Word: radars
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Radar applied last week for its first practical job on regular commercial airplanes. The "airline radar" developed by Electronician Dave Evans of the Hughes Aircraft Co. aims to accomplish only one thing: "terrain avoidance" (keeping the plane from hitting a hill). Many an airplane passenger, fidgeting in the overcast and wondering where the nearest "terrain" is lurking, will feel that this new gadget is worth the 15 Ibs. of dead weight and $400 installed cost...
...Hughes radar, like all others, sends out brief bursts of high-frequency radio waves both ahead of the plane and below it. When these echo back from the ground (or from the sea or buildings), a receiving apparatus measures the time the waves take to make the round trip. If any return quickly enough to indicate that an obstacle is within 2,000 ft. from the airplane, a bell rings and a bright light flashes in the cockpit. The pilot can then pull into a climb in time to avoid any "terrain" hidden in the overcast (see diagram...
...radar might not work if the airplane were flying directly toward a vertical cliff well over 2.000 ft. high with no foothills. But according to Hughes the U.S. has no such cliffs that an airplane can smash into. The foothills or lower slopes of most mountains should give warning in ample time to avoid a crash...
...influence of World War II on TIME'S staff was plainly seen as one correspondent after another listed his wartime specialty (tanks, machine guns, field artillery, radar, naval aircraft, naval landing craft, aerial navigation, radio, military laws, etc.) and the places he could be counted on for a "local knowledge" of: Berlin (occupied), Normandy ("especially the beachhead"), Bizerte, Hollandia, Mindoro, Samar-Leyte Bay, Cassino...
...What a radar "sees" is not the thundercloud itself; raindrops or hailstones inside it reflect the radar's waves. The fierce air currents do not show up on the scope, but the presence of large masses of raindrops is a strong indication of turbulence. A plane equipped with the proper radar can steer a safe course, even at night, among a herd of thunderstorms. The Weather Bureau's radar can spot a storm as far away as 100 miles, and warn planes to steer clear...