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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 0232.PDF
226 FLIGHT International, IS feb, SOME LIKE IT HOT . Wg Cdr Hare, left, who is in charge of I the trials team, discussing a problem durinjf the flight with Sqn Ldr Dyer * Navigator up front on the Comet was Master Navigator Bill Todd, with wireless operator John Mills in the background The trials position for the Dectra equipment which the Comet carries on overseas trials as part of its self- f containment. It proved too much for the resources at hand i it was decided to press on after lunch with the generator inoperative (it came into the "allowable deficiency" category). In the event it came on line during the flight and the trouble was eventually traced to Florida's drizzle. After the trials team had checked that all the equipment ot trial would actually work when it was switched on, the Comet took off from Eglin and flew for half an hour at 500ft over the base and over the Gulf of Mexico while the trials new checked that the Doppler would track and that the Loran would fix satisfactorily. With cabin heating on, and no cooling available, the ambient temperature in the cabin reached an uncomfortable 130°F. Much of the equipment worked per- fectly: only the humans showed any sign of distress, but not enough to impair their capabilities to any great extent. Once the half-hour low-level exercise was finished we climbed away over the verdant flatness of Florida, headed westwards once again for the drier air of New Mexico. There we touched down in the early evening at Holloman AFB, another Air Force Systems Command base, which doubles as the Inertial Guidance Test Facility and the Missile Develop- ment Centre. On the following day the hot soak was repeated, at similar temperature levels—forced heating not being necessary in the desert's afternoon ambient temperature of 91 °F. The fact that all electrics were left on during the morning, with doors closed, meant that the cabin ambient was in the 130s at take-off. Once again half an hour at 500ft over the desert gave the trials team an excellent opportunity to check the Dopplef and Loran. While the Dopplers worked perfectly, there was 3 small anomaly on Loran which was the subject of a laW modification. The crystal clock also stopped working at 122 F. Doppler Hacking over the desert was good, but the remark- able feature of the trip was the excellence of Loran C &* in the area. It was a fine performance for an aid which is virtually unusable over the European land-mass. Low0 coverage was obtained throughout the southern half of the United States, and the quality was as good as is normally got over the ocean at equivalent ranges from transmitters. The possible reason for better propagation of Loran overland W the United States is that the frequencies used are protected W law from interference from domestic transmissions. In Europe there is too much "noise" on the signals for them to be usable. particularly during the day. During both low level runs at high temperatures the D°Ppv| spectrum was recorded on magnetic tape so that it could » analysed later to find out if there had been any distortion <» the signals arising out of the hot soak. When the hot low level trials had finished the cabin cooims was turned on to give a final check of the equipment at nom» temperatures. During this phase the Comet landed to pi<* uplr party of USAF officers and scientists who are involved in par 1 lei work in the US on inertial guidance systems. They w ;
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