A brief historical account is given of the development of c.w. homing beacons for use by the Fleet Air Arm. The equipment at present in use on aircraft carriers and at naval air stations is described. The method used to compensate for changes in direction of the ship's head so that the beacon always transmits the correct homing information is detailed. The factors affecting the choice of a particular type of homing aid are discussed. An account is given of experiments with a Lorenz type of beacon for blind approach to aircraft carriers. The present equipment is described. The paper concludes by emphasizing that the requirements for fully automatic homing, approach and landing set a problem for the future that may require separate solutions for shipborne and land-based aircraft.
展开▼
