The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1920-12-16
Radio Gives Instant Response to
the Inquiry where
Am II"
DIRECTION FINDERS WORK
Five Times as Easy to Get Lost in an
AirpIane as in an Automobile, Be-
cause of the Greater Speed,
Says an Expert

New York.-The aIrpIane ordinarily
travels about five times a. fast As an
automobile or steamship, and this ex-
plains why ii is five times as easy To
get lost In an airplane as In land or
water vehicles, according 10 John Il.
Cantley of the Wright Aeronuuticul
corporation.
Difhculties such as this however,
seem to exist merely TO give someone
III the aerOnautical game the pleasure
d overcoming them" he said. The
oathway to commercial aviation few
years ago seemed insurmountuble, but
now all obstacles have been cleared
away. In the case of guidance the
aerO experts have decided to use the
new wireless telephone.
There are no SignboardS In the air.
ana by the time ON aeronaut had cal
cuiated his position by Old-fashioned
nautical methods he would merely have
paced one spot on the earth's surface
where he knew he was not located.
Consequently the aviator. to supple
Ihent his air maps while flying in
clouds. during low visibility. or over
unknown territory, must have SEINE
tast way of reckoning his location.
Radio is rapid, faster even than the
plane. and is therefore the ideal Gid
TO REORGANIZATION.
Guides by Radio.
when the NC4 winged her way
across the ocean there was skilled
navigator. Commander 4. c. Read
himself. In the forward cockpit with
the usual Instruments of marine navi-
cation, but behind him was n radio
man who operated. in addition 10 the
usual wireless with trailing antennae.
radio direction finder. The mPchan-
Ism gave him the exact direction of
the nearest destroyer in the chain
stretching from TreI Sscy 10 the
Azores. Merely by heading in the di-
, rection from which the destroyer radio
signals came the plane reared her way
across the ocean. This was one of the
first uses of the wireless as navigation
equipment. and II was of course crude
In aviation everything is crude which
is more than a few months old for
never did any other industry progress
so rapidly.
I'm addition 10 the landing field sys.
rem which is surely coming in this
country, as II is elsewhere Throughout
the world. as commercial aviation de
yeiops. there viii undoubtedly he built
up Il system of radio stations AT the
landing fields and Mt other points. Tn,
carrying of dirsction-finding apparatus
is of course burdensOme i'm nirpInnes
since besides It's weight II requires
either an operator or part of the timr
the attention Of the pilot. who should
he free to handle the plane. In III,
stations themselves this apparatus can
he installed instead. All that the plan.
will need Is n simple rad. , phone send
ing and receiving apparatus.
-'Where am I? Where am II the
tranSmitter. Somewhere down below
perhaps concealed by underlying clouds
or mist. the stations will hear and al.
most instantanepusiy calculate the dI.
rection and answer. Does this sound
far-fetched? Already navy radio sta.
tons use precisely similar methods.
save that they use wireless telegraph
signals and are daily giving locations
and bearings TO ocean steamships on
the Atlantic coast. The application "a
airplanes is a inere matter of eStah-
fishing stations and installing equip
ment on planes.
"In addition to giving locations these