Evening star., 1935-06-16

The contact lights, which will re-
quire approximately five days for in
stallation, will be buried In the ground,
shining through heavy cover glasses
set flush with the runway surface.
The final unit of the instrument
landing system, the radio units which
constitute the heart Of the system,
have not yet been shipped from the
Army Air Corps Materiel Division base
at Wright Field, Ohio. The radio
equipment will include two transmit
ters and two marker beacon transmit
ters operating in pairs, one to be 10
Gated 500 feet from the airport boun-
dairy and the other miles away.
The radio units are being prepared
by the Army Air Corps and are OF the
type developed by the Materiel Division
under direction of Capt. Albert F.
Hagenberger, Air Corps instrument
flying expert, for use in the Army blind
landing work. No date for delivery OF
the units has been set, but they are
expected soon, and since little time will
be required to set them up the entire
system should be ready for operation
within a few days after the sets arrive.
Service testing of the equipment and
training Of the transport pilots oper-
ating from Washington Airport Is to
begin as soon as the equipment is ready
and the worlds first regular COM
mercial instrument landing operations
should be in progress here before the
Summer is far advanced.
Consideration of the House District
Committee bill providing for creation
of a Federal commission to select an
airport site for Washington and per-
manent commission to establish and
maintain an airport was blocked in
the House last Monday.
The bill was laid aside when Repre-
sentative Howard w. Smith of Virginia
raised a point of no quorum and the
House adjourned. Judge Smith is the
author of a pending bill providing for
construction of q model airport on the
Gravelly Point site Representative
Allard H. Gasque of South Carolina
during the past week reintroduced his
bill providing for an airport on the
Benning race track site. This bill
first was introduced by Mr.. Gasque in
February, 1927, and has been reintro-
duced during each succeeding session
of Congress.
With the House apparently dead
locked for the time being, efforts are
being made by proponents of local air.
port legislation to spur the Senate
District Committee to act on the Glib
son Gravelly Point bill. It is hoped
that if the Senate can be prevailed
upon to pass this bill, House opposi-
ton to Gravelly Point may be over
come and the bill iammed through the
lower body before adjournment.
Conducting of surprise radio check
UPS on all scheduled airline transport
flights to determine just how effective
are present radio communications
services and how much reliability can
be placed upon radio and personnel in
case of emergency is being considered
by officials of the Bureau Of Air Com
merce.
The plan as now tentatively outlined
calls for checks at any hour OF the
day or night on every transport air
plane in flight at the time. without
previous warning Each airline would
be given a rating on the effectiveness
of its radio communications work and
the results would be made public.
Should the plan be put into effect.
the Department of Commerce, un-
known to any airline operator, would
designate a zero hour" for the test.
At that time Government radio engi-
neers. using either the ground radio
stations Of the various airlines or the
airway radio stations of the Bureau Of
Air Commerce. would call upon every
pilot then in the air on scheduled
transport flight for q special report
containing data pertinent to the test.
Each airplane would be given a
rating. If no communication could
be established. the airplane would
draw a zero rating, with q resulting
Federal investigation to determine
why 1t was out of communication.
Grades would be given, based upon the
efficiency of the airplane personnel in
responding to the check and detailed
report would be made on static and
other conditions which might interfere
with communication between airplane
and ground.
The radio check plan would seem to
be dictated by sound common sense
More and more reliance is being placed
by the air transport industry upon
radio aids to navigation and If the
radio blind landing system is to go
into effect. radio failure may become
a matter of life-and-death Importance
If airplane radio is subject to static
or other conditions which render it
useless even at infrequent intervals, it
obviously would be risky business to
rely solely upon radio to get a trans
port airplane TO the ground safely in
fog or thick weather. Before instru-
ment landings can be depended upon
in regular service radio must be we'll
nigh infallible.
The radio check-up would give q
positive indication Of the effectiveness
of airline radio under actual service