeder air routes, but it is expected to be some time before instrumentflying over the whole network becomes possible.