The Snowflake herald., 1921-01-21
'I1|ELEsS PHONE
| I|IRPLANE GUIDE.
... Instant Response to
p'' The Inquiry "Where
Am II"
rlfG1I0A FINDERS WORK
,,.,.. as Easy to Get Lost in an
fr '.'.o. '',, as in an Automobile, Be-
GirpS"' = +be Greater Speed,
SAYS an Expert.

Says an Expert
r,rE-The abplane ordinarily
y,r ,l. about five times as fast ia, as an
H'eS ,,lo dD or steamship, and this ex-
@oDODhh,, If is I'VE times as easy TO
rslS 5, "T1 IN an airplane as in land or
81 o'r robicIes. according to John II.
'.% ..spr Of the Wright Aeronautlcai
Hpolalis .asnlties such as this, however
'DlI.'4 ,o evist merely to give someone
e'.l - ooronautical game the pleasure
ins .oning aC them" he said. THE
,.r "sl 70 commercial aviation few
P'p"a| aco seemed insurmountable, but
eu' ,n 10 obstacles have been cleared
% ~ In the case of guidance the
I.'', ', svperts have decided to use the
wireless telephone.
n,oro are no signbOards in the air.
NV tho time an aerOnaut had cal
~ VA bis D0sition by Old-fashioned
.t.ol methods he would merely have
..d one spot on the earth'S surface
'.o no knew he was not located.
|rn,sruently the aviator, to supple
..t his air maps while flying in
lands during low visibility, or over
,,novn territory, must have some
~ wav of reckoning his location.
m1o is rapid. faster even than the
,gno and is therefore the ideal aid
b aerCnavigation.
Guided by Radio.
DWbpn the NC4 winged her way
,ross the ocean there was skilled
mricator Commander A. c. Read
himself in the forward cockpit with
NO usual Instruments of marine navi-
o+oD but behind him was radio
man who operated, in addition to the
rc,al wireless with trailing antennae,
, radio direction finder. The mechan-
I'm gave him the exact direction OF
NE nearest destroyer in the chain
retchlng from Trepassey to the
azores. Merely by heading in the di-
pction from which the destroyer radio
dgals came the plane rOared her way
across the ocean. This was one of the
first uses of the wireless as navigation
gupment, and it was of course crude.
n aviation everything is crude which
4 more than a few months old, for
never did any other industry progress
50 rapidly.
IN addition to the landing field sys-
fem which is surely coming in this
ontry as it is elsewhere throughout
HE world as commercial aviation de-
yeOpS, there will undoubtedly be built
Up system of radio stations at the
l1dng fields and at other points. The
arying Of direction-fnding apparatus
Of course burdensome in airplanes,
,nCe besides its weight it requires
'ther an operator or part of the time
he attention of the pilot, who should
e free to handle the plane. In the
tatons themselves this apparatus can
e installed instead. All that the plane
IiI need is a simple radio phone send
lg and receiving apparatus.
Where am I? Where am ~ the
IOt will inquire, speaking into his
nnSmitter. Somewhere down below.
erhaps concealed by underlying clouds
Z mist the stations will hear and al
loSt inStantaneouSly calculate the di.
ectl0n and answer. Does this sound
Ttetched? Already navy radio sta.
Ions use precisely similar methods.
aN that they use wireless telegraph
Isnals and are daily giving locations
Od bearings to ocean steamships or
ne Atlantic coast. The application tc
lrpIaneS is a mere matter of estab.
SAlng stations and installing equip.
lent on planes.
Help Planes on Long Flights.
IN addition to giving locations these
Ialons will be of great value to keep
@neS on long flights informed as to
fevalling winds at various heights
hanging meteorological conditions
IOud heights and so forth. The mer
tne plane will be in very much closer
0hmunlcation with the world while
'Ing a hundred miles an hour five OF
n thousand feet above the earth thar
'urlStS in an automobile below them
Larger machines, of course, viii
IOOaOly carry their own operators
no may handle directional wireless.
ppafatus as well as their radio mech
u'Nll' but small planes, machines cor
spending to automobiles in pas
niger and freight capacity, can dis
FllSe with a radio man. yet have pre-
Sely the same directional advan
iges.
heaulng airplane companies. sucl
are now making planes for service
uoSS the continent, or parts Of it. will
IOoably be compelled to erect thei
WI va radio stations. but eventually
eleve the federal government vii
sVOsIlze its duty to aircraft as vel
sea craft and establish compre
.nsl'e system of stations. Thes
,auohs will be of great value to al
wee . flyers, mail pilots, forest fir
ayrOls etc, as we'll as to civilian
se'S, and in addition could be use
! other radio purposes as well. PEI