Radio and Aviation

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 24, 27 December 1929, Page 11

Radio and Aviation

A FURTHER triumph for radio in the field of aviation was’ recently demonstrated in America, when a pilot, flying under conditions duplieating those caused by the densest fog, took off, flew fifteen miles, and landed safely within a few feet of his point of take-off, without at any time seeing the ground or any part of his machine except the illuminated instrument board. . This achievement in "blind flying," it is stated, will focus the interest of aviators all over the world, since fog has .long been recognised as man’s greatest enemy in the air. The principal factors in making the accomplishment possible are a new application of the visual radio beacon, the development of an improved instrument for indicating the longitudinal and lateral position of an aeroplane, a new directional gyroscope, and a sensitive barometric altimeter so. delicate as to measure the altitude of the aeroplane within a few feet of the ground. In place of the natural horizon by means of which the pilot usually keeps his *plane in a stable and safe flying position, and which the flyer is deprived of in a fog, the aviator used an ‘artificial horizon’ in the form of a small instrument indicating longitudinal and lateral position with relation to the ground at all times, Stability thus assured, the pilot was able to locate the landing-field by means of the direction-finding radio. In addition to the long-distance radio beacons already well-established’ in America, another beacon has recently been perfected. This governs the immediate approach to the field, casting a beam from fifteen to twenty miles in length in either direction. On‘ the instrument-board a visual radio receiver, consisting of two vibrating reeds tuned to the radio beacon, enabled the pilot to locate the beam, and through it, the landing field. If he turned to the right of his ocurse, the right reed showed excessive vibration, while if he turned to the left, the left reed at once indicated his mistake. By keeping the two reeds in equilibrium he was able to fly directly down the path of the beam to his landing. This amazing demonstration eliminates the last great hazard to the reliability of aeroplane travel, and indieates that a principle has been developed which, when eventually perfected | for commercial use, will render aviation more independent of weather conditinos than any other form of transportation, marl