Federal Aviation Week Is Being Observed in Area Starting Today
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Fred Edcns, who joined the
" to departure.
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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
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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.
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tower cab here, copying a (light
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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
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