Colour plate showing how the service aircraft of some of the leading counties of the world are distinguished. An article on Aircraft Markings appears in part 15.
AERIAL DIRECTION POST at Schiphol Aerodrome, near Amsterdam, Holland. It shows the direction of airports in Europe and the East, and was built for the interest of passengers. A pilot, before he starts, calculates a compass course, taking into account the speed and direction of the wind and the normal cruising speed of his machine. If the wind changes in direction or speed and landmarks are obscured, he may require the help of directional radio. At Croydon, Lympne (Kent) and Pulham (Norfolk), as well as at many aerodromes abroad, there are instruments capable of telling a pilot his position.
Air Traffic Control:
Photogravure Supplement 2
AT LE BOURGET AIRPORT, near Paris. The Imperial Airways liner Horatius is a biplane, one of several flying between London and Paris. It has four Bristol Jupiter air-cooled radial engines, three of which can be see. The total horse-power is 2,200. The maximum speed is about 120 miles an hour and the cruising speed 95-105 miles an hour. The new Le Bourget Airport was opened by M. Albert Lebrun, President of the French republic, in November 1937. The imposing control tower is on the right, behind the nose of the air liner.
Air Traffic Control:
Photogravure Supplement 3
ALL CLEAR FOR THE START at Tempelhof Airport, Berlin. The aircraft is a Junkers Ju 160. This is a fast cabin monoplane, with a maximum speed at 3,000 feet of 211 miles an hour and a cruising speed of 199 miles an hour. The nine-cylinder radial air-cooled BMW 132A engine develops 750 horse-power. The signal to leave the vicinity of the aerodrome buildings and to taxi across the field, in preparation for the take-off, is given by a panel or disk, such as that held in the official’s right hand.
