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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 1161.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 7, 1933 'tmm/mim •' LIVERPOOL : Liverpool's airport at Speke is one of the largest in the country, and adjoins the River Mersey, thus providing a potential seaplane base. (FLIGHT Photo.) is not wasted on a site that will have to be abandoned or modified at great expense when night flying becomes essential. * Only an expert can decide whether any given site is the best in the district for night work, but local authorities might like to bear in mind that permanent obstructions within 500 yards of the perimeter of a site and lying out side it may be dangerous to aircraft, and with others situ ated still farther away may require lights as a warning to pilots operating after dark. The easiest way to avoid the expense of such lighting is to specify from the outset that a municipal site shall be such as to conform to Air Ministry requirements for day and night flying and to ask for an estimate for lighting apparatus that will secure a 24-hour licence. On the basis that every town must have its own land ing ground, even though this need be no more preten tious at the outset than a large field with a petrol pump, a wind direction indicator, a telephone and a man in charge to assist pilots, it is important that such a landing ground should carry the simple equipment needed for a night landing or departure. It will be easier to define such equipment after considering first of all what assist ance artificial light can offer to a pilot and what informa tion he wants before a safe landing or take-off can be carried out. The landing is the more difficult, especially if the pilot is unfamiliar with the place. He has navi gated, with a check on his bearings by wireless, by obvious landmarks or by route beacons, to within a few miles of the objective. Lights of the town, headlights of motor cars and possibly road signs are visible, and therefore he needs some signal or indication as to the exact position of the landing ground. Having found it, he needs to know its boundaries, the direction of the wind for the purpose of landing correctly into the wind, and whether there are any obstructions in his way when gliding in for the land ing proper. At a first-class airport, these indications are given by means of five different types of lighting equip ment, a brief .description of which follows, after which it is possible to decide on the minimum apparatus necessary for an occasional night landing. The exact location of an airport is indicated by means of a beacon, which can be compared to a light at the entrance of a harbour for ships. The boundaries are defined by orange-coloured lights set at intervals of approximately 300 feet around the inside of that area which has been prepared for landing purposes, whilst obstacles dangerous to aircraft in motion are marked with red warning lights. Wind direction is given by means of an illuminated device, preferably in the shape of a letter " T," mounted horizon tally and free to rotate with the wind. Finally, the landing area proper is illuminated by a floodlight, so designed that its beam is parallel to the ground. It is impossible and indeed unnecessary to equip a landing ground with all of these lights for occasional night use. In the first place, a complete installation should be electric, which means that the boundaries must be the final ones before cables are laid, and, further, the ideal equipment for any particular airport may not be apparent until the whole site has been cleared for use and a certain amount of day flying has taken place. Assuming that all trees on the boundaries of a landing ground and those just outside it which are in the line of flight of a machine taking off or landing, have been felled, the remaining obstacles, such as hangars and other build ings, can be marked as obstacles with hurricane lamps having red shades. Similarly the boundaries can be defined by the same type of lamp coloured orange, these lamps being elevated about 3 feet above ground level. In the absence of a floodlight, wind direction and ground level can be indicated by a line of flares, paraffin, acetylene or electric, arranged on the ground in such a manner that the pilot knows which way to make his approach in order to be into wind, where it is safe for him to touch ground after clearing obstructions on the boundary and the limit of his run towards the opposite boundary. Hurricane lamps and flares can be kept in a lock-up, trimmed and filled ready for immediate use and stacked on a trolley or light trailer that can be pulled or towed by a car. Instructions must be drawn up as to their exact disposi tion, and anyone likely to be on duty must be taught the uses of the different lights, and in particular, how to set out the flares along the landing path. A beacon at a landing ground is an extravagance, but a floodlight would be invaluable, because it could be made to serve the purpose of a beacon as well as that of lighting the ground. An airport completely lit for night operations may re quire current up to 20 kilowatts at one time, which is an important point to note when putting in the electric supply, and this, together with the specification of final equipment, forms part of the plan without which no air port is complete. However, it will be seen that night flying can take place with the aid of very simple appa ratus, and every landing ground should be so provided that a pilot can at least make an emergency landing after dark with reasonable safety. [The British Standards Institution has issued, with the approval of the Air Ministry, a Guide to Aerodrome Light ing, which can be purchased from this office, price 2s. 2d. post free. The same body is preparing a British Standard Specification of Aerodrome Lighting Equipment which will be published shortly.—ED.] 1225
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