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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0144.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBKUAKY 12, 1932 nerves of the pilot if he can fly along a lighted airway when the visibility is good, a fact which must not be underestimated in the interests of the crew. For the minimum visibility of about one mile, airway lighting will always retain its importance. " An aircraft is not like a ship, which can slow up or even stop when there is any doubt about the navigating measures to be taken. Unfortunately, an airman must always know what course he has to take, and, in case of doubt, at once have all facilities in order to avoid making service for aviation. The International Aviation Lighting Committee has already done valuable pioneer work in the matter of standardising the technical terms, scientific physical research, and the treatment of questions concern ing airway lighting. But practice must be decisive in these matters and utilise experience. It will be easier to arrive at a uniform point of view in this way, for practical airmen are more likely to agree than scientists. " The longer the delay in arriving at uniformity, the more difficult will it be to do so, for the question of the O whice lanterns 0 red J) green » i 300 m 1 64 c © c © c o4 c o o o o jMj i"lj25m^_SOtt1_^_50m_| U-S0m—|2S-J2P Landing-direction lights. Wind direction wrong decisions. The reasons which have led, and will still lead, us in Germany always to maintain good lighting of the airways are maximum safety for flight operations and minimum strain on the crew and material. "It is impossible yet to say whether beacon distances of 15 miles are the last word in wisdom. There are many people, even in Germany, who are in favour of greater distances, for instance, 20 and even 30 miles. But this must be decided on the basis of a thorough examination of the results of experience. This is the tragedy of all safeguarding services, not only in aviation, that their importance and efficiency cannot be proved by statistics. For, unfortunately, we cannot say how many accidents have been avoided by the use of the safeguarding services. Therefore, if all we have to go upon is experience, we ought rather to do a little more than a little less in the interest of safety, as there is a personal factor in all experience. "In the issue of ' Aircraft Engineering ' of October, 1931, I read in an article on Ground Lighting Equipment that airway beacons must be distinguished by their colour, strength and characteristic. We are of the opinion that all airway beacons must be white and have the same characteristic. In theory, it may seem very convenient that airway lighting should serve not only to give the direction or course, but also the position. These are ideas which seem to be derived from the practice adopted in marine and coast lighting, which cannot be adopted in aviation without objection. The aircraft moves at much greater speed, and the pilot's main business is the steering of the aircraft. He can only devote part of his attention, perhaps from 20 to 25 per cent., to observing the lighting. He cannot observe the direction and characteristic of the beacons at leisure, as the naval officer does, for the line of beacons can only give him the direction—if he is not to be asked to do more than he possibly can. Mistakes in determining the characteristic will always have very serious consequences in aviation. The use of coloured glasses in airway beacons has the great disadvantage that it greatly decreases their range. " We have often discussed in Germany whether we ought to attach illuminated letters or figures, identifica tion lights or course lights to the beacons, as has been done in the United States. It cannot be denied that these arrangements may have a certain value. So far we have dispensed with all such additional arrangements, as they do not change the fundamental idea of the lighting, and their installation does not appear desirable to us until an international agreement has been arrived at on the subject. " The organisation of the safeguarding of night air routes is, in my opinion, to be regarded, not from the national, but from the international, standpoint. The present night line from London to Berlin, for instance, which is flown in 6£ hours, passes over three or four countries. It cannot possibly increase the safety if the pilot encounters three different systems of lighting during the course of his flight. The air line, and not the State, must be regarded as the unit for which standards must be found. " The International Air Conferences have already laid down these standards for the wireless and meteorological cost of changing existing lighting arrangements will always stand in the way." In reply to the queries raised during the discussion, Dr. Benkendorff said that he considered the Croydon type of wireless beacon was only good for flying along one direct route, such as that from Croydon to Paris, and he did not think that it would be effective in Germany, where there was a network of routes to cover. With regard to the question of passengers versus mails, he said that the present practice in Germany was chiefly to carry passengers to the east and mails to the west by night. Flood lighting he did not consider was of very great value for landing by night except where the aerodrome was perfectly flat, as the presence of slight undulations in the aerodrome caused deep shadows, which made matters very difficult for the pilot. He therefore maintained that the German practice of using stable lanterns was a better one, although he freely admitted that the floodlighting would be best if flat aerodromes were obtainable. He agreed that beacon lights would require to have varying characteristics when there was an international agreement as to the form these characteristics should take, but until that time came he maintained that the German method of having one characteristic for all beacons was the simplest and safest method. Dr. Benkendorff agreed that both wireless and lighting for the control of night flying should be developed together, as they were actually dependent upon each other. Tests were being carried out in order to set a standard of visibility for weather reports at night, but up to the present nothing definite had been settled. In answer to a query about night errors from directional wireless bearings, he said that they could not account for the fact that their operators found that bearings taken in the first few seconds were correct ; he could only say that it was so. In answer to a question about the cost of lighting, Dr. Benkendorff said that although he agreed that the first cost was large, he thought that it was a very great economy, since the money spent in one year in Germany was only half that which would be expended in replacing one large aircraft should a crash occur. Following Dr. R. Benkendorff's Lecture a dinner was given in honour of the lecturer by the President of the Society, Mr. C. R. Fairey, M.B.E., F.R.Ae.S. The Presi dent was unfortunately prevented by illness from attend ing the dinner, and in his place Major T. M. Barlow, M.Sc. F.R.Ae.S., Chief Engineer and a Director of the Fairey Aviation Co., occupied the chair. The other guests included: Lt. Col. F. C. Shelmerdine, CLE., O.B.E. Director of Civil Aviation ; Herr A. H. Van Scherpenberg Secretary of the German Embassy ; Mr. F. Handley Page. C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S.; Mr. Nigel Norman, B.A., A.F.R.Ae.S. Airwork, Ltd., Heston Air Port ; Capt. F. Entwistle B.Sc, Meteorological Office ; Dr. Ing. G. V. Lachmann A.F.R.Ae.S. ; Maj. R. H. S. Mealing, Chairman, Lightin Committee of the Dept. of Civil Aviation ; Mr. R. A. Jahn Deutsche Luft Hansa ; Mr. C. E. Kauffmann, Royal Dutcl Air Lines ; Capt. J. Laurence Pritchard, Hon. F.R.Ae.S. Secretary of the Royal Aeronautical Society. 136
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