Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-08

air operations are keeping pace
enormous electronic brain for
computation.
This Air Force system is not
a control system, but there are
people such as Stuart G. Upton.
president Of the Air Transport
Association, who believe that
something similar could be de-
veloped for air traffic control.
The CAA only now is moving
into the electronic computer ex-
detrimental stage. 1t will be a
card-fed machine which will
track planes for the ground con-
troller.
This air control business is
immensely complicated. There
are in the United States 1877 900
square miles of controlled air
space; that is, established routes
set UP for instrument flying
along radio ranges. 1t is a sort
of sky highway with a radio
beam for the center line. This
network presently extends up to
$4,000 feet. 1t does not cover
the United States by any means.
There are great gaps. especially
in the West.
Further. it was set up during
the era of short-range aircraft
and the control areas do not
necessarily follow the shortest
routes between two points.
For this reason long-range
aircraft, such as last weeks ILL
fated United Air Lines and
Trans World Airlines planes,
take other routes than the con-
trolled air lanes. These two
planes collided outside controlled
areas.
Instrument Flying
Now, when the weather at the
point of departure and at the
destination is such that the pilot
cannot navigate by observing
the ground and looking three
miles ahead. he must file an in
strument flight plan. This Is
known as flying by Instrument
Flight Rules.
Each IFR flight is in contin-
uous contact with the airways
ground controller. who may
order a change of route or alti-
Itude to avoid another plane.
Under visual flight rules.
called "VFR," flights can be
made If the pilot off controlled
routes can see the ground and
one mile ahead. On a controlled
route he can fly VFR only if he
can see three miles ahead.
This means that under VFR
conditions q pilot can Jump in
his plane and 60 anywhere he
pleases without telling anyone.
It also means that planes flying
VFR and IFR may be milling
around in the same area with
out being aware Of each other.
Visibility out Of the pilot COM
partment Of an aircraft. by the
way, is poor. Mr.. Chandler said,
ut stinks." There are gueSses
around the CAA that this may
have been one Of the factors in
the TWA-United crash.
This matter of visibility and
the possibility Of air collision
long has been of concern to pi-
lots. AS yet, Alta officials say.
there is no airborne radar device
to detect approaching aircraft or
other obstacles. Just four days
before the big collision the ATA's
board of directors urged the de-
velopment Of proximity warn
ing indicator"
3 Devices Developed
However, in Fort Lauderdale,
Fla, Waldemar A. Ayers, former
assistant chief Of research for
Sperry Gyroscope Corp, during
World War II, said at least three
radar devices for prevention of
air collisions had been developed.
Mr.. Ayers urged Federal legis-
lation requiring use of antioch
liSion equipment.
Now when the CAA and others
talk of shrinking air space, they
mean controlled air space. When
the weather is such that planes
have to fly IFR. the ground con-
troller surrounds them with a
safety area about 100 miles long,
10 miles wide and 1000 feet
thick. The plane is in the middle.
i Thus. under IFR conditions
the number of planes which can
travel a given route is limited
by this space safety factor.
! With radar control, more air.
craft could be put into the air
because it would permit a shrink
ing of the safety zone. In present
uncontrolled zones, usually
around airports, planes can fly
safely with a nose total sepa-
ration Of Is miles. Beyond the
iradar zone the safety distance
is increased to so miles.
Because Of the increasing per-
Torrance Of aircraft, technicians
in CAA and Alta foresee the
day. and that shortly, when all
high speed. high altitude flying
will have to be radar controlled.
When a pilot is of in the wild
blue yonder, his eyesight tends
to shift into neutral; that is. he
is gazing into space without foe
using.
4-SecOnd Leeway
, If he is in a Jet travelling at
500 miles per hour and sees an
other jet one mile away APP
preaching at the same speed and
altitude, he is a dead pigeon,
1t will take just under four Sec
J onds for the two planes to COL
Tide.
A pilot at those speeds needs
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