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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1307.PDF
FLIGHT International, 26 July 1962 INDUSTRY Flight Systems Products Company News Flight Systems Radar Approach From November 15, the FAA is to provide terminal radar ser vice to both IFR and VFR traffic approach ing or operating near Atlanta, Georgia. This implements one of the recommenda tions of Project Beacon to the effect that various categories of aircraft should be funnelled in to the runway from discrete directions or approach holding areas. Radar vectoring, advisory and sequencing service will be given to any aircraft with communications radio, operating from Atlanta or neighbouring fields, but non- radio aircraft will not necessarily be barred. The area covered will be within a 15-mile radius of the airfield from 1,000ft to 6,000ft a.g.l. The scheme is not covered by regulations and radar service will not be mandatory. Special VHF frequencies will be used for various types of traffic or areas of control, but aircraft not equipped with the special frequencies will be allowed to use standard frequencies. Direct Radar Scope Camera During flight testing of the radar system of the F4H, McDonnell developed a recording camera for radar displays which proved so successful that it was ordered as standard equipment for operational F4Hs and for F8U-2Ns and the F-110A. McDonnell point out that it is this device and not the Nadar 8 which has become standard, as reported to Flight International by Auto- netics (these columns, May 17). The Direct Radar Scope Camera con tains the McDonnell KD-26A pulse- McDonnell radar recorder mounted on the scope in an F8U-2N Crusader International operated 16mm camera which is set to expose one frame at each sweep of the radar trace, photographing both the radar tube-face and seven incident lights denot ing radar modes. Rate of exposure is controlled to correspond with radar scan ning rate in search or lock-on modes, and the film can be reloaded in flight. By using polarizing filters and half reflecting optics in front of the primary scope, McDonnell have avoided the problems of glare and double images which previously made such systems troublesome. The scope is run at full brightness and the pilot can rotate a polarized lens to adjust apparent brightness for his own requirements. The optical path from scope to camera can be folded by means of mirrors and lenses so that the camera can be mounted on top of the scope unit in a variety of attitudes, ensuring minimum interference with visibility and a clear ejection path for the pilot. The camera uses 50ft reels of film with between two and six frames exposed per second, the shutter remaining open during one sweep of the trace to capture the whole radar picture. The camera itself weighs about three pounds. McDonnell have proposed additional installations for the F-106, F3H, F8U- 2NE, A3J-1 and RF-110A, and they have studied other applications such as sonar, ATC, weather and navigation radar recording. The recordings are useful in training radar operators, particularly in single-seat intercepters, in tracing defects in equipment and in evaluating crew pro ficiency. Doppler Orders In three new contracts totalling $830,983 Ryan Electronics have received orders for a further quantity of APN-130 Doppler navigators for HSS-2 helicopters, for APN-122(V) spares for US Navy Lockheed P3Vs and for similar spares for Royal Australian Air Force P2V-7s. Production at the Torrance plant is thus extended into early 1964. Laser-Maser Hughes Aircraft have de veloped a technique with which they claim they will be able to make use of the so far inaccessible frequencies between the highest used for radio and the infra-red band. Working for the US Army Signal Corps, Hughes have developed a laser-pumped maser using two synthetic rubies. This is the type of system Hughes were seeking two years ago when they discovered the ruby Laser and concentrated on the devel opment of that device. The optically pumped Maser extends by three orders of magnitude the frequency range over 149 D. P. Devor and C. K. Asawa, two of the Hughes engineers who developed the Laser-pumped Maser, operating the controls. The Laser is at the base of the liquid helium Dewar flask at right and the beam is projected through two apertures on the girder into the base of the Maser at left which Maser devices can be pumped by coherent radiation. Possible applications include communi cations in outer space with high data rates and very small directional aerials. Hughes also state that it "has possible military applications to communications and detec tion systems." 10,000 Inertial Instruments After 16 years of development and production, Autonetics have now made their 10,000th inertial instrument, a high-reliability, free- rotor gyro for the Autonetics inertial navi gation system in the Minuteman missile. Autonetics' first inertial system, the XN-1 designed for the Navaho, was the first accurate system to fly, in May 1950, and used three air-floated gyros and two double-integrating accelerometers. Several thousand smaller, liquid-floated gyros have since been produced for Hound Dog guidance, the Reins bombing system for the A3J and the Ship's Inertial Naviga tion System for Polaris submarines. Products Stable Platform Simulator The Bracknell firm Lede Ltd have designed, developed and manufactured test equipment capable of simulating the movement of stable plat forms under looping and rocking condi tions. The specification calls for testing of units weighing up to 801b with maximum dimensions 12in diameter by 24in long. These units are subjected either to oscilla tions of varying amplitude and frequency or to continuous rotation at selected speeds. The test equipment employs a J h.p. electric motor driving a variable output hydraulic pump which in turn supplies a hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor drive is reduced by an 18:1 ratio gear and provides cradle speeds of up to 50 r.p.m. This reduced rotational drive is converted to oscillatory motion through a
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