Evening star., 1935-05-19
RADIO LANDINGS
TOBE MADE HERE
Washington Airport to Be
Equipped With Latest
Equipment.

Installation of radio compass equip
nent for blind approaches and land
lnes will be started az washington
Airport on or before June l. accord
ing to an announcement today by the
Bureau of Air Commerce. The local
Installation. for experimental purposes,
will be a part of the development of
radio aids to blind landings at IL air
uorts in various parts of the country.
This equipment, is is hoped, will pre-
vent such accidents as that which
caused the death in Missouri last week
of Senator Bronson Cutting.
The radio blind-landing transmltters,
one of which Is to be installed mere,
now are being constructed Tor tne
Bureau of Air Commerce by the Army
Air Corps at Wright Field, Dayton
Ohio. The bureau decided last NO
yen1ber to adopt the Army system
developed largely by Capt, Albert beg
enberger, who has just been ordereo
tn Washington for duty at Boiling
Field. An order for the sets was
placed at that time.
Vidal Sees Safety Aid.
"The lind-landing or blind approach
xvstem. as it is also known will ada
materially to the safety and rella-
hilitv of air transportation" it was
explained by Eugene L. Vidal, dlrector
of air commerce. in announcing the
plans for immediate installation OF
the equipment.
"Once the system is installed. ana
n it proves as dependable in service
usage as during the IL months we
had il under test, the safety and de-
pendability of air transportation should
compare very favorably with ground
transportation"
Rex Martin, assistant director OF
air commerce for air navigation, Will
be in direct charge of the survey ana
installation work, which will be car
ried out by E. A. Cutrell. noted blind
landing and instrument pilot; Bennett
Griffin, transatlantic flyer. who also
has had extensive experience in blind
fiying and blind landing, and A. j. La
Baie, in charge Of electric power con-
tracts, all of the Bureau of Air Com
merce, and w. S. Hinman, jr., Bureau
of Standards radio engineer.
Lights to Be Installed.
In addition to the radio installa-
tions, the equipment 10 be installed
at, Washington Airport and other
blind-landing fields will include a
chain of lights on a straight line OF
approach to the principal runway for
a distance of 2,700 feet. Two rows OF
lights flush with the ground will be
installed down the center OF the
runway to provide visual direction to
the pilot after he has ceased to use
his radio for locating the approach
to the edge Of the airport. Thorougn
studies of the effectiveness OF these
lights will be made at the local air
port and at the Newark, N. j., ter
minal before further installations are
made.
Blind approaches TO Washington
Airport, with minimum low ceiling re-
uuirements yet to be announced, VIII
be permitted with passengers after
proper training of airline pilots oper-
ating out of this city, the Department
of Commerce announced. Totally
blind landings under zero-zero coTldl-
tions, however, will not be permitted
with passengers during the earlier
stages of its use.
Two Radio Stations.
The radio installation here will in
clude two radio stations transmitting
on different frequencies, one located
about 1,500 feet from the airport, the
other about two miles away. At each
of these stations there will be a sec
ondary transmitter acting as radio
marker beacon to flash on a light in
the airplane cockpit when the plane
passes over the transmitter.
In determining the location of these
stations, the Bureau If Air Commerce
experts will study prevailing winds.
the safest approaches and runway
facilities. Wind direction prevalent
under conditions of poor visibility
will be a determining factor. OBJ
structions in the vicinity of the air
port also must be taken into consider
alton.