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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2916.PDF
916 FLIGHT, 9 December 1960 PART ONE FIXED INSTALLATIONS Lighting The General Electric Co Ltd supply almostevery type of airport lighting equipment, in- cluding complete systems. New types includethe ZA.707 visual glide-path indicator unit; the ZA.109 and ZA.109B high-intensity flushrunway lights for use in the touchdown area of a runway and as centre-line lights; the ZA.755quadruple obstruction light; and the ZA.801 taxiway flasher unit, which needs no specialpower supply or extra cables, being plugged in between the existing isolating transformerand light to be flashed. An advantage of the new VGPI is that ituses four standard 200W Osram lamps. Design emphasis is on serviceability and the equip-ment is housed in a glass-fibre casing. Four ZA.707s have recently been installed on run-way 24 at Southend Airport and are now undergoing trials. A widely used G.E.C. fitting is the ZA.105high-intensity elevated runway light which, following introduction at Southend, has beenadopted at Hum, Prestwick, Renfrew, Jersey, Guernsey, Luton, Leeds/Bradford, andCoventry. During the year the company hascompleted lighting installations at Guernsey, Luton, Leeds /Bradford. Coventry, Wel-lington (NZ) and Nandi (Fiji)), and at the Westland Heliport at Battersea. Current con-tracts include Plaisance, Mauritius; Karachi, Pakistan; Belgrade and Zagreb, Yugoslavia;Coolidge, Antigua; and lighting for a heli- copter landing stage which will be part of adeep-water tanker terminal at Khor-AI-Amaya in the Persian Gulf. The visual glide-path indicator systemdeveloped by the Blind Landing Experimental Unit is manufactured by Thorn ElectricalIndustries Ltd. Other manufacturers of high- intensity approach lights include The BenjaminElectric Ltd, Engineering & Lighting Equip- ment Co Ltd, Holophane Ltd, and RevoElectric Co Ltd. Airfield marker and taxiway lights are manufactured by Butlers Ltd. Air-port location and other visual beacons are made by Stone-Chance Ltd, who also manu-facture stand-by electrical equipment. Harley Aircraft Landing Lamps manufac-ture a wide range of mobile lighting equipment, mainly of the self-generating type but alsoavailable with transformers for mains opera- tion. There are small box-type units that canbe easily manhandled and carried in small vehicles; self-propelled units capable of beingpositioned under their own motive power; and trailer-type units for fast towing behind air-field vehicles. Though perhaps best known in aviation fortheir radio equipment, Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd also make control equipmentfor airport electrical systems, and in this field their Rectifier Division is responsible for acomprehensive range of high-voltage d.c. cable-test equipment under the trade-name"SenTerCet." Of particular interest, too, is this division's cathodic protection system,designed to guard buried or submerged metal structures against corrosion. Though better known in the aircraft fieldfor airborne wiring and switchgear, C.W.C. Equipment Ltd also make a variety of detailelectrical items which find application in air- port lighting systems and buildings. British Insulated Calender's Cables Ltdneed no introduction as manufacturers of almost every conceivable type of electricalcable, and their products are used in airport installations all over the world, not only forlighting and power but for radio, radar and numerous other applications in the communi-cations field. Among specialists in airport lighting areC. Maurice Contractors Ltd, who have been responsible for a number of major installationsof G.E.C. equipment. Buildings and Runways Building and runway-construction contrac-tors are listed on the previous page. Addition- ally, it may be mentioned that easily erectedtemporary shelters of various sizes are made by P. Frankenstein & Sons (Manchester) Ltd, G.E.C. Type ZA.707 visual glide-path indica- tor unit, using standard 200W Osram lamps Harley mobile floodlight based on a "balloon" principle in which theshape of the fabric shelter is maintained by a low-pressure air fan. Runway Marking Fully approved by the MoA, Epigloss line-marking paint is made by Coates Bros Paints Ltd and has been used on a number of air-fields—including Gatwick, where, it is stated, lines marked over three years ago are still inexcellent condition. A subsidiary compound is Marathon cleaning solution for removingtyre marks from painted lines, and the same firm have also developed a joint-sealing com-pound which is highly resistant to jet blast. Other manufacturers of special materialsfor runway marking include Docker Brothers and the Witco Chemical Co Ltd. PART TWO RADAR, RADIO AND METEOROLOGY Surveillance Radar The latest in the series of general-purposesurveillance radars manufactured by Cossor Radar & Electronics Ltd is the S-band(10cm) Type C.R.787. Cossor claim that the 10cm band gives good vertical coverage with-out gaps, narrow beam-width with resultant high-definition display, and a reasonable aerialsize and power consumption. Circular polar- ization can be introduced at will to eliminaterain echoes. The C.R.787 can be supplied in a trailer, suitable for movement on second-class roads, accommodating a machine cabin, aerial assembly and a well-lit, ventilated cabinhousing one or two transmitter-receivers and display units. Alternatively, the weatherproofcabin and the aerial can be mounted on a tower or on the roof of a building. C.R.787equipment is in service in Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Europe. Mobile and static versions of the shorter-range C.R.21 S-band surveillance radar are also available. Both the C.R.787 and C.R.21may be combined with secondary radar. Cossor have done pioneering work in thedevelopment of secondary radar for civil air traffic and a mobile version of the S.S.R.4Gground equipment is now being evaluated at London Airport. It includes sidelobe suppres-sion, signals being transmitted and received at a 30ft beam aerial the rotation of which isslaved to that of the surveillance radar with which it is working. Range is a function of thetransponder triggering sensitivity as well as of transmitted powers, but with standard trans-ponders the range of the S.S.R.4G is 180 n.m. for aircraft flying at 30,000ft. Transmitternominal frequency is l,030Mc/s. Cossor are developing transponder equipment to con-form with all the ICAO and Arinc characteristics. Cossor are further developing the CRD.23advanced radar display systems, designed on the "building-block" principle. Informationfrom CRDF and secondary radar is accepted and map displays from a twin video-mappingunit may be superimposed by interscan mark- ing. Other features include four switchedrange-scales, up to ten aircraft identification Back-to-back aerial system of the Decca 10cm DASR.l surveillance radar Marconi S264 surveillance radar in 50cm band, with turning gear and electronics in sunken building. This unit is at Jersey
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