FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0423.PDF
FEBRUARY 18, 1937- FLIGHT. 163 ondence The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters intended for publication in these columns. RADIO CONGESTION I WOULD like to reply to your correspondent "Aerop." The criticism contained in my article on radio congestion was not directed against experienced operators. Those who have a First-Class P.M.G. and some years' experience are obviously up to, or above, the standard suggested. Whilst one airline has been recruiting only experienced men for the last few months, there still remain those who were employed before this policy was adopted. Is it too much to suggest that they were the reason for it being adopted? In any case, there are other airlines, flying almost parallel ser vices and using the same frequencies, who are employing in experienced operators. The standard of the Air Wireless Licence is too low. It is much lower than that of the First-Class P.M.G., and practical experience of D/F. is not included in the syllabus. I know some holders of wireless licences who have never seen a D/F. except in a picture. Let one or two of these beginners be let loose on the air in QBI, and "Aerop" knows what will happen. All working is held up for an indefinite period, in spite of the best efforts of better men to get through. What about the operator (in a premier airliner) who, in QBI, in sisted on getting his bearings as per P.M.G. handbook, two minutes per bearing, and ended by landing with the trailing aerial out? And what about that other, who sent R OK so that it came through as SOS, and held up everything for a long time? Again, there was the ground station operator who sent QTE382, and had to be asked three times before he woke up. I heard him. In spite of the good operators, the poorer ones keep the average pretty low. As regards radiotelegrams, the P.M.G. handbook puts them last in order of priority, so that they would automatically be suspended in QBI. I think this answers all the points which "Aerop" has raised, but if he wishes to continue the discussion further I shall be glad to communicate with him privately if he will write to me c/o the Editor. CRITIC. Hampshire. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM THE letters which appear from time to time in your corre- -*- spondence columns on the subject of aircraft wireless operators have been read with interest by the writer, who hopes that the statements and suggestions which follow will give people on both sides of the fence something to shoot at. There are two main reasons why air W/T. operators are lucky if they earn more than five to six pounds a week. First, iurhne operating companies have regarded the wireless operator as a necessary evil rather than as an important unit in keeping down their annual deficit, while many pilots have good reason to regard some of them as a very mixed blessing. Secondly, speaking generally, employers and pilots regard any holder of the Provisional Operator's Licence as an operator, irrespective of ms experience. There is no place in the operational crew of an ""fine machine jor a man worth only £3 per week. 1ms state of affairs has been aggravated by the 1st Officer "/Up. scheme, in which the Operator's Licence is onlv a ill6™? \° an end' so far as the individual is concerned, "the "an taking no real interest in the operating side of his work ; such tune as his experience renders him of real value as an met T r 1S given a command. In making the above state- •)7,vi \am not for8etting that small band of ex-operators, who, Now rT thC excePtions that Prove the rule-dor t ' . re exa,nining the various ways by which an oper- io fore" "1Crease his value to his employer, let us endeavour durinp ti some °* the developments which may be expected onenfi next few vears- and their effect on the work of the P«atmg crew of an airline machine. km.'/hr incrcasmg olock-to-block speed up to, say, 320 lat«, blbdY fiitting aml use of blind-approach receivers and, • -mcient de.icing equipment on all machines. aircraft equipped with D/F. facilities on board and a system of triangulated omni-directional beacons, as used in the marine service, on the ground. 5. A system of V.Ff.F. route beacons giving continuous directional guidance along the main air routes. As a consequence of these advances in technique it can be anticipated that frequency figures and maintenance of scheduled times will seldom depart from 100 per cent., provided the crews are efficient. How can the necessary standard of efficiency be attained ? It .is considered of vital importance that crews should be trained as such. Every pilot has his own methods of tackling a certain job of work, and with the added complexity of the modern transport aircraft any unit of the crew doing the wrong thing at the wrong moment may have serious consequences. Only by mutual trust in the abilities of each unit of a crew can high efficiency be obtained. On board the machine in flight there is only one person who is able, by means of the apparatus at his disposal, to obtain a complete picture of what is happening in the area in which the machine is flying, and that is the wireless operator. Further more, if he is a GOOD operator he is the only one able to maintain (with minimum delay) in his mind's eye, the eyer- changing picture of the weather over the area in which he is flying. He reads the code reports as they are broadcast and so brings the picture up to date. If he has to write it all out and pass to the captain, the machine will be twenty miles on its way before the information is appreciated. Similarly, the only man who must have minute-to-minute knowledge of the exact position of the machine is the wireless operator. In the event of distress, the pilot will be far too busy to give an accurate posi tion, that is if he happens to know it; the operator with his D/F. equipment can and will. In my opinion, the captain of a modern machine, although relieved by the auto pilot of the mechanical duty of flying, has such a mass of apparatus to keep check of, that it is desirable that certain of the navigational duties be delegated to the wire less operator, as being the most suitable man. In order that this may be accomplished it is suggested that the whole system of licensing be revised, and three grades of Operator's Licence be instituted, as follows : — A 2nd Class Licence having the standard of the existing pro visional licence and restricted to use on internal airlines by day or ex Europe. A 1st Class Licence, calling for a test at 25 w.p.m., a higher technical standard and at least 1,000 hours' air experience. An Extra 1st Class Licence, the standard as for previous licence, but requiring 3,000 hours' air experience and an ex amination up to the standard of the 2nd Class Navigator's Licence covering Form of the Earth, Maps and Charts, D/F. and D.R. Navigation and Meteorology. It is also considered desirable that the holder of a 1st or Extra 1st Licence should also hold the proposed Wireless G.E.'s Licence. A comfortable operating position, with equipment con veniently placed, provision for working "Break In." and volume controls on all receivers would do much to improve the efficiency of aircraft wireless stations. Croydon. H. W. HAMBLIN, WIRELESS OPERATOR. "THRESHOLD" LIGHTS IT was with pleasure that I found in your issues of Flight of February 4 and of January 21 that mention was made of the new boundary and " threshold " lights which have been installed at Eindhoven. I am very obliged to Mr. A. T. Vulliamy, who was kind enough to mention these Philips sodium-discharge lamps as a perfect means of indicating the outlines of an aerodrome. As you will doubtless know, these yellow lights comply completely with the recommendations of, the International Committee on Illumination, which had its International Secretariat in England for quite a long period until, in view of the international meeting to be held at The Hague in 1938, it was transferred to the Netherlands. A limited range of wavelengths for this "aviation yellow" light—which must be emitted by boundary lights only—-has
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
