Evening star., 1928-04-08
Snn
Call sPLceTm wArtd

Iichthouses of the Department Of Com
merce announces that ou per Ceilt oI
the beaconS that dot the way are now
Americas newest air mail line will be
s niSht service. at first, ana along tne
T44.nlile stretch between New YORK
and Atlanta some "a Searchilghe pea
cons are being installed:
The bureau saws that lights are being
hlrned on as quickly as they are IN
stalled and that substantially all will
be in operation by May l, with so per
cent in operation by April Is. The
work of installing these important
guides has been going on through the
Winter, having been started IN Novem-
Der.
volving searchlight is being PROVIDED
every 10 miles 10 stud the blacEneSs
below With illumination 10 guloe the
air pilot New Yorkward or Atlanta
bound with the mails. The towers 10
hold the tremendous lights have been
manufactured by an Ohio firm. while
the General Electric Co. at Schenectady,
n. Y. has built the big beaconS. the
Bureau Of Lighthouses has proceeded
on the program of lighting both enos
of the line first and private contractors
have been engaged in erecting the tow
erS and lights.
The towers are of the same general
type used by the Post Office Depart
ment before the Job of flying the mails
was turned over to private contractors,
bat they represent further develop
raent, based on added experience
On each 5l-foot standard alrway
tower is a platform six feet by six feet,
painted chrome yellow. adjoining the
base for the 24-inch revolving beacon.
making six revolutions per minute, and
throwing out over the countryside
1900, 900 csndlepower light. Power
houses, erected in some cases near the
base of the tower. are 10 feet by IL feet
In area.
While night flying will inaugurate
The New York-to-Atlanta service, the
Bureau of Lighthouses has worked with
an eye to the future. and that not far
distant day when the private contractor
win carry passengers as well as mail
and the beacons can serve by day for
private aviators winging their way
swallow-like TO the South. According
IL. the Bureau Of Lighthouses has set
tied on chrome-yellow and black COM
bination SIS having the highest yiSibll-.
fly, adaptable to day flying.
On the roof of each power house
used for the beacons The route designa-
tons, based on the terminal cities, are
being painted. Thus on the line on
which Washington is located the desig-
nation ANY. TO denote Atlanta and
New York viii be used on one side of
the roof. while on the other viii be the
beacon number based on the mileage.
The last digit is dropped, so that when
the pilot gianceS below and sees the
number 26, he knows that represents
$50 miles.
lust below the tower platform sup
porting each beacon is an interior
illuminated wind cone, colored orange.
SO that the pilot may peer over his
cockpit and know what wind conditions
are below. On the ground. jutting out
from the tower, is a concrete arrow,
IS feet long. painted chrome yellow,
pointing to the next beacon.
Power houses win not be used with an
towers and beaconS. but only where
local electricity win not be available.
The power houses win shelter engine
driven generating plants where local
current is not available.
In places where automatic beacons
will be erected, with commercial power
available, the beacon number viii be
painted on the feather end of the
concrete arrow. black on chrome-yellow
background. There the lighting system
viii be operated with the aid Of Old
Soils rays or time switch When the
sun strikes the instruments. the lights
sre turned OF. doing away with the
1eec of local caretaker. Boundary
lighted intermediate landing fields,
leased from the owners, are being pro-
gided by the Government
Emergency landing fields, provided
once n 30 miles along the T44-mile
route. are being outlined with l5-watt
lamps, spaced about 300 feet apart.
mounted on standards Of i-inch con-
Quit Surmounted by a boundary standard
hitting and globes about three feet above
the ground. Green lights win show the
best normal approach, while all obstrIc-
tons In the vicinity of the field will be
marked by flashing red danger lights
on the obstruction or at an equivalent
height Bright red lights are to be
mounted on top Of the airway beacons
above the rotating searehlights at points
Hnere there are no landing fields in the
Immediate vicinity
Fashions in aircraft lighting systems
advance rapidly these days. and no
longer is food light tIsed TO nIiunni-
nate the route designation and beacon
number on top Of the roofs of power
3n vogue, flashes derfoting the number
Of the beacon. Two course lights are
used, with iz-inch searchlighta with a
5O-oegyee spread and lenses Of light
house red. These lights point the way
on the course and characteristic sig
nal for each station is given BY fash
ing with dots ad dasnes. These flashes
are arranged in blocks of 100 miles.
with signals arranged from zero 10 nine.
il Is necessary for pilot 10 know which
109~InIle block he is IN II he wants %
tell from the lights how far he has
Travelled
Loca! generators are operated by two
independent sets that have automatic
switches turned on by time clock. One
runs Untu midnight, and then al mid
night the other iS thrown over 10
work from midnight until morning. If
one fails 10 operate, the other is kick
&c IN immediately Tests have shown
that al average period Of II seconds
elapseA between the time the beacon
begins W dim and the time the emer-
getcy generator begins 10 function.
A TTEkDAsTG arr 10 be provided at
ali Eeacons. Eacn VIII usually be
the owner u the farm on which the
Descotl Ii located or the tenant or some
one living ~ the vicinity and VIII b.
PAID a SfIlsN retainer for looking after
the Lights and seeing that they func-
tlon properly II lamp fails the at
1endant Will h. expected W change IL
himself, but II something out of his
province occurs. he il required " report
~ tns engineer m charge of nlailte-
nance. ~ that 4 nian can be dispatched
" thai pint nlifTieeiy ~ tx tile light.
Llgnt@ on the mail planes themselves
viii h. 81 me automobile headlight type
nuc one viii b. mounted on each wing
t4p. They wIIl De for al kinds of land
angs, particularly those 81 an emer~
AeIacy nature Parachute flares Will bf
> utilized ~ fllG TIE field Ia which "