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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 2235.PDF
AUGUST 12, 1937. FLIGHT. 163 Correspondence (contd.) PILOTS AND RADIO OPERATORS A RECENT article in Flight seems to have resurrected the question of the necessity or otherwise of specialist aircraft wireless operators. Firstly, whilst admitting a biased opinion, I agree with Mr. Brent, and think that the pilot-operator system would, to say the most of it, be worse than the present system, which is comparatively satisfactory only be cause the average standard of efficiency of the existing aircraft radio operators is considerably in advance of that required for the present provisional licence. This is so because, speak ing generally, they have had a wide experience of radio, both operating and maintenance, before specialising as aircraft operators. This standard of efficiency is obviously lacking when the certificate is obtained without previous practical experience. It is not difficult (bearing in mind what conditions are already like) to imagine the chaos that would result during the midday busy period if every aircraft in the Croydon- Continent area carried a wireless operator who was only up to, or round about the certificate standard. For a start, would they be able to read the Croydon weather reports at this time? Mr. Crook draws a comparison with the number of subjects doctors have to study before qualifying, but he does not point out that the really successful people in the medical profession are specialists. Perhaps, after all, there is something in the old "Jack of all trades" proverb. DUBIOUS. Croydon. NAVIGATION PROBLEMS I WAS interested to learn from Mr. E. Brook Williams' letter (in the issue of July 15th) that the principle of propor tional triangles is apparently taught in the marine naviga tion schools by means of trigonometry. I presume that the '' schools where navigation is merely crammed into the student" (to quote Mr. Williams) are the air navigation schools which approach this and similar problems by the more obvious means of geometry. r Your note emphasising that such problems are merelv of academic importance is welcome as this fact seems to have been overlooked by certain nautical instructors who have recently aspired to teach air navigation (probably • due to lack of extensive air experience). Experienced air navigation instructors realise that practical air navigation along air traffic routes cannot include problems requiring such an amount of plotting. (The problem discussed by Mr. Williams involved the measurement of eleven lines and nine angles!) I think it is a fair statement to say that practically ioo per cent, of British Second Class Air Navigators fly as "pilot-navigators," and the mental picture of a pilot-navigator sitting at the con trols of an air liner on a " bumpy " day, and at the same time trying to plot such a problem, is ludicrous. Although I agree that the fundamental principles behind both air and marine navigation are mainly the same, I stress the point that the methods of application differ widely. There is an urgent necessity for air navigation to be freed from the mass of hidebound marine methods in which it is now en tangled, and the method discussed by Mr. Williams bears out this point, for although '' running fixes '' may be satisfactory at sea, they are undesirable in the air. London, W.n. C. W. MARTIN. WEST-COAST WAVELENGTHS I" HAVE just returned from a fortnight's sea voyage on the A West Coast of Scotland, during which I had occasion to visit five aerodromes, namely, Campbeltown, Monkton, West Freugh, Hall Caine and Ronalds way. I listened in regularly on the ship, and also at Campbeltown and Hall Caine, and I was struck by the unsuitability of the present wavelength for aircraft operating in the -west. I pre sume there must be some reason for not having chosen a better, but I am sure that the present difficulties of communication be tween pilot (or wireless operator) and control would be con siderably lessened if the wavelength was changed to somewhere in the region of 120-140 metres. On the present wavelength there is a great deal of interference both from lighthouse wire less beacons and shipping using Morse. The latter have an unhappy knack of butting in just as the pilot starts to speak ! How often one hears the control telling the pilot he was jammed and asking him to repeat his message! When I advocate the use of the wavelength suggested above, I realise that trawlers are apt to stray into that zone. Con versations between trawlers, however, are rarely important and still more rarely polite. Surely something could be done to put an end to all this unnecessary waste of space. Speak ing times could be arranged for various trawler fleets, and strict control exercised for a while to prevent any deviation from the allotted wavelength. Then there would be plenty of space for aircraft, free from all interference, except atmo spherics. Another interesting point w7as the relative courtesy ex tended to passengers and visitors at. Hall Caine and Ronalds- way. At the former, one meets with all the helpfulness and courtesy for which Northern and Scottish Airways are famed. This, of course, applies to all aerodromes staffed by their offi cials. At Ronaldsway,' however, one feels that personal attention is lacking and that one is treated rather like a rail way passenger. Also, the amount of profanity one hears is simply amazing. Whether this helps to maintain efficiency or keep the fog away I do not profess to know. Edinburgh, 3. H. F. GLEN-WAKELIN. [While certain changes may be made in due course, the aeronautical radio wavelengths are at present fixed and un alterable in the 800-900 metre band. Obviously it would be undesirable and dangerous for the different companies to have their own wavelengths, and all ground radio and D/F stations are, and are likely to continue to be, in charge of the Air Ministry. Centralisation and standardisation of radio and complementary services becomes more and more essential. As far as "relative courtesy" is concerned it is almost in evitable that an airport, as it becomes busier, should lose that atmosphere of personal attention and tend to resemble a railway station—even to the conversational habits of the porters !—ED.] PUSHER PURSUIT : Designed to attack anything in the air or on the ground this new American Bell monoplane has pusher airscrews driven by liquid-cooled Allison engines and is armed with a pair of cannons. It is a very brave effort for a new company and should provide a good deal of welcome data
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