Flying The Beam

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
Its probably too much to ask for an online AN range sim, anyone at least seen a place where we can hear what those pilots heard, when they were intercepting and tracking a radio range?

I understand they had two sounds, which when superimposed (on the beam), would become a steady tone.
ie wasn't it something like . . . . plus _ _ _ _ equals _______
and the other quality they used was volume increasing or decreasing (closer or more distant from the source)
and of course, station passage - cone of silence.



I disguise my silly fettish of all things old by saying I am a 'history affictionado'. ;)
 
Well, yeah, but I want to fly an A-N range too.
 
You mean something like A ._ and N _. being superposed?

Let'sgoflying! said:
Its probably too much to ask for an online AN range sim, anyone at least seen a place where we can hear what those pilots heard, when they were intercepting and tracking a radio range?

I understand they had two sounds, which when superimposed (on the beam), would become a steady tone.
ie wasn't it something like . . . . plus _ _ _ _ equals _______
and the other quality they used was volume increasing or decreasing (closer or more distant from the source)
and of course, station passage - cone of silence.



I disguise my silly fettish of all things old by saying I am a 'history affictionado'. ;)
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, Dit Dahhh Dit Dahhh overlaying a Dahhh Dit Dahhh Dit to create a steady tone. Don't recall which side was Dit and which side was Dahhh
 
I'm curious, too.

I'm mostly curious to see how it would be to fly an approach this way...how intuitive it was. Seems like it worked well enough, when the reception was reliable. Probably a little annoying after a while, but that may not be a bad thing (hard to miss changes).

As far as simulating this goes:
There is an add-on to be used with the excellent (payware) MAAM-Sim models for Flight Simulator 2004, that allows you to fly 4-course ranges.
I haven't tried it yet, but thanks for reminding me... :D

You can get the planes here (if you enjoy flight-simming these models are well worth every penny; the DC-3 package is awesome!):

http://www.maam.org/maam_sim.html

The file that enables the LF radio in the MAAM-Sim is here:

http://www.simviation.com/members/fscommercial28