Progress in Several Fields of Air
Safety Said Dangerously Lacking
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, ORE.
FRIDAY. MARCH 24, 1961
Washington - IUPD - A lead-, "Vastlv imnrnvorf r9Ha ,-.
ing aviation research organiza- cue beacons have been devel
tion warns bluntly that prog- oped and are used by some
ress in several fields of air airlines. Yet tho nhcnioto
safety is lagging dangerously
The Guggenheim Aviation
Safety Center at Cornell uni
versity (N.Y.) listed the fields
as:
-More reliable altimeters.
-Collision avoidance.
-Crash fire protection.
-Occupant protection.
-Weather forecasting.
-Approach and runway
lighting.
-Sea rescue apparatus.
-Human factors.
The center's report on 1960
air safety research projects
blamed Congress for much of
the lack of progress because of
failure to appropriate suf
ficient money. ,
Item by item, the report in
cluded these research defic
iencies and recommendations
for correcting them:
Altimetry
"A continued effort and a
strong one should be made to
improve altimetry to the point
where accuracy is unquestion
ed." Collision Avoidance
". . . presumable dim .out
look for the successful devel
opment of an anti-collision de
vice or warning indicator. The
center hopes the FAA (Federal
Aviation Agency) will con
tinue its interest and adequate
financial support for research
and development of such a de
vice. While it may not be of
great value in highly congest
ed areas, the device will be
vitally important in uncon
troled airspace and perhaps
even on controlled airways . . .
"The catastrophic conse
quences of even one collision
cannot be neglected. The cen
ter hopes that the industry
will not wait for the perfect
device, but accept one that
may be even partly successful.
For example, since only eight
per cent of a" collisions nn
cur head-on, why wait for a
system to eliminate the head
on collision if another can he
more immediately available
which will alleviate the other
92 ner cent collision potential-Crash
Fire Protection
"A theoreticM svstem for
preventing fire on impact has
been in existence since 1954
yet "there has been litile
progress in developing the
hardware to applv these prin
cinles to aircraft operation.
The need is urgent. There
also appears to be a serious
lapse in fire prevention re
search (such as) crash-resistant
fuel tanks, fire-resistant com
pounds, etc."
Occupant Protection
Sixty per cent of airplane
accidents occur away from
airports where assistance from
rescue personnel is delayed or
unavailable. Research is need
ed on stronger seats, belts,
doors, exits, floors and cabin
structure.
Weather Forecasting
"It is hard to conceive of a
single area . . . which would
be of more immediate benefit
to aviation . . . the FFA, mili
tary and weather bureau have j
combined on several excellent 1
programs . . . but Congress has
delayed its approval of fi
nancial support. There ap
pears to be a need not only
for more accurate area weath
er but also on the local
weather variations that occur
in very small areas, such as
drifting fogs over the ends of
runways.
Approach and Runway Lights
"Budgetary limitations have
prevented the FAA from
Gibson girl" (S portable ra
dio transmitter carried in life
rafts) still is required although
many consider it to be more
of a hazard than a safeguard
in the event of a ditching at
sea.
"Consideration of human
factors in the design and oper
ation of aircraft is now well
recognized as a vital contribu
tion to aircraft safety. There
appear to be gaps between
what is known and what is
applied.'!
The report, in obvious refer-
Aviation Pioneer
Starts N ew Career
With Electronics
well - known and
recognized aids to facilitate
the landing of aircraft, espec
ially in marginal weather.
Examples of these are high
intensity approach lights, dual
ILS (instrument landing sys
tem), narrow-gauge and center-line
runway lishts. The
need for these devices has
been known for many years,
yet at the time of this rennrt
only 23 airports are fully
equipped. Since some 40 per
cent of fatal accidents occur
during the approach to a land
ing, the need for such aids is
obvious."
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.-IUPD
-La Motte T. Cohu made a
hit of sorts in the early days
of the airplane when he crash
ed a plane on a power line.
He's been creating his own
brand of fireworks ever since
as an airlines pioneer and a
builder of planes.
Cohu, in his mid-60s, looks
back on a long career during
which he headed two airlines
and bossed two of the nation's
largest aircraft manufacturing
companies. And he looks for
ward to a new career as head
of an electronics firm.
Cohu got his first taste of
flying when he was a student
at Princeton university from
which he graduated in 1917.
"Flying was, just a sport in
those days," he recalled in a
UPI interview. "I used to
sneak off from Princeton to
Lawrenceville to take flying
lessons. First pop out of the
box my instructor and I hit a
high tension wire. We black
ed out Lawrenceville. I hadn't
been up a half minute when
the engine coughed a few
times and we sat on the wire.
We were scratched up a bit
hut not seriously hurt."
Direct Approach
Cohu learned to take the
direct approach to problems
when he became president of
American Airways, the prede
cessor to American Airlines.
We have four divisions,"
he said, "and they weren't
working well together. I had
an idea. I issued some really
crazy instructions to the di
vision managers. Two of them
went along with me and the
two others told me, in effect.
