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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1963)
Federal Aviation Week Is Being Observed in Area Starting Today )F? " v i v . , . f v f . ......... .ft . v i vw., ' ' i .. . Fred Edcns, who joined the " to departure. it r In this pVito Dave Lvton, who came from El Toro, Calif., f""i''. i.:'.'c landing instruction lc-n aircraft approaching Modford slaff in 1946, is in the 5 S ;--rli li-wE Si! liLLJfaXrtb Russell Roseborough, chief technician at the Medford Station, and Duanc Easlon, mainte nance technician, discuss alignment of the very high frequency receiver in the equipment room beneath the tower cab. r Hwr . X st. v tower cab here, copying a (light ' " jut 2'j months ao hs assistant controller at the Medlord the M-'rd airport. plan. He briefs the pilot prior 1 When planes come in and take off from the Mcdford air port, resembling silver-winged birds circling the sky, it is not happenstance that they come to earth or leave it in perfect pattern and safety. In the air and on the ground, the pilot is never alone at the controls. With eyes and ears alert to instruments, dull in appearance compared to the sweep and glisten of the plane's wings in flight, air traffic specialists, high in the tower overlooking the field, -are charting his course. To give recognition to this fact, Federal Aviation Week is being observed, starting today. This observance, nationally, marks the fifth anniversary of the Federal Aviation Agency, but in Medford it marks a ' number of anniversaries. Com pared to the Medford service, FAA is young, and October seems to be "birthday month" for many important things. Established In 1929 The original "Airway Com munications Station" and low frequency four-course range at Medford was established in 1929. In October, 1942, the Air port Traffic Control tower was established. Also, in October, 1942, George Milligan stood the first watch in the new tower. To day he is the only member of that original complement still with the tower. The station and tower com bined was established in 1953. The October story continues with Richard (Dick) Smith, present tower chief and the fourth to head the Medford facility. He began his career in this service on Oct. 24, 1940, starting with a prede cessor of FAA in Cociir d'Alene, Idaho. He came to Medford in October, 1959. Number of Courses In 1942, the Medford tower had a low frequency radio range for instrument flight navigation. It now has very , high frequency omnidirection al range which provides an infinite number of courses on which an airplane can navi gate when coming toward or away from the facility. There were formerly only four courses, aligned gener ' ally north, south, east and west. During the intervening years many installations have been made to assist the Medford combined flight service sta tion and airport traffic control tower crew in keeping planes in the right paths. On numerous occasions, . Smith pointed out, when inter viewed in the tower cab, pilots have been assisted to safe landings by the personnel at the Medford facility. For example, on the after noon of Jan. 28, 1963, the pilot of a light single-engine air craft caled Medford Radio to say he was lost in instrument conditions. He requested as sistance. Milligan, the watch super visor, immediately took a di rection finder bearing on the aircraft and gave the pilot a heading to fly which would bring the aircraft over the Medford airport. While at tempting to orient the aircraft over the port and obtain a clearance where conditions were favorable for a visual descent, the pilot reported he had lost control of the air craft. The' stall warning indi cator in the aircraft was aud ible in the voice transmission from the pilot. Milligan, an experienced pilot, realized the aircraft was descending out of control and promptly issued instructions to the pilot in recovery pro cedures which resulted in his ' regaining control of the air craft a few hundred feet above the ground approximately six miles south of the airport. By use of direction finder bearings the pilot was guided to a safe landing at the Med ford airport where visibility had deteriorated to one-half mile in snow and smoke. ' Basic Function The basic function of the control tower is to provide airport traffic control service for the purpose of promoting the safe, orderly and expedi tious flow of air trafic arriv ing, departing and operating in the vicinity of the airport. Flight Service provides pre flight pilot briefing, visual flight rules, flight following service and disseminates wea ther and aeronautical informa tion to "en route" aircraft. . The Medford combined facil ity's area of service is South Central Oregon west of the Cascades. For two-way radio com munications the facility has , 17 transmitting frequencies and 14 receiving frequencies. Use Navigation Aids Planes are not coming in "On a wing and a prayer," but on a scries of navigation aids. The list includes very high frequency omnidirection al range, low frequency four course radio range, ultra high frequency tactical air navi gation facility ( omnidirectional military) ultra high frequency distance measuring equip ment, instrument landing sys tem, consisting of six separate radio transmitting components at four separate locations; two 75 megacycle non direc tional marker beacons, tun able very high frequency df rection finder and high inten sity approach lights. The localizer transmitter of the instrument landing system sends out a radio beam which follows the center line extend ing right down the runway from 25 to 30 miles out. A good . f - ? v vj inf. George Milligan makes adjustments to the very high frequency direction finding equipment. This equipment Is now installed in only a few facilities across the nation hut will be placed in np proximately 400 within the next two years. It is activated by a transmitted signal from the aircraft, portrayed on a cathode ray lulic, which tells the controller the direction of. the aircraft In, relation In the tower. y a; signal is received as far away as Tiller. A second component of ILS, the glide slope transmitter, is intercepted 10 miles out from the airport and gives the pilot rate of descent guidance. Marker beacons provide him with check points along his inbound path. Not Yet Equipped With all of these aids, how ever, pilots are not yet equip ped for "all-weather" landing as anyone in the Rogue River valley knows. When fog moves in at a cerain level planes do not land and they do not take off. When the ceiling is less than 200 feet, and or visibility less than one-half mile, plane travel is paralyzed. The landings are still man ual from the low elevation so weather plays an important role in air travel, Smith em Features Medford SECTION B MEDFORD, Tower Chief Richard Smith and Assistant Controller Dave Law ton are shown discussing a simulated instrument approach problem in (he training room on the second floor of the ad ministration building. i phasized. Gazing into, the cry- . stal ball, however, he said he t could foresee something dif- ' ferent for 1966. "Aviation has through the ' years moved step-by-step to ward the goal of optimum op- ' erational capability in condi tions of low visibility and no visibility," Smith quoted N. E. Halaby, administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency. "This very important goal will be within reach when a safe, reliable, efficient all weather landing system be comes available to the avia tion community. Ready for Use , "FAA technical experts pre dict that a system will be . ready for airline use, after ex tensive flight test evaluation, in 1966." The average number of daily landings and takeoffs at OREGON, SUNDAY, OCTOBER the Medford tower is ISO. The peak day for the fiscal year of 1963 listed 455. - Flight service reports that average monthly aircraft con tacted number 800, average monthly flight plans filed total 300. During a peak month there were 1,643 aircraft con tacted and 552 flight plan! filed. There are 12 air traffic con trol flight service specialists serving this station. Total per sonnel is 27 and the approxim ate annual payroll is $210,000. Medford Mayor James' J. Dunlevy has proclaimed Fed eral Aviation Week and open house will.be held from 1 un til 5 p.m. Saturday,. Nov. 2. During that afternoon, Smith said, air carriers and oper ators at the airport will have their facilities open for pub lic inspection. Sports Tribune 27, 1963 PAGES 1 to 8 3)
