Evening star., 1925-06-08
HUGE AIR BEACON
ERECTED IN FRANCE
New Era in Lighthouses Is
Opened by Demands of
Navigators of the Sky.

Lighting ships on their way, one
or the most ancient adjuncts of navi-
cation, has been revolutioniZed recent
iy because ships now sail the air as
well as the sea, and the classic type of
lighthouse does not meet the needs of
the air voyagers," says bulletin
from the headquarters of the National
Geographic Society.
The latest development in the new.
est lighthouse field" continues the
bulletin, is the establishment of a
ne-billion-candlepowe beacon near
DlJon, IN Eastern France, primarily to
facilitate night travel on the Paris
MafSellle line, but also to point the
way for the numerous buzzing carriers
or passengers, mail and express which
france sees weaving a network of air
routes over the country in the near
future.
300 Miles From Ocean.
This most powerful lighthouse in
the world does not rise like it's long
line of famous predecessors from near
the pounding surf, but is situated on
mountain top, $50 miles inland from
the English Channel and the Mediter-
ranean, and 500 from the Atlantic It
Is not, like the existing aviation lights
IN the United States, one of a series
or beacons in the line of a travelled
route, and unlike many great light
houses of the sea, 1t does not mark a
region that is to be avoided or a
channel entrance that is TO be entered.
1t is placed well to the side of the
much Travelled French air lanes, in
such a situation that it can be seen
from great distances and used as
check on location and direction. The
beacon lies nearly 1000 feet above sea
leVel and flashes its powerful beams
lar above most of the low hills of
central France. Under favorable at
mospheric conditions it is believed
the Dion light can be seen from near
Marseilles in the Sauth, and from the
air above Paris, Lille and even Rrus-
sells in the North.
The lighthouses of the air have
had a radically different development
so FAR in Americas vast land areas.
Almost the only problem here has
oeen TO supply we'll lighted, hard and
fast routes for the transcontinental
mail flyers, and this has been so well
solved by the Post Office Department
that 1t probably will serve as a model
Tor all the definitely lighted airways
of the future. The most powerful of
the air mail beacons are of half
billion candlepower. There are five
Of these, on the division landing fields
at Chicago, Iowa City, Omaha, North
$50 miles apart. The planes land at
each of these stations and the bril-
liant flashing beacons are to identify
the landing fields. AS the planes ap-
proach the earth the beacons are
turned off and the fields are flood
lighted.
U. S. Routes Clearly Marked
Between the regular landing fields,
at 25-mile intervals, are emergency
landing fields, each marked by a
flashing light of 5000. 900 candle
power Normally these smaller bea-
cons serve to outline the flying route.
Between the lights of the emergency
fields, approximately 3 miles apart, |
are small. blinking, routing bea- |
his night route marked out for him |
with a pencil of light extending off |
from Chicago 1000 miles to the west |
All of these lights are not shin |
ing at one time. For the west
bound flyer only the Chicago Iowa |
City division is lighted at first. The !
planes are operated on a regular dis
patching system. As a plane passes |
over each emergency field, the
caretaker there notifies the station in !
advance and that in the rear, by teIe-
phone. When the plane lands at the !
division point, all Of the emergency
fields passed over are notified, and |
their lights are turned off
Then the portion of the route
passed over Is lighted only by the lit. |
tie automatic blinking gas lights of
the 3-nlile beacons, which pulse
their signals for weeks at a time with |
out attention. When the plane is
ready to take off on the next leg of its
cruise, all the beacons of the second |
division begin flashing to lead it in |
safety along its way.
Problem Different i'm East.
Between New York and Chicago a |
second lighted airway is now being
put into operation, with somewhat |
different types of lights Because of |
the rough country. beacons cannot be |
seen, as in the West, for 25 miles or
more lights Of the Western emer-
sency field type are placed from II to
II miles apart, marking emergency
landing sites. In between, usually on
hills or ridges, are lamps which send
out rather broad beams of fair bril- |
liancy. These are merely routing sig
nails, and do not indicate landing
fields. To make their character clear,
each sends vertically a constant beam
of red light. At shorter intervals
along the Eastern airway are small,
lights like those used in the
West"