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Title (Dublin Core)
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A new apparatus, perfected by British and U. S. aviators, which can determine the exact position of planes during flights
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Article Title and/or Image Caption (Dublin Core)
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Title: Where Am I?
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Subtitle: The Aviator Ssks and Radio Answers
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extracted text (Extract Text)
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IN the last moments of hostilities
abroad, British and American air-
men perfected a radio direction-
finding apparatus which promises a
new era in long-distance flights. By
its use aerial navigators can determine
their exact position in the heavens,
night or day, and regardless of weather.
The pilot and crew might be hope-
lessly lost and hundreds of miles off
their course; yet this simple apparatus
would solve their difficulties in a few
minutes’ time. It was intended for
long-range night bombing raids in
Germany, but the ending of hostilities
prevented its use in that direction.
Now the instruments will be employed
for commercial and scientific travel
in the skies.
The Proposed Transatlantic Flight
New impetus should come to the
proposed transatlantic fight from the
United States to Europe 1a a result
of this discovery. The benefits of the
radio achievement will also be reaped
by those who are planning exploration
trips over the north polar regions.
Perhaps our aerial mail service will
also improve with regard to distant
‘mail routes, which have never proved
successful.
Many night bombing ships had been
sacrificed during the war 2s a result
of bad weather and fog when pilots
were unable to see landmarks and
thelr maps became worthless. The'
helpless crews floundered along inthe
night air, and eventually had to make
forced landings either on hostile ter-
ritory or in neutral countries, where
they were interned.
To overcome such predicaments,
wireless experts and navigation officers
began a study which is now completed
and does away with the visual method
of navigation. Instead of taking bear-
ings by known landmarks, the bear-
ings are determined from Known wire-
less stations by means of radio, and
by this system the pilot can ignore
both stars and ground and steer a
true course at all times and in all
sorts of weather.
Two coils of wire at right angles
to each other are placed in the fuse-
lage of the ship to pick up wireless
calls from any land station. The
larger the coils the more energy they
pick up, and they are only limited
in'size to the dimensions of the fuselage.
Calls can be received from thousands
of miles away without any traveling
aerial or antenna wires. All that is
needed, in addition to the coil, are
the usual wireless instruments, an
amplifier and tuning box.
This scheme of direction-finding
is best described by work done in
experimentation. A plane left the
ground at night, and its pilot and navi-
gation officer paid no heed to direc-
tion, time, or compass. After an
hour in’ the air, neither know hia
whereabouts or general location. The
navigation officer then tuned In his
instraments and picked up. wireless
call from the powerful station at
Berlin. Usually Berlin was. sending
out press matter to smaller stations
throughout Germany at night.
Determining the Compass Direction
By swinging the two coils described,
the ‘wireless wave from that station
either decreased or intensified in en-
fy Tha a ova as “tung
‘When the coils were adjusted to the
point of greatest efficiency for receiv-
fog, the navigation officer read a com.
pasa attached to the apparatus, and
determined the exact compass direction
{rom which thecal was heard. Making
correction. for the known curvature
of that wireless wave, he drew a line
‘on bia map from Berlin at the angle
Eiven by the compas.
“This placed the position of the air-
eraft as somewhere on that line.
‘Taking bearings in the same manner
by tuning in vith wireless calls from
the Ef Tower, Paris, and with
London, the navigator soon deter-
mined his positon on that ine by an
old system of triangulation. Special
Charts were used in place of ground-
Taps, and at no time was t necemsary
for either the pilot or the navigation
officer to seo landmarks or study the
stars.
A Year's Work on the Idea
The fint idea that radio could be
used in directing aircraft was conceived
about a year ago. Since that time
Americans have worked both vith and
independent of the British on this
subjoct. The use of direction-inding
hy wireless in planes was on the point
of being perfected when the armistice
was signed, and missed its mission as
far an ght bombing raids ware con-
But transatlantic lying and north
polar exploration trips will be much
simplified by using this system of
navigation. An American officer who
should ba given credit for much
accomplished on this Important. ap-
paratus is Lieutenant Herbert Bus
sett, of Paw Paw, Michigan, an aerial
radio officer who' worked on the dis-
covery together with the Royal Flying
Corps and the British Navy. = He was
stationed at the fild headquarters
of the American night. bombardment.
section in Sussex, England.
While these testa were in progress,
other experiments were being con-
ducted in wireless telephony, making
possible communication between planes
fn" the air. These discoveries have
been perfected to point. where there
is little excuse for an aircraft to lose
its way, rain or shine.
Aerial mail delivery has been handi-
capped in this country because pilots
lost their way in fogs and storms.
Future delivery of mail by aeroplane,
especially long-distance flights, will
probably employ radio if the service
‘meets the demands of progress in flying.
Aid to Future Explorers
The success of radio direction-find-
ing is a boon to aerial navigation at
night, when it is important that an
aircraft crew should know hourly
their exact location and whether or
not their course is true, ~ Shifting winds
then become known and corrections
can be made for the ship's drift.
A map becomes worthless for visual
navigation when mist, fog, or rain hides
known landmarks; and the terse re-
ports of night bombing operations
during the war, announcing the num-
ber of ships that failed to return to
the aerodromes after certain long-
distance raids, testified to the need of a
more accurate means of navigation.
The progress made in wireless devel-
opment has dispelled the remoteness
of the North Pole and brought closer
America and Europe, and students of
aerial navigation are now convinced
that the fear of becoming lost has been
eliminated from the minds of those
who propose to explore and venture by
means of aircraft.
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Contributor (Dublin Core)
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Theodore E. Hedlund (Article writer)
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Language (Dublin Core)
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eng
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Date Issued (Dublin Core)
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1919-03
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pages (Bibliographic Ontology)
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116-117
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Rights (Dublin Core)
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Public domain (Google digitized)
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Archived by (Dublin Core)
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Davide Donà
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Marco Bortolami (editor)
Popular Science Monthly, v. 94, n. 3, 1919