AIDS TO BLIND FLYING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 535, 19 May 1933, Page 17

AIDS TO BLIND FLYING

SUCCESSFUL RADIO DEVICE. Sonic altimeters and landing instruments based on the success of the sonic depth finders which ha.ve been in use all over the world for 15 or 20 years by combination with' a sound signal have heen successfully used in America for airport landings, the device beimg called the sonic marker beacon. Captain Albert Hegenberger has utilised the device on several occa- | sions for making blind take-off flights and' landings at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. A "shield" of these sonic beacons has been placed by Chester W. Rice, a research worker about. an airport, with' viarying signals, to help a pilot seeking a field in storm or fog.

The system workes best when combined with the nadio beacon which guides the pilot to the airport, and is I intended to accomplish the same puri pose as the "bent" radio beam, which is now being used for blind landings. The signals can be heard at from 2000 | to 6000 feet with the sonic altimeter I equipment. The sound beamis thus far used in j the experiments have been wliistles | of varying tones. With these markj ing the boundaries of the field, the i pilot is enabled to tell, despite thick weather, both where the field is and the side from which he may be approaching it.