Evening star., 1936-04-18

Way Out Of Fog and Storm Frequently Shown by Radio and
Forms of Communication Despite Fact That Bad WeatherF
ing Dangers Have Not Been Eliminated by Science


land. Since much Of their flying Is
done at sea, from carriers and other
surface vessels, they do not make
flights on the airways as frequently
as some others, but there was one oc-
casion when even a formation Of Navy
seaplanes, engaged in fight of
shore from California, was glad that
a Department of Commerce interme-
diate landing field had been estab-
lished at Oceanside. and that it was
provided with teletypewriter service.
The three planes. forced down of
shore from Oceanside by poor visibll-
ity, attempted to reach land by taxi
ing on the water, but this effort failed
when they exhausted their supplies OF
fuel. One of the officers left his air
plane and swan ashore, and appeared
about pm, dripping wet, at the in
termediate field to ask if a messaG"
could be sent to San Diego. Lba
message, requesting that the U. o =
West Virginia and U. S. S. Califoroif
be notified, was sent by teletypeWriler.
DESTROYERS we're sent to rescue
the airplanes, but visibility was
very poor. and the men at the field
saw the ships cruising back and forth
near the shore, with no indication
that they had any definite idea as to
where the stranded airplanes were To-
Gated. The men on shore did know.
and, after watching for few min
utes, decided to inform the command
ers of the destroyers. They did it by
driving an automobile to a high point
on the shore, directing its spotlight in
| the direction of the destroyers, and
| flashing it on and of to form inter-
| national Morse code characters. BY
this means, they directed the destroy
ers to proceed to a point about three
| quarters of a mile north. About 20
/ minutes later, the cold and hungry
pilots were taken aboard the Destroy
ers and the tow lines attached to the
seaplanes.
Users of the airWays also include
many miscellaneous commercial oper-
ators and private flyers. James r.
Wedell Qater killed in an airplane ac-
| cident at Patterson, La, while in
structing studenD, once was asked
to make an emergency flight with
sick child from Houston. Tex, to Bal
timore, Md. He accepted the commits
sion without hesitation. despite the
fact that the fight had to be made
at night in unfavorable weather.
Wedell landed safely in Baltimore
after thrilling journey by way of
New Orleans and Atlanta. and after
ward wrote to the Department of
Commerce: The fight was made after
receiving advance weather reports in
dicating unfavorable flight conditions.
1t was completed after a night flight
through adverse weather due to the
valuable assistance given by your sta
tions. In view of the fact that the
trip was an errand of mercy and that
you contributed to its success. we feel
that line Of thanks is in order"
When an airplane is lost in or
above the clouds and the pilot is en-
deavoring to orient himself on the
radio range beacon. he may call the
nearest Bureau of Air Commerce radio
station. or radio-equipped intermediate
landing field to ask for assistance.
Operators help in every way possible
under such circumstances, but they
have been instructed to be sure that
they do not give any directions which
might possibly be misleading.
For example. a pilot might think
that he is in the vicinity of an inter
mediate field. and call for the airways
keeper by radio for verifcation. The
airWays keeper, hearing the message,
may hear an airplane engine. But
before telling the pilot that he can be
heard over the field, he has to be sure
that the airplane with which he Is in
radio communication. and the one
whose engine he hears are the same.
Therefore, he has the pilot move the
throttle to give three short bursts with
he exhaust and if he hears this signal,
he knows that he is giving the air
plane its correct position when he
says that it is over his field.
IF THE aircraft can be seen passing
through thin spots or holes in the
cloud or fog formation, the airwsys
man will give the pilot a report on
his movements, if he requests it. The
airways keeper or radio operator will
not attempt to direct the airplane to
the ground, because it has been found
that such directions may be confus-
ing. but every effort is made to give
the pilot accurate information as to
| his position and direction of flight so
that he can make his own decision as
to landing or trying to reach some
other field
Such directions more than once
have enabled pilots to orient them
selves and land, or proceed along the
airway.
Sometimes a thrilling half-hour on
| the airways occurs for the Bureau of
Air Commerce men on the ground, and
the pilots do not learn of it until later.
At Knight, Wyo., the assistant radio
| operator who was on duty one bluS-
terry, snowy afternoon. was monitoring
the radio range beacon listening to
| its signals to check reception) and
standing watch on the airline fire.
quency. Out of the blizzard came a
radio conversation between a pilot and
an airline operator. Pilot Bungee's
radio beacon receiver had failed. He
was above the snow storm, and cir
cling over Porcupine Ridge, unable
to proceed because he could not re-
ceive the radio range beacon. Was
there another pilot out of Salt Lake
or Rock Springs who could fly to his
position and lead him through the
storm? Yes, the airline operator told
the pilot, Rose would be in his vicin-
ity soon, with instructions to fly the
radio range beacon and watch for
Bungee to follow.
On the ground at knight, the radio
operator followed this drama in the
air and sighed with relief when the
solution to the difficulty was found.
But then-there was a terrible rasp
in the radio receiver Some wire had
grounded and the signals were. for
the t1anyaaent irdicfip ul,ieh hIo