Navigation in the 1940s: The Four Course Radio Range

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Click to download Approach Plate A goo.gl/LPO4c
Click to download Approach Plate B goo.gl/ktnKR
Recently, the staff of Radio Station WWRB and its parent company, Airline Transport Communications Inc. put together a model four course radio range, operated by control operators WA4SZE and KF4MVG. The original four course ranges were very large because they operated in the very low frequency range, requiring 200 foot high towers with wide spacing. This model system operates in the high frequency 28 MHz band, so it is much smaller. Despite the size difference, it is functionally identical to its 1930s-1970s forebears.
We'll be setting up a web page on the four course range soon with construction plans, photographs, history, and schematics for amateur radio operators to build their own ranges. More information on four course ranges can be found at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Freq...
The staff of Airline Transport Communications, Inc and Radio Station WWRB have been experimenting with various aircraft navigation systems for several years. If you would like to see pictures of our nondirectional beacon LYQ or our VOR, please see our web site photo gallery at www.wwrb.org .

Опубликовано:

8 апр 2010

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Комментарии : 64

@genewhite4141 3 года назад

Thanks for the memories. I started flying in 1959 and used the four course range legs. Sure was glad to see the omnis becoming common. Gene White

@jw6953 2 года назад

My grandfather was a radio man in world war II D-Day. my dad was a amateur radio operator and the whole neighborhood knew when it was a radio contest weekend. Great video.

@johnhufnagel 2 года назад

not enough likes for this video, or comments. I've long been fascinated by the brilliantly simplistic ways we came up with doing things like this.

@JohnAMcGrew 14 лет назад

Thanks for demonstrating this. It was always easy enough to understand how it worked, but I never thought I'd ever actually get to see it work.

@jetpilot3714 4 года назад

I’m really glad I found this. Very interesting and well done presentation! I have a book that covers a little bit about flying the beam and the old-school ways of IMC flying. Like another comment on here I would like to see demonstrated how they actually shot an approach-and more practical application of going from point a to point B. That’s what I can’t seem to figure out is how they actually flew across the country. I think it’s fascinating that someone resurrected a system like this. Thanks a lot!

@JazzBuff23 14 лет назад

I got my license in 1958 and flew many Low Freq approaches. This video was good at explaining the concept of the Low Freq system, but they should do another to explain how we did a a Low Freq IFR approach. It will blow your mind.

@cytecs 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for the video which was really instructional: the graphics model and the way the 4 course radio system was shown in the cockpit helped make the concept clear to understand.

@MikeP-we2ve Год назад

Outstanding! Great video! Covering four-course radios in an aviation history course and this video helped to put it all together. Thank you!

@N4GYN1942 8 лет назад

Thank you for an excellent video, Dave. And thank you for checking into the RagChewers Net on 7.272 Mhz this morning from your supercharged C-150 while in the clouds at 6K feet and 150 KIAS. I remember this navigation system, having read about it many years ago. I flew from 1974 until 2008 as a private pilot. Ray-N4GYN Amateur Radio

@w9ran 12 лет назад

This is very cool! Thanks for your efforts in creating this demonstration and putting up an excellent video!

@RadioHamGuy 11 лет назад

Great demo, that was very interesting to see and take a trip back in time.

@joepatroni8777 7 лет назад

My father who retired as an airline pilot years ago told me about this when he was younger. Thats how he used to navigate when he was first starting out in the airlines he said.. Told me about the A's and N's (the dits and the daws) I always wanted to hear what it sounded like. I thought it would not be possible as the system was decommissioned decades ago. Excellent job. Thank you!

@N2GJ 14 лет назад

David Frantz is the licensed radio amateur in TN who built this. There's a very nice article about this in "AOPA Pilot" June 2010 p. 30 by Barry Schiff. 73

@TedDead1 3 года назад

David is a licensed A-hole.

@charlesrussell2451 6 лет назад

Great video! Thanks for making it

@FinalFlightTheBook 14 лет назад

Excellent explanation of the four course radio range.

@donnash4419 3 года назад

Great video and information!

@waynehall1 8 лет назад

Thanks for this video. I'm restoring to operation the instructor electronics chassis for a 1943 Link Trainer system, and the chassis provides an instructor capability of simulating an A-N range with five different station IDs (sent in Morse).

@jetpilot3714 11 месяцев назад

Did you ever get the trainer up and functional?

