Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-27

ctlftfes At his command than the or5i-
nary citizen on the ground below with
. telephone 1t his elbow, it was revealed
during the course OF Department Of
Commerce demonstration fight here
last night
The pilot has the advantage over The
man on the ground in that he does not
have TO worry about diaiing numbers
calling the long distance operator or
hearing the stereotyped message: Wait
= minute. please, ] am trying to COM
plete your call"
During last nights demonstration
Pilot John Gable. flying a big Depart
ment OF Commerce tri-.notored trans
port plane equipped for test purposes
with all the latest aids to NAVIGATION
was able To converse freely and with no
effort. except that Of talking. with air
way stations as far away as Newark
N. j., or with the passengers In the
plane behind him. all through the same
mouthpiece.
flight II Impromtu.
Arranged by Clarence NJ. Young. As
ststant Secretary Of Commerce for
Aeronautics. and Frederick r. Nicely.
chief OF the information division OF
the Aeronautics Branch. the flight in
Guided not only q demonstration Of
radio-telephone communications but
also OF aural and visual radio beacon
service
So that the test might be representa-
tive Of ordinary operating conditions,
Cable made no arrangement with any
of the ground stations. Warming up
the big plane in front OF the Depart
ment OF Commerce hangar at Boiling
Field just as the last red streamerS
of daylight vanished over Arlington
Heights and darkness settled down,
Gable talked out into the field into
the light OF q full moon.
Blue flame spurted from the ex-
haustS Of the two wing motors as
Gable showed the three throttles wide
open and the plane, gathering speed
over the bumpy surface of Boiling
Field. climbed smoothly into the night
The lights of Alexandria. surprisingly
close, traced a checkerboard under the
left wing and far ahead could be seen
the lights of Fairfax, Va, and the
smaller communities between.
Turning out over the Potomac. Gable
swung in a long curve up over the
Capitol, which thrust its cleaning dome
above the lacework of the city lights,
and headed for College Park. Md, home
OF the Department of Commerce radio
research station and the radio-range
station on the mountain airwsy to
Pittsburgh.
Passengers Listen-in
On the way to College Park he
switched on his radio-telephone trans
mitter. Earphones, plugged into jacks
in the cabin, permitted his passengers
to listen-in.
"WWX, WWX," Gable called into his
mouthpiece. the call letters of the Ma
tional Capitals airwayS weather broad
casting station near Camp Springs. Md,
"NS-1 calling WWX. Come on, WWX."
There was q Sputtering in the ear
phones and the reply: 'WWX, answer
ing NS-1. Go ahead, NS-1."
we are on a demonstration flight,
Gable informed. the ground station.
I'VE are just out of Boiling Field, on
the way to College Park. From Col
lege Park we will fly to Frederick, Nd,
and return. When can we come in
Come in after the next weather
broadcast" the ground station replied,
Il viii call you then"
Visual Beacon Operates.
Cable then began circfng the College
Park field, the first regular flying field
in America, turning on his visual radio
beacon receiver as he did so. A crack
ling in the earphoneS indicated that
the visual beacon broadcast was COM
ing in. On the planes instrument
panel a small dial, brightly illuminated
by radium paint, came into life. A
single pointer swung to the left OF a
center line, indicating that the plane
was to the left of the course. Gable
swung to the right until the pointer
centered on the mark and was on his
course. headed directly toward Pitts
burgh.
The Baltimore Washington highway,
wide and bright on the dark ground
below, stretched away into the spread
ing glow of the city lights TO the left
and of to the right through the bright
beads of Maryland towns, to the glow
Of Baltimore on the right.
Gable swung to the left to demon
strate the action of the visual radio
beacon. The little pointer swung away
from the center marker to the left.
Gable swung back until the pointer
settled on the line and knew he was
back on his course once more
Far 10 the right there was CLEAN
of silver where the moon glinted on the
waters of Chesapeake Bay Chevy
Chase and then Bethesda passed by to
the right A few minutes later the big
airways beacon light at Congressional
Airport slipped by under the right wing,
the lights Of Rockville just beyond. The
moon by now was high enough to throw
its full light on the fields and stretches
of woods below and the irregularities
OF the ground stood out in bold relief
Weather Reported by Radio.
A sputtering of static in the ear
phones heralded the beginning of the
l5-minute airways weather report from
WWx. The report corroborated all the
outward evidence of beautiful October
evening. The temperature was down to
SIS degrees, the Weather Bureau an
nounced, and the blast coming in the
cabin ventilators was proof he couldn't
be wrong.
At the end of the broadcast WWX
called the planes radio number, NS-1.
and Gable reported his position as 10
miles west of Rockville. The Washing
ton call completed, Cable summoned
the airwayS station at Newark out of
the night by merely asking that WNAO
come on the air. Newark had some
dificulty bearing Cables position report
and when Cable said he was on a dem
onStration flight out OF washington
Newark wanted 10 know whether 1t was
washington, n. j., or Washington, D. G.
Gable had TO spell out the name of
Frederick as his destination before
Newark understood. and then asked for
the call letters OF the mountain air
ways station at Bellefonte, Pa
Desiring TO attract the attention of
his passengers, Gable merely spoke into
his mouthpiece. Through the ear
phones in the cabin came the mes
sage: IF you will look out ahead. you
viii see the green beacon marking the
intermediate field at Frederick"
visibility High in Ideal skies.
Twenty miles ahead the beacon could
be seen clearly The visibility was un
limited. To the left the flashing bea-
cons on the Washington Atlanta air
way could be seen below Quantico. Va.
Behind and TO the left could be seen