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be accompanied by detailed itineraries showing the exact distances to be covered. FAI rules provide for "permanent courses" which may be used for attempts on international records, provided they have been formally recognized by the FAI. Two of these permanent courses, located in the Edwards AFB vicinity include the 500-km. closed course used for the F4H Phantom II record set by LCol. T.H. Miller on Labor Day 1960, and the 100 km. closed course used for the F4H world record set by Cdr. John F.Davis 20 days later. Instruments used for measuring a record (time, distance or altitude) [[image]] [[/image]] OFFICIAL observer takes visual sighting on contest aircraft during desert record trial. [[image]][[/image]] READINGS are fed into radar control station where data is recorded, flight path plotted. must be of a type approved by a scientific body recognized by the governing body. They must be calibrated both before and after the record runs. Recording instruments through the years have become increasingly complex. Hand-held stop watches and [[image]][[/image]] BAROGRAPH is started and sealed in the nose of F4H by observers prior to the record try. [[image]][[/image]] REQUIRED load for altitude record try is weighed before, after flight; must be same. piano wire sights have been supplemented with Bohlen and Askania cameras, oscillographs, precision radar, electronics timers, and electronic computers. Where once officials worked half the night after a record run working out all the computations, today they work half the night verifying the accuracy and calibration of the space-age instrumentation used to observe the flight. Actual running of a record event has many ritualistic aspects. The competitor must present his permit to the NAA official. Barographs and other instruments are installed in the aircraft and started. Fuel tanks must be sealed for speed record attempts, such as the 100-km. closed course and for certain distance record tries to show that the aircraft did not land and refuel during the record attempt. On completion of a record flight, the officials inspect the seals and remove the instruments from the aircraft. Each step of the procedure is the subject of documents which become part of the record file submitted to FAI in support of the claim. This file or "record dossier" includes such documents as Coast and Geodetic Survey calculations; certificates of stewards that the fuel tanks were sealed at the start and finish; detailed reports drawn up or certified by the Bureau of Standards or other approved scientific body, on the method and instruments used for timing, complete with an indication of the degree of accuracy, etc. Certification as an official record is an elaborate step-by-step process beginning with a telegram giving par- [[image]][[/image]] DATA ENGINEER reduces instrumented data after pre-Bendix tune-up flight by F4H-1. [[image]][[/image]] POST RECORD attempt session involves observers in laborious, complex calculations. ticulars forwarded to FAI Paris Headquarters within 48 hours after the record attempt. If a try for a better mark is desired, the first attempt may be regarded as provisional for one week. Next step is certification of the record as a national one. Within eight 18 NAVAL AVIATION NEWS
