Evening star., 1935-06-09

lloPoy oAoV "oO IIlddC Oll lIlC Lil'
here it would work anywhere.
The system which is being installed
at Washington Airport is a cOmbina-
ton of the Army Air Corps radio blinc
landing tranSmitters developed at tht
materiel division, Wright Field. Ohio
under the direction of Capt. Albert F
HegenbergeI, who has been ordered
here for duty at Boiling Field, and o.
series OF lights which provide 6
visual aid at close range.
The installation is essentially di
vided into three unit5-the radio
transmitters, a line OF high-poWel
lights extending for more than a hal
mile away from the edge of the air
port in prclongation Of the center lint
of the main runway. and double
row Of flush-type sunKen lights mark
ing the main runway.
One of these units has been COM
pleted at Washington Airport-the
line Of lights outside the airport
| These lights are on a line northwest
from the airport across the Arlington
Experimental Farm. Bulbs giving a
500 0000-candlepower beam are used be-
hind an l8-inch lens. Thoy are mount
ed several feet of The ground and
the beams are tilted slightly toward
the airman approaching the main
runway from the northwest so as tC
| provide maximum visibility.
The two series of lights inside and
outside the airport. are intended tC
provide visual direction TO the pilol
/ after he has ceased TO use his radio
for locating the approach to the edge
of the airport. Thorough studies are
to be made of the effectiveness OF
the lights under all conditions al
Washington and Newark before they
are installed elsewhere. Surveys are
being made preparatory TO the in
stallation Of landing systems at key
/ points along the main transconti-
/ mental airWay.
The ground radio installation. the
! heart of the whole blind landing sys-
/ TEN, includes two radio stations trans
| mitting on different trequencies. One
will be located about 800 feet from
! the edge OF Washington Airport in the
line of approach lights and the other
about miles away in the same line.
At each Of these station there will be
a secondary transmitter acting as a
radio marker beacon.
In his cockpit the pilot will have
a radio compass. a radio receiver tuned
to the frequency of the secondary
marker beacons, which will flash a
light on the instrument panel when
! he passes directly over the marker; a
! sensitive altimeter and a directional
gyro. in addition to the usual fight
| instruments.
To use the system IN thick weather,
the pilot will approach the airport by
using his radio compass. tuned to one
of the stations. He then will eStab-
liSh his course on a line between the
two stations, setting the course on his
dlrectional gyro. On his final ap-
proach to the field, using the sensitive
altimeter, he will descend to about
800 feet over the 2-mle station
| knowing his position by the flashing
of the light as he passes over the
marker beacon, and then will glide
down to about $50 feet over the sta
ton 500 feet from the airport boun-
| Diary. He then will continue the
landing straight ahead with the aid of
his flight instruments and the lights
on the ground. when they are visible
The ground lights, it IS anticipated.
will be visible to the pilot before he
touches the ground N au except the
most extreme conditions.
After airline pilots have had an op-
portunity to acquire proper training
at Washington Airport and Newark
they will be permitted to make blind
approaches while flying passengers
only when there is a certain minimum
ceiling, yet to be specified, which will
vary with airport approach features.
Blind landings will not be permitted
with passengers under zero-zero con-
ditions during the earlier stages of
use of the equipment.
The blind landing or blind ap-
proach system. as it is also known.
will add materially to the safety and
reliability of air transportation. it
was stated by Eugene L. Vidal, direc-
tor of air commerce. The one major
safety problem to be overcome is land
ing under conditions of poor visibility.
the plane en- route being less of
problem. Bad weather at the termi-
nails results in cancellation of flights
and occasionally in accidents.
However, once the system is in
stalled, and if it proves as dependable
in service usage as during the IL
months We had it under test, the
safety, and the dependabilitv of air
transportation should compare very
favorably with ground transporta-
ton"
New and faster schedules inaugu-
rated since June l between Washing
ton and the West are serving still
further to increase the speed and con-
venience of air travel across the Ale
ghenies and to build up passenger
traffic which for many months has
been climbing to record after record.
Pennsylvania Airlines and United
Air Lines have established new and
faster services, and Central Airlines.
operators of Detroit Washington serv-
ice, will put into operation within
about a month feet of new StinSon
low-wing tri-engined monoplanes.
greatly reducing travel time over its
route.
PENNSYLVANIA Airlines has put into
operation two new round-trip sched-
ules between Washington and Detroit
and one between Detroit and Mil
waukee and has speeded up one of its
round trips by eliminating stops be-
tween Washington and Cleveland,
cutting flying time between these two
points to two hours. Six round trips
a day now are flown by this line be-
t1.eeta Wasiainntn1a and netrnit hioh