Evening star., 1946-04-14
Bad Weather Landinq
By Radar Exhibited
To Public al Navy Base
By W. H. Shippen. Jr.
Aviation Editor of The atsr

NAVAL AIR STATION. BANANA
RIVER, Fla, April 13.-The Nays
radar system for breaking bad
weather traffic jams over busy air.
ports was demonstrated here this
week to acquaint the public with
war developed safety devices.
Planes ranging from light two
seaters to four-engined transports
were talked down" by ground con-
troll crews watching the aircraft
through precision instruments that
showed the least deviation from the
exact approach path.
Pilots flying under conditions
which permitted them to see only
their instrument panels were told
by radio to turn right or left or to
come up or down. Typical ground
to-plane instructions went some
thing like this:
you are now on the proper ap-
proach, three miles from touchdown
point. Bring your plane up 20 feet
. . that's 1t.
Glide Angle Correst.
Your glide angle is now correct.
Bring it down 10 feet.s You are
now in the glide path, one mile
from touchdown point. Now it's q
half mile, but you're 10 feet too low.
Bring it up a bit >. -. ok. You are
at the touchdown point. Take over
usually"
The planes were talked down at
three-minute intervals. Ordinarily
about Is minutes is required be-
tween landings when commercial
transports are making instrument
approaches. This often results in
traf11c jams of planes circling in
holding patterns over busy centers
like National Airport or La Guardia
Field.
The Navy's fixed tower installa-
ton here is the only one of its
kind, although mobile radar units
were used extensively by both the
Army and Navy during the war.
The local system was designed by
the Bureau of Ships and installed
by Bendix Radio Corp.
Under the procedure demon
strated here, it is considered safe
to land airplanes at three-minute
intervals when the ceiling is only
SO feet and ground visibility down
to an eighth of a mile.
Havens Of Safety.
One advantage of the system Is
that no special air-borne equip
ment Is necessary. Any plane car
rying a radio receiver can be talked
down. Navy experts believe the
system will help to establish cha
vens OF safety" at big commercial
airports where traffic is becoming
increasingly heavy.
Rear Admiral j. w. Reeves, jr.,
commander of Naval Air Transport
Service, told visiting correspondents
that the radar system has con-
tributed largely to the safety and
efficiency of long flights over land
and ocean airlanes.
The basic idea for the system
originated in the Radiation Lab
oratory at Massachusetts, Institute
of Technology, largely through the
! work of DR.. Louis Alvarez, physicist
and amateur pilot.
DR.. Alvarez believed that radar
could be developed as a safety de-
vice in addition to its wartime use
! in directing guns and searchlights
Not Accurate Enough.
First experiments were conducted
in November and December of l94l
at East Boston Airport and the
Naval Air Station at Quonset Point
r. I. Technicians learned, however
that radar sets used in directing
guns were not accurate enough to
track high-speed airplanes ap-
preaching at low attitudes.
Special equipment was developed
to provide radar search scopes cap
able of scanning an area within a
radius up to 80 miles. These scopes
were used in connection with pre-
cision sets to control the glide ap-
proach of airplanes.
The system was demonstrated for
Army and Navy officers at Washing
ton in February of 1943.
Shortly later contracts were let
for production of the equipment,
and training programs were begun
in the Army, Navy and Royal Air
Force.
More than 10000 successful ap-
proaches were made with the aid OF
the talk down" system between
January and June of last year, the
Navy announced.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Ships
has contracted for additional equip
ment which will be simpler, less
costly and easier to operate.
Present system range in cost up
to $500, 900 and must be operated by
crews of from three to eight trained
men.
Manufacturers are convinced,
however, that the cost of the sets
can be greatly reduced, along with
the operating personnel.