I was a crazy so-and-so. I
fired the two 'yes men' and
kept the two others and the
company began to operate
properly."
One of the division man
agers who told off Cohu was
C. R. Smith, now president of
American Airlines.
Cohu was later president of
Trans World Airways which
evolved out of the old Trans
continental Air Transport
(TAT). He then became presi
dent, of Convair and board
chairman and general man
ager of Northrop Aircraft,
Inc.
Jack Northrop, founder of
the company which bears his
name, was way ahead of his
time in aircraft design, ac
cording to Cohu.
"He's rcsnonsible for most
of the advances in design to
day," said Cohu, "wing flaps,
the delta wing and many
others."
Built Norlhrup
Cohu began from scratch
with the Northrop organiza
tion and when he left it hid
been built uo to the noint
where there were lfi.000 em
ployees. He has a seeminglv endless
supplv of stories about his
experiences and fondly re
,llc Viic Hirfpt nnnrnnrh solu-
in-1 tion to many problems
There was the early day
problem of Inst passenger bag
gage for instance.
"I solved that one," said
Cohu. "I called a meeting of
all station managers at Albu
querque. They arrived the
night before and I called the
first meeting for 7:30 in the
morning. Get 'em out early,
you know. They showed up -but
most of them needed
shaves and wore riirtv shirts.
I'd seen to it that their bag
gage was missing. We had a
lot more efficiency in keeping
track of baggage after that."
At Convair. he nulled 'ho
LA MOTTE T. COHU
A Long Career
same sort of a stunt. They
were having an inordinate
amount of trouble with wiring
in planes, the push buttons to
summon stewardesses and that
sort of thing.
Cohu had an electrical
panel set up in a room and
called in a group of men who
worked on the panels. He
pushed a button and smoke
poured from the panel. Every
one ran out of the room.
"I had the fire department
standing by," Cohu chuckled.
"When these people came back
into the room after the smoke
cleared, I said to them, "How
would you like to have that
happen while you were in a
plane? We didn't have very
much trouble after that."
Decided to Retire
About four years ago, Cohu
decided to retire to his home
high on a hill in Rancho Santa
Fe, about 25 miles north of
San Diego. ...- . ..
"There are too many air
craft companies," he growled
by way of explanation.
"There's not enough business
for one of them."
"I fooled around," he said,
"as president of the Com
munity Chest and that sort of
thin?. Then a banker friend of
mine got me interested in this
eleclronics nlant in San Diego.
T Dut a little money into it.
First thing T knew I was back
in business."
As board chairman of Cohu
Electronics. Inc., he sliM main
tains his direct approach.
"I got my people together
a while back and asked them
whv we were In business." he
said. "Some of them said to
produce closed circuit tele
vision systems, computers and
all that. After they finished.
I told them, 'No, you're all
wrong. The only reason we're
in business is to me money.
These things are iust a way
to make monev.' This is some
thing you've rot lo emphasize
with your engineers. A design
enginner never designs any
thing (hat he doesn't believe
couldn't be done a little bet
ter. They don't realize that
timo is money. You've got to
call a halt some place."
Cohiij who has been at the
controls of almost every type
of plane made, has not lost his
interest in aviation despite his
current preoccunation with
electronics and government
contracts in connection with
missile systems such as the
Titan and the the Polaris.
He was asked what was the
latest plane he had flown.
"A 707." he replied bright
ly, "but I think that's the last
nlanp I'll ever flv."
I
IS
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Watts
Id;
ence to the labor feud between
the pilots' and flight engi
neers' unions, suggested that
"with cockpit management, an
ever - increasing requirement
In air safety, personnel rela
tions among crew members
should be cooperative rather
than unfriendly."
It also criticized the tech
niques of accident investiga
tion, commenting that "there
seems to be a tendency to use
hearings to defend one's Inter
est instead of uncovering
facts."
Not Enough Jurors In Multnomah Court
A 3
Portland-tUPi-For
Multnomah county
36 years i other counties,
has had ' He wrote to District Judge
the wrong number of jurors in ,,'
. ' i eluded Van Hoomissen
uisirict court cases,
con-
Van Hoomissen was
right. He said others checked
it and concurred.
At least that's the impres
sion readied alter a legislator i
made a query and judges and Pensioner, 98, Credits
The county, like the rest of
the state, has been seating six
jurors in District Court.
Rep. George Hoomissen (D
Portland) was researching a
bill which would permit con
viction in criminal cases by
vote of five out of six District
Court jurors.
He said statutes indicated
that juries in Multnomah
County District Courts must
i be twice as large as those in
'Luck' for Longevity
Chicago - H'PII r-. A 98-year-old
pensioner who retired in
1928 after 34 years with U.S.
Steel said Wednesday he
couldn't explain his longevity.
"I really don't know,"
Henry Edwin Bach said. "I en
joy living. I've smoked for 110
years and I still take an oc
casional cigar. I guess I'm
lucky."
Don
Stathos,
insuror
MALL BLDG.
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