Radio for Airplanes

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 9, 14 September 1928, Page 5

Radio for Airplanes

Affected -by Mountains ( A ‘ As the result of experiments carried on last summer by the United States Government Bureau of Standards, in directing ’planes in flight between Cleveland and New York, using the directive radio beacon at Bellefonte, Pa., it was announced that shifts or variations in the course were found to exist during the night which introduced such serious errors that the beacon indications were not considered depeudable for distances greater than fifty miles at night in mountainous territory. . The Bureau of Standards now considers that this problem has been solved. The shifting was due to a distortion that was introduced in radio waves as they travel through the upper atmosphere. The nature of this distortion was studied, and scientists were able .to analyse it satisfactorily. By using special aerial arrangements for receiving, it was found that the shifts could be practically eliminated. Aeroplanes heretofore have found it necessary to use long trailing wires for radio aerials in order to collect enough power to operate a radio reeeiving set. Such aerials by reason of their hanging down at a slanting angle, do not have the necessary characteristics to eliminate the effect of false radio course indications. A new type of aerial consisting of a vertical ten-foot metal pole, has been developed by the Bureau of Standards. The use of so short an aerial has been made possible by the development of a new and specialised type of aircraft receiving set. .