Evening star., 1950-01-22
~. S. AHwoys
| |toBronchOut
By jones J. Strebio

A1S' ~ oSSAAA o4 4oo4o
soon will provide airways to
everywhere in the United States
for planes of all sizes.
It will mean literally un-
countable paths a f1ier may
follow to any point. 1t will not
be limited to courses ending at
airports. Fliers say they can
select any point they can see on
an air map, or can pick a path
to one side or the other of an
airport.
This contrasts with the pres
ent $4,000 miles of radio-de-
fined airWays which links a few
hundred cities like superhigh-
ways.
The Civil Aeronautics Ad-
ministration's new system is
the basic item In vast pro-
gram which will take IS years
and more than $1,000, 900 900
to complete. The overall pro-
gram is designed mainly to
serve military and commercial
transport needs. 1t will provide
complete eleetronic control of
all air traffic.
The basic element-now
mostly installed and partially
In use-will serve every afr
plane. from the smallest per-
sonal ship to the fastest jet
and largest transport. It is a
very high-frequency visual
omni- -directional radio range.
The CAA calls it "VOR."
The terms mean this:
Very high frequency is short
wavelength radio which oper-
ates on a line-of sight basis
like radar. television and FIN
radio; in other words, it is not
reflected by certain layers of the
atmosphere as is standard radio.
VHF gives clear. static-free re-
ception but it cannot be heard
so far.
Couldn't Get Lost
Omni-directional is a range
which sends its message to every
point of the compass. The
present low-frequency four
course ranges send out only
four radio paths.
Visual means that the pilot
gets the range indication by
looking at a dial. With present
ranges he listens to a Morse
code transmission of two let
ters-A and N-and can tell if
he is off-course to the left or
right by the letter he hears. He
must listen all of the time to be
sure he is on course.
Those differences mean q lot
to the pilot.
VHF radio means clear recep-
tion even in bad weather. Vis-
ual observance means an end
to the tiresome "dit-dah" and
"dah-dit" in his ears. However.
the pilot will have to listen to
a VOR station to identify it
while tuning in. Eventually he
will hear the station letters
spoken instead of in Morse
code. VHF clarity will make
that possible.
The all : direction range
means the pilot always is on
a track. In fact, he will al
ways have two or more tracks
available. Thus he can locate
himself instantly wherever he
wishes by charting the tracks
and finding himself at the in
tersection.
Each of the $50 tracks made
by each station is, in effect.
numbered. The pilot knows
the track he is on by looking
at a dial. He knows also
whether he is heading toward
or away from the station. The
present four-course system re-
quires, some maneuvering to
get those answers.
The new system will require
402 stations distributed rough
ly on an average Of so miles
apart. OF those, 251 are COM
missioned and in service. SIS are
In service, but not commits
stoned, 68 are installed but be-
ing used temporarily as four
course ranges and a are yet
to be installed.
In addition, the Air Force
and Navy plan to install dog
ems Of additional omniranges.
They will be usable by all pilots
but viii be located primarily for
use by military planes IN To-
eating airbases.
<Dsstributsl ~ ~ Associated Prsss)