The Daily Alaska empire., 1936-01-17
WILEY POST o4 MaSSzhAM zae Szaz4dyauser rmel' Death Ended Plans for Other Flights
By BILLY PARKER
Uopyrisht, 1856, by The Associated

fCopyright, 1886, by The Associated
 Press)
 Wiley Post found out many things during those attempted Los Angeles to New York flights, some of which presented new research problems to overcome. These he was studying at the time of his death.
 For example, he used one of the first radio compasses ever built on his second, and solo, flight around the world On the stratosphere flights he used different type which work cd perfectly.
 However. he found that as his al- tltude increased the calibrations on the dial moved over until at 40,00J feet and higher he received stations at one end of the band he could not receive on the ground, and at the other end of the band stations he could get on the ground easily would not come in at all.
 jiThis was because the radio com pass depends on air as an insulator between the condenser plates, and as the air became thinner and light CT the insulating properties changed, causing this phenomenon.
 Wiley proved it will be necessary to supercharge the radio and radio compass as well as the ignition sys- tern in order to maintain the same irequencies as at sea level
 The Radio Compass
 At the present time it appears ce- lestial navigation for airplanes in the stra tosphere will not be practi- cal.
 Of course this may be worked out at later date, but due to the ex- trene speed of the aircraft it does not remain near enough to one point to take observations. Also, because barometric conditions change, the exact height above ground cannot be known, which interferes with the efforts of the pilot ot stratosphere craft to obtain his exact position.
 Since the advent of the radio com pass, and thanks to its high state of perfection, any other means of navi- gation is entirely unnecessary in the stratosphere except as means of an additional check.
 Quite naturally a great deal of stratosphere flying will be done above cloud banks, and even in cleas weather enough haze usually exists to cause ordinary navigation by means of map rather difficult
 By using a radio compass the air craft pilot may fly directly to the broadcasting station to which he ls tuned. In flying, for instance, from Denver to Cleveland, he leaves Den yer. tunes in a Cleveland station and holds the needle of the radio com- pass on zero.
 If he flies to the right of his course the needle swings to the right, and to correct his course he simply has to bring the needle back to zero.
 Flew Straight to Berlin
 This aid, coupled wit nmany de- partment of commerce radio stations for transmitting directional beams, should make navigation in the strat sphere over the United States sim. ple matter.
 Wiley told me that on his second world flight he tuned in Berlin, Germany. station before he was well out over the Atlantic, and held on ehat station as a homing device un- tlf he reached Berlin.
 Without it he would have been < busy man trying to figure his po- sition at all times, particularly while flying blind in the storms and cloud banks he encountered.
 Data Post obtained on wind direc- lions and velocities at higher alti