Search

Any form of transport calls for a communication and signalling system, and by its nature civil air transport has to rely on radio-telegraphy and radio-telephony for the majority of the services it requires, and is peculiarly dependent on navigational help by radio. As a result an extensive communication system has been built up to provide these services throughout the world, a system which is closely interconnected internationally and which provides a service for the aircraft of any country operating on the various routes. It is proposed to give in this paper a description of the system in this country and its immediate connections to the Continental and Empire networks, with some reference to the American system as an indication of the general differences between American and European practice. The paper is divided into the following Sections:? (1) The growth of the communication system. (2) Technical considerations and requirements of groundstation equipment. (3) Aircraft radio equipment and installation. (4) The Atlantic and Empire routes to the East. (5) A brief outline of the communication system in the U.S.A. (6) Future developments.

The apparatus to be described has been developed to provide a transmitting and receiving equipment for small and medium commercial and private aircraft which will be extremely simple to operate and as foolproof as possible. Many features are introduced which, although they have been in use for broadcast and other commercial radio apparatus, have not been applied to aircraft radio equipments. For example, an electrical remote tuning system is used for the receiver, and automatic volume control on both telephony and telegraphy is provided. The equipment provides a telephonic range of 180-200 miles, and a telegraphic range of 350-400 miles, and weighs only sixty pounds complete.