THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Noma, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
$1.50 PER MONTH S16.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.’.Editors
Entered as second class matter Octooer 14, 1943, at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Friday, July 12, 1946
GCA
A RRIVAL AND departure of commercial aircraft
may soon be scheduled to and from airports with
out regard to the weather, by means of an Army-Navy
radar equipment that has been used since early in 1945
to land aircraft during weather conditions of near
zero ceiling and visibility. This radar system, which
makes closed-in airports a thing of the past, is known
as “ground controlled approach” (GCA). The system
can provide around-the-clock airport traffic control
regardless of weather conditions.
In the GCA system, manufactured by Gilfillan
Brothers, Inc., two microwave radar systems on the
ground reveal the exact position of an incoming air
craft with respect to the landing glide path and per- j
mit the ground operator to radio precise flight in-1
structions to a pilot coming in through zero-zero weath-,
er, One radar “search” system operates to aid in or
control the homing, holding, stacking, and traffic pat-!
tern operations of aircraft. The second system controls
the aircraft during its actual let-down along a predeter- j
mined glide path. No special equipment is required in
i
the aircraft other than ordinary air-ground radio com- j
munications equipment.
The search radar system provides the GCA ground
operators with information on the azimuth bearing
and range of the plane from the airfield at distances
up to 30 miles and at altitudes up to 4000 feet. The an
tenna is continuously rotated so that its transmitted
and reflected pulses examine the space around the
GCA location. The echo pulses received by the anten
na are fed through electronic amplifiers that conduct
them to a cathode-ray tube in the equipment. This is a
high-persistence cathode-ray tube that displays the
transmitted pulse at its center, and has an illuminated
line from the center of the tube to its outer edge to
display the azimuth of search.
With the search system, aircraft can be held at a
given point and stacked in altitude prior to landing.
It serves to line up the aircraft in azimuth with the
second radar system. The latter is a precision system
that provides operators with accurate information on
azimuth headings, altitude, range up to 10 miles. For
more precise close-in work, a two-mile indication is
also provided.
Instantaneous recordings are made on the screen
of the cathode-ray tube, showing azimuth error in de
grees and elevation deviation in feet with respect to
the correct approach line and angle. This information
is then relayed to the pilot who makes the proper cor
rections in heading and rate of descent.
The combination of the search and precision radar
systems, the air-ground radio telephone, and the inter
communications system between operators, enables
the GCA controller to give positive, accurate data on
an aircraft’s range and bearing from the airport. The
pilot is given altitude, range, and bearing information
in the last 10 miles of the approach which enables him
to bring the plane to within a few feet of the ground.
As used by the Army, GCA makes, regular flight
schedules possible around the clock when airfields
are completely closed in by fog.
(The Scientific American)
«
WILL YOU GIVE THAT THEY MAY LIVE?
(Contributed to the Eme gtncy Food Collection oy John Chase—
The New Orleans Item).
STARVATION OVERSEAS CAN
BREED ANOTHER WORLD WAR
By Faith Baldwin
THE EMERGENCY Food Collection on behalf of
UNRRA gives each of us the privilege of contrib
uting money, food in tin cans, or both, to .the people
of starving and war-mangled countries.
It is a privilege, and from a common-sense view
point it is imperative. Those who somehow survive
a long period of starvation become warped, not only in
body.
The old will die, mercifully for them; but the
young will struggle to live, filling their bloated stom
achs with grass, roots, garbage, anything . . .
In order to live they will lie, steal, or murder,
for self-preservation is a primal law.
It is to the young that we look for world peace,
unity, and orderly government; but people who have
always been hungry are not interested in ideals. Even
tually they will be interested in another war.
If we feed those who now starve we may well be
protecting our own children and grandchildren from
the burning bomb, the shattering guns, the slow or
sudden death.
Look at it another way: if you have never seen
a starving child, imagine one. Then look at the child
you love. Will the contrast help you sleep nights?
Centuries ago it was ordered by a compassion
that knew neither race, creed, or color, “Feed my
lambs.” Can we afford to ignore this plea, knowing we
are all children of God?
Give in His name—in the name of all humanity!
PUBLIC GOOD
Freedom of the press
has been talked about more
in the past few months
than in the previous few
years. Comment began
when the Supreme Court
ruled in favor of an editor
who had been hailed into
court bv a notable who felt
(perhaps iustif iablv) in
jured bv something the ed
itor had published. Not
evervbodv thought the case
would turn out as it did. 1
Many were surprised.
I would not wish to re
view the case here, even if
there were room for it, but
I am glad the Supreme
Court surprised a lot of
good people and set them
studying and talking about
this purely American lib- •
ertv. freedom of the press.
Let me sav this: You don’t
publish stories in the old
country that hurt the feel
ings of potentates and get
away with it!
America is Different
In this country, it is as
sumed that a man is not fit
for public office unless he
! can take all the razzing and
criticism that goes with it *
and still hold his temper
and do a good iob. Think
how long a crooked offi
cial might stay in office if
he could protect himself
from criticism all the time,
and vet encourage newspa
pers to magnify the faults^
of other men who ran for
his office.
Editors better not get
careless and publish un
complimentary statements
about their neighbors, or
about things their neigh
bors have to sell: courts
make them pav for the
damage, if any. Editor#
dare not get mean and
print malicious lies about
people because courts send
writers to iail for that.
Publishers can’t do what
ever they please. That’s
apart from freedom of the
press. *
For the Public Good
It is recognized bv law
in the United States that
the people are entitled to
know what goes on.
Public information is for
the public good. In line
with this verv principle,
the Post Office Depart
ment will move 60 times
more news tonnage for the f
monev than letters which
are private, not public.
Our government considers
spreading news an impor
tant public service.
If a publisher makes
known things that are true
and in the people's interest
it is for the public good
and he has the protection
of law. When the keen
lash of publicity strikes the
corrupt deeds of public
payrollers, let the hit dog
yelp. The press is a voca
tion of “checks and balan
ces.” Publishers have pow
er they don't have to use,
but if they use it they must
use it for the public good.