The Practical Use of Radio as a Direct Aid to the Landing Approach in Conditions of Low Visibility

Extract

The problem of landing an aeroplane under conditions of low visibility hasbeen a subject for speculation for the last twenty years, but it is only withinthe last ten years that it has been given any serious practical attention. Thispractical attention has been forced by the necessity for aircraft to maintainschedule regardless of weather conditions in competition with other forms oftransport.

Although certain schemes involving radio were amongst the earliest proposalsfor a solution of the problem, the first practical work appears to have beenconcerned with methods of a more mechanical or optical nature, including aproposal to deposit the fog by high tension discharge.