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Eight The AIR LINE PILOT May, 1947 THE AAF's All-Weather Airway [image] -Wide World Photo All-weather, all-automatic flying has been the aim of Army experimentation for many years and as part of their program both the Army and Navy have been operating several so-called all-weather airways. Shown above is the instrument panel of a C-54 which operates regularly along the "all-weather airway" of the Army Air Forces from Wilmington, Ohio, to Washington, D. C. The instrument panel is a duplicate of the one in the cockpit. Pictured from left to right in the cabin during flight at Col. Aloene E. Key, Major Jerry H. Ayres, Associated Press reporter, Ed Gooding, James L. Anast, civilian co-project officer of the automated flight range, and last but not lease and not at all perturbed is "Butch," a cocker spaniel and flying mascot. The Army claims completely automated flight from take-off to landing. ANOXIA (Continued from Page 1, Col. 5) however, I will discuss the type of oxygen want caused by aircraft flight. The direct cause of anoxia is the decreased partial pressure of oxygen which is encountered as we ascend to higher altitudes. Atmospheric air contains 79% nitrogen, 20.96% oxygen, and 0.04% carbon dioxide. This percentage composition of the atmospheric air remains the same at all known altitudes (up to 72,000 feet). As the altitude is increased the mass of air loses weight with a resultant decrease in pressure of all the component gases. Oxygen want is caused by this decreased pressure of oxygen, and is not due to a lesser amount of oxygen. Respiration is the interchange of gases between the body tissues and the atmospheric air. Oxygen is consumed and carbon dioxide is thrown off. Air is drawn by inspiration into the alveoli (air sacs) of the lungs where the oxygen unites with the hemoglobin of the red blood corpuscles and is then carried by the blood stream to all parts of the body. The utilized or burned oxygen in the form of carbon dioxide is thrown off by the blood in the alveoli and then exhaled: The inspired oxygen unites or diffuses into the hemoglobin because the pressure is less in the blood than it is in the inspired air. Since gases diffuse from a region of higher pressure to a region of lower pressure, this exchange of gases is brought about as the gases attempt to reach a pressure equilibrium. The oxygen passes to the blood because the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood is less than in the alveolar air, and the carbon dioxide passes from blood to the air since the partial pressure of carbon dioxide is less in the inspired air than it is in the blood. Can Be Fatal At the higher altitudes the total atmospheric pressure is reduced, and the partial pressure exerted by oxygen is proportionately reduced. As this partial pressure of oxygen is reduced, lesser amounts unite with the hemoglobin. If ascent is made to an altitude where the partial pressure of oxygen in the inspired air is lower than it is in the blood, the oxygen will no longer pass to the hemoglobin and the resultant degree of anoxia will cause asphyxia and death. Anoxia is usually insidious in its onset. There may be no mental or physical discomfort to act as a warning signal. Most commonly there is a state of euphoria or abnormal sense of well-being which may be followed by psychological impairment which quickly passes on to unconsciousness. The intellectual impairment may occur so early that the pilot may not be able to recognize it or show a protective reaction. The insidiousness of anoxia is unfortunate since when the individual is in the state of euphoria, the anoxia is so far advanced as to render him helpless to forestall it by recognizable mental or physical symptoms. (The subject of Anoxia will be continued in the next issue.) [[image]] Here are the TWA pilot conferees, ALPA headquarters representative, and TWA company officials shown as the TWA amendment to agreement was signed in Kansas City on May 6. Standing (l. to r.) are the pilot conferees, TWA Pilots' Master Chairman R.G. Strait, of Local Council 25, TWA-Chicago; and F. S. Blaney, K. M. Ruppenthal, and Busch Bogies, all of Local Council No. 3, TWA-Kansas City. Seated (l. to r.0 are F. E. Busch, TWA director of flight; M. M. Gouger, assistant director of personnel, shown signing for the company; J. C. Christie, of ALPA's Employment Agreement Department; and P. S. Fredreckson, TWA's superintendent of flight. With the return of normal pilot-company relations on TWA, the newest TWA agreement was signed quickly with a minimum of negations. ACCIDENT KILLS CHARTER MEMBER William A. Straith, a charter member of the Air Line Pilots Association and an honorary member of the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association, was killed in a fatal accident at Raton, New Mexico, on April 3. Formerly a pilot for Northwest Airlines, at the time of his death he was employed by the Aero Insurance Underwriters as chief of the multi-engine engineering department of that company. Details of the accident were not known. 