@waynehall1 11 месяцев назад

@@jetpilot3714 Yes. The Link fuselage & Instructor Desk have been working for a few years now. Long enough that we're beginning to think about some serious maintenance work.

@jetpilot3714 11 месяцев назад

@@waynehall1 That is very interesting and I imagine one of its kind. What part of the country are you located? And is this something that is available to be rented like on an hourly basis? I fly level D sims for work.

@waynehall1 11 месяцев назад

@@jetpilot3714 There's numerous Links restored for appearances only & maybe a dozen that are working to some degree. Ours is in Colorado Springs but it is not available for rental It's only operated by volunteers at the National Museum of WWII Aviation.

@jetpilot3714 11 месяцев назад

@@waynehall1 well, nonetheless, that is still very cool! Glad you guys worked with that and have it restored and in working condition. Thank you for your information.

@lonkelly 7 лет назад

Hey this was great! Thanks!

@MemphisBBQ640 2 года назад

After watching this video, you'll understand the references in old movies to being "on the beam."

@okokokok987 2 года назад

Excellent - Thank you!

@ve3pmk 8 лет назад

That's a very well done video Dave. Thanks for all the hard work in making it! Are you using some form or bits of a Four Course transmitter on that 30m beacon? That would explain the non-stop N with the weaker yet continuous tone in the background.

@ramongandia8163 10 лет назад

The range station in this video does sound a bit fast. The station would send 12 repetitions of the A-N, then would identify over the N antenna, then the A antenna, then resume the A-N repetitions. I made hundreds of instrument approaches using the OE (239 kc) range here in Nome, Alaska. Not appreciated today is that the LFR was more accurate and less prone to component failures than a VOR. One time I made a VOR approach here, and something went poof in my VOR indicator, and I come out of the clouds just at the base of local Anvil Mountain. I was lucky that day, and the LFR was it for me after that.

@Gator_Bait_Motorsports 2 года назад

I learned about the 4 coarse radio beacons when I first started getting interested in aviation in the late 50's. I never got the chance to fly one, by the time I started flying, ADF,' were in use and the new VOR's were taking over navigation duties. It didn't matter much to me. I learned in a 1946 Aeronca 7AC Champ and it didn't have an electrical system or radios anyway...LOL. My first flight with a VOR and I was spoiled and just like today's GPS....how did we ever get along without them....LOL

@279seb 8 лет назад

wow that's amazing!

@John.Achor.Aviating.Author Год назад

Capt Franz (did i spell it right? My 88 year old ears don't always pick up the nuances of the audio on vids.) I flew Adcock (4 course radio range) in USAF pilot training in the mid 1950s. Also flew flight simulator in virtual airline (DC3 Airways). Your video is well done, quite informative and took me back. I'm doing some nostalgic research looking for an actual Adcock range still in service that might be accessible in a flight simulator. I also wrote an extensive article for Computer Pilot magazine years ago including a total range orientation problem-starting from an unknown point to find yourself on the 4-course grid. Any interest?

@youtubeaccount931 Год назад

Really cool!

@geeayevette 13 лет назад

Good video, but fails to stress that '30's and '40's (and later) long-range pilots, especially to S. America, Asia, etc used the ADF. The L/MF radio ranges were used extensively, and could be picked up at a grateer distance (much greater) than the VHF A&N ranges, and the latter-day Omni-VOR's. I've navigated across the Caribbean, with good ADF tracking (not homing) skills, staying 'on course' long before the VOR's in Trinidad, or Venezuela were sensed by my instruments. Please see part two..

@EmmettHoops 11 лет назад

Thank you! I have heard the beacon on 10.126 MHz and now I understand what it's about. Great video.

@nipponhouseplayer 14 лет назад

Very Good Vid! The Skys the limit, fly safe!

@mazdarodi 12 лет назад

@kaguyabutterfly1 I agree that there is no need for four course anymore during our GPS era, but as a private pilot hearing them plan to get rid of VOR, I end up wondering what happens if and when any future enemy could use electromagnetic bursts from nukes to knock out our GPS sattelites. And if all our VORs and ADF stations are gone, what then? I know I sound paranoid, but does anyone else worry the GPS system being disabled in some way might send our asses back to the stone age?

@ka9szx 14 лет назад

Could we get another video of the transmitter itself and how this navigation beacon is put together? Amateurs radio operators would like to see 'whats inside the box".

@mikedwyer5326 8 лет назад

Cool video, well done. I think I'll keep my GPS tho!

