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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0049.PDF
FLIGHT International, 10 January 1963 years ago and the geometry is so simple that I would not refer to it here except for the fact that some pilots apparently still think that they can make a path correction on the cues from a single line of lights in the windshield. However, a line up and down the middle of the pilot's windshield may mean that he is level and on the centre line, but there is an equal chance that it means that he is banked and displaced; and not only has he got to jog in but he will be tempted to do this on the basis of the line of lights, which is entirely inade quate for this purpose. The chances are that he will put on too much bank or will put on the right amount and not know when to take it off. This latter appears to be completely consistent with the track of the Cessna, as reported from the ground, and it also ties in with the report quoted at the beginning of this article, in which the pilot thought he had on 30° of bank but actually had none; fortunately, in the latter case he was climbing out and had enough time to settle back on to his instruments. But in the landing case time is at a higher premium and, once the eyes have latched on to the lights, it is nearly impossible to unlatch them. This is also a point which should obviously be studied in connec tion with the DC-7 accident at Idlewild on December 2 where the visibility was reported as being l/8th of mile at the tower. This BOTH TOGETHER AT O'HARE FOR the first time at a civil airport, parallel approaches and landings on dual runways under instrument conditions are now a regular feature of operations at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Aircraft taking part in the parallel approach system are required to operate under IFR regardless of weather and to have the necessary nav/com equipment to make accurate approaches to the assigned ILS runway. The aircraft are radar vectored by approach control to either of two final approach ILS beams from four gateways. To ensure safety while turning to final approach, the aircraft are separated by at least 1,000ft vertically or three miles horizontally by radar, and this separation is maintained until they are about eight miles from touchdown. All turn-ons and final approaches are radar monitored. A "no-transgression zone," 3,510ft wide, is established between centre lines of each course; and, when aircraft are noted to be following a track that would penetrate this zone, controllers issue immediate instructions to pilots to take corrective action. A minimum of three miles of radar separation is maintained between aircraft flying on the same ILS course. The operating procedure has been under evaluation for two years and the FAA has approved a minimum spacing of 5,000ft as a standard for parallel runways intended for simultaneous ILS approaches under instrument conditions. The O'Hare runways are separated by 6,510ft. At London Heathrow the separation is 4,600ft. Although Heathrow is laid out for the simultaneous use of parallel runways for take-off and landing, plans are only now under way to begin trials. For the past year or so, when conditions have allowed, Heathrow approach control has radar-monitored simul taneous landings on converging runways such as 28L and 23L, as described on page 777 of the November 15, 1962, issue of Flight International. TWO ACCIDENT REPORTS THE Ministry of Aviation have now published the report by the German inquiry team into the BUA Viscount 700 crash at Frankfurt Airport on October 30, 1961. The report found that the accident was caused by the captain allowing the aircraft to come below the critical height when the surface visibility was inadequate. At the critical point on the approach the Captain was persuaded to abandon flying on instruments by the co-pilot's erroneous and misleading statement "the runway is below us." Ten minutes before touch down, approach control had said the runway visual range was 0.3 nm, and still expecting 600yds RVR, the captain assumed that the co-pilot had seen the runway lights, but said that all he could see was a glow and that as he asked "where are the lights?" the aircraft struck the ground. The captain apparently thought he had maintained the 200ft critical height for the runway. The aircraft was a complete write off although only two passengers were injured. An article on page 44 of this issue discusses runway lighting effects in poor visibility. 45 accident occurred after I had drafted the above paragraphs. At least on the basis of the initial reports, it looks so relevant to the situation just described that, at the risk of being accused of talking out of the back of my neck, I feel inclined to offer the following advice. If we are going all out for cracking the 200/J barrier and authori ties are installing sequence-flashing lights to assist in this, then I suggest that they first remind themselves, by simulator or by real- life trials, of the effect of the single-fine cue. If they are convinced of the danger of this procedure—as I am sure they will be—but feel that the early cue of the flashers must at all costs be retained, then it would be logical to try a system including flashing cross bars (as well as centre-line) so as to provide a lateral cue simultane ously with that of alignment. However, any such programme would clearly take a long period of evaluation and so I suggest that flashers should not be used for take-off or landing in conditions of low ceil ing or RVR; and, further, that when used in the higher minima they should be associated with specific monitored-approach training so that the pilot making the touchdown is not persuaded off his instruments until the cross-bar pattern is distinguishable as well as the centreline. c. C. I. The Ministry of Aviation have also published the report of the Turkish Investigating Commission into the BEA Comet 4B accident at Ankara on December 21,1961. A loose screw jamming the pitch pointer on the director horizon led the captain to apply more up elevator than was required for the normal climb attitude of 20° with the result that an angle of about 45° was reached. The aircraft stalled at a height of about 450ft and sank to the runway and crashed in a level attitude. The aircraft was almost completely destroyed by impact and fire, and 27 of the 34 people on board were killed. The report concludes that the three pilots might have survived if they had used the shoulder straps of their safety harnesses. FAA Goes Mach 3 There seems every likelihood that President Kennedy will shortly be advised to arrange some form of Govern ment financial support for the development of a US Mach 3 civil transport. For more than a year, a special FAA investigating committee composed of manufacturing and airline industry experts have been examining every implication of such a decision, which they estimate would cost about £250m. This apparent reversal of US opinion back to Mach 3 cannot be far removed from the Anglo-French decision to go for Mach 2. Kuwait Airways' Comet Delivered Kuwait Airways were due to take delivery of a Comet 4C at Hatfield yesterday, January 9. Last August the airline ordered this Comet to inaugurate jet services on its routes within the Middle East and to India and Pakistan pending delivery of two Trident lEs and three BAC One-Elevens in just over two years' time. Tokyo Jet Ban According to a Reuter report the Japanese Government has approved a plan to ban jet arrivals and departures from Tokyo International Airport between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. with effect from next April. Braathens* Friendship Repeat Order Braathens SAFE has ordered a sixth Friendship and placed an option on a further aircraft. This is the fourth Braathens re-order and brings Fokker sales to 137, of which 104 have been delivered. Together with Fairchild, total Friendship sales have now reached 232 to 73 customers. The 200th Friendship, for Indian Airlines, was delivered on December 13. Caledonian's 1963 Plans Airborne Aviation Services (Gatwick) Ltd have been awarded a contract to handle all Caledonian flights in and out of Scotland from January 1. According to the managing director of Caledonian Airways, Mr John de la Haye, Caledonian expect to fly more than 5,000 Canadians and Americans to Scotland this year and a similar number of Scots in the opposite direction.
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