'Don't Be Bitter' (Continued from Page 2, Col. 3) definite period, etc. etc." Latest additions are A. G. Ayers, J. F. Bachmeier, Joe Cresto, E. E. Fisher, C. N. Haus, F. A. Hall, J. J. See, R. L. Kirk, and H. F. Knick. Most of them have already served their apprenticeship in the ALPA and so will be welcome additions to the council. We sincerely hope they receive no more of the aforementioned letters, as a furlough is a very discouraging proposition in these civilian times of ours. The new run bids brought on a fairly new condition for our little outfit. This was in the form of a run that keeps the pilots away from the family for a period of some two and one-half days. We have been able to avoid this since the days of Army cargo, ut it looks like those times are gone forever. Naturally your scribe was one of the lucky fellows to fall in on this soft deal which involves a lay-over in Tulsa the first night and Minneapolis the next night. Leo Cullen, Jack Huston, Cecil Archer, Walt Pate, and Thurman Lucas were the other high bidders on this gravy train. Could Be the Cool Air This bid also found Bill Pickering coming back to KC after a short stay at the Minneapolis base. Could be he lost his taste for that "cool" air up there. The recent marriage column shows that Ben Land and Mary Ann Malloy took the fateful step. Mary Ann was an MCA hostess until she found this better job. Dale Duncan is also slated to walk down the aisle and start a life of blisss. Incidentally Dale's number has come up in the check-out list of first officers but the youngster is only 21 and must wait until he is more mature. In closing we must mention the article we just read about the CAA laying out $25,000 for a study of aptitude tests for air line pilots. The writer of the article said that the companies will no doubt see the obvious benefits of a plan like this and that the agency expects some objections from the pilots until they see the light. The writer is, no doubt, 100 per cent right on both counts. And, dear reader, don't be bitter whining of the number of approach lights that could have been purchased and installed with that $25,000. We will get them eventually-maybe. OUR OCEANIC 'STEPPING STONES' [[image map]] Speedy and complete reopening of the Western Pacific Airways, long overdue and far behind schedule, compared to transatlantic routes, is contingent upon the rehabilitation of these Pacific military bases which are essential as "stepping stones" for a commercial air line network. Shown above are transpacific routes involved in complex negotiations among the War, Navy and Commerce departments, and the Civil Aeronatics Board, American, British, Canadian, Duch and Australian air lines are all eager to send their air lines across the Pacific. ALSSA Negotiates (Continued from Page 7, Col. 3) The Council Coordination and Administration Department is presently working on a leaflet giving full information on how to obtain the new official ALPA jewelry along with pictures of the new rings and pins approved by the Ninth Convention. Additional activities of this Department for the month included preparation for the Executive Board meeting, checking of Convention resolutions, and preparing the Constitution and ByLaws for necessary revision. ALSSA Active Three contract negotiations and one election by the Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association (ALSSA) high-lighted the month's activities of ALPA's Education and Organization Department. Elections were held on Northeast Airlines on May 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 and on American Airlines May 12, 13 and 14. Initial contract negations with Colonial Airlines, whose stewardesses had previously designated ALSSA as their collective bargaining representative, were held in New York on May 5 while a resumption of negotiations was made with TWA at Kansas City on May 12 and with Eastern Air Lines in New York on May 20. ALSSA has also requested conferences with National Airlines to negotiate an employment agreement for its stewardesses, but conference dates have not yet been set. ILS USE APPROVED AT THREE AIRPORTS American Overseas Airlines has received official approval from the Civil Aeronautics Administration to use the ILS (Instrument Landing System) recently installed at LaGuardia Field, it announced May 15. Permission was also granted to AOA to use ILS at the London Airport and at the Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. Another Advance-Periscope Sextant Recently developed for the Army Air Forces' high flying planes, the periscope navigation sextant pictured above is believed to virtually [[image]] end the hazards of blowouts such as occurred recently on a TWA Constellation when the plastic blister exploded and the navigator on the flight was blown into the Atlantic Ocean during a windstorm while the plane was flying at an altitude of 19,000 feet. AAF officials state it will also eliminate the drag of protruding blisters now used in sighting the stars on aircraft. The drag becomes increasingly important as speed goes up. The new periscope sextant is a tube 1½ inches in diameter and will fit into a heavy optical glass blade 18 inches in diameter. The picture above shows a demonstration in which the navigator exposes the periscope beyond the skin of the aircraft.