@BobDenny 10 лет назад

I could not find any realistic A-N range sounds... I believe the rate was 24 A or N per minute. Also, when you were "on the beam" you could still hear the clicks of the A-N commutators, tick-tick-tick.......tick...tick-tick-tick.......tick, etc.

@ArtemisVandelay 11 лет назад

If your concern is an electromagnetic pulse produced by a nuclear device, that could be applied to disable VOR and ADF stations not properly equipped with protection for such. I'm unaware of whether those stations are protected, but I doubt it, as there hasn't been much emphasis on that since the cold war. Interestingly, one could get real bang for their buck if they detonated high enough to also make an artificial radiation belt that ruins satellites, like with Starfish Prime. Good luck!

@geeayevette 13 лет назад

Part two... So, and in conclusion, I'd like to stress that commercial aviation 'Walked the Walk' by using L/MF ADF navigation long before the A&N ranges became popular. Hope I helped clear up this little bit of aviation history. Best to you all.

@mazdarodi 11 лет назад

WOW!! Thank you for pointing this out to me. I had no clue of the Starfish Prime project, and if the Wikipedia info is correct, it totally confirms my fears. According to their info, the radiation belt remained for five years ruining a handful of satellites! My thoughts are that ADF and VOR would be easier to repair than the satellite network. What is your take on this Artemis Vandelay? Do you think they will ever use such nukes in action against satellites?

@tedstriker754 2 года назад

I wonder why it wouldn't be easier to use the ADF needle? If they had that back then.

@hoarbaby 2 года назад

They need the A and N tones for people just to get through their day to day lives.. most people are waaaaaaayyyy off course..

@slehar 4 года назад

7:44 The audio in this simulation is not right - it transitions abruptly from A (dit dah) to continuous tone, missing the most interesting and subtle analog transition between "dit dah" and "ooooooooh" (continuous tone) that goes dit dah dit dah nin nah nin nah oooooh nah nin nah nin dah dit dah dit ... I was disappointed not to hear that in the audio. Otherwise great presentation!

@copernicus633 13 лет назад

@kaguyabutterfly1 Nobody is suggesting that. This is purely a historical presentation.

@BobDenny 10 лет назад

Small note, the A and N are way too fast! This does not sound like a real AN range. The other thing is that once per minute, the station ident would be sent out on the N pattern, followed by the A pattern (or vice versa, I can't remember). Apart from that, this is a really great demo of how it works!!

@waynehall1 8 лет назад

+Bob Denny Agreed. The Link Trainer unit I've restored doesn't key nearly that fast & its speed is determined by an AC synchronous motor.

@davesteadman1226 7 лет назад

Where in the heck is there still a working FCRR for this demonstration? Or re they just simulating it with the A and N morse code?

@kaguyabutterfly1 7 лет назад

The staff built a working FCRR as a hobby and to preserve the history of the technology. That is why they show the plane flying around the FCRR on the ground.

@davidfrantz7173 7 лет назад

We use this radio range! one leg is towards Knoxville, tn the other leg is towards Memphis,tn we can track the legs out to 130 nm it works like a champ! It's dead on ..... you get 'on the beam' and it will take you right over our private airstrip. This range also sports a Z marker so we know when we are over the station if we are on top of the overcast

@ArtemisVandelay 11 лет назад

A nuclear detonation is space just to get satellites is overkill. It is clear that sending out debris can destructively interfere with satellites, like the effect of the Chinese anti-satellite testing in '07. So I mean to say: you don't need a nuclear device to ruin satellites, but I have yet to hear about any being systematically taken out anyway. It kind of ruins the whole satellite concept for a long time if you do that, so any country interested in keeping their satellites better not.

@n8ux1963 4 года назад

Copied cw on 474.7kc brought me here. ~ N8UX

@TheTomkovic 11 месяцев назад

Nice video. Silly costume though.

@w9co736 3 года назад

Came here from 630 beacon.

@w9co736 3 года назад

Is the 630m beacon essentially just a commercial advertisement for WWRB?

@TedDead1 Год назад

Sorry to say, Capt. Dildo croaked a few months back. My he Rest In Peace.

@TedDead1 3 года назад

I would never trust a pilot who trashes the 630 meter amateur radio band for no purpose other than to be annoying. It demonstrates very poor judgement, something one tries to avoid when selecting an instructor or pilot.

@TedDead1 3 года назад

What a clown, dressing up in a costume and pretending to be a pilot.