THE AIRMAN'S PATHFINDER

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 26, 9 July 1952, Page 7

THE AIRMAN'S PATHFINDER

A .NEW SCIENTIFIC GUIDE An aviation instrument has been 1 developed which shows the pilot of an airplane in flight exactly where he is geographicaliy even though he cannot see the ground. The device is a "pictorial computer" developed by the Arma Company of New York and it is expected to add greatly to the safety of flying when it is pul into fuLl production. The computer resembles a television screen ten Inches in diameter and is mounted on the instrument panel of the plane. The screen shows a chart of the area over which the air--plain is flying, and a shadow shaped like an airplane sfhows where the flying plane is in relation to the ground and also the direction in which it is headed. The makers of the electronic deviees say that it is accurate to with 0.4 miles as to the plane's position and within one degree as to its heading. An official of the Arma Corporation predicted that it will be required equipment for all commercial airplanes within ten years. In the aviation direction system used at present, the pilot finds his position and heading from radio signals sent by what are known as omni-bearing distance stations. These signals give him a pair of lines or co-ordinates which he must plot by hand on a chart. The point where the lines intersect shows where he is; but, with the high speed of modern planes, some pilots say it shows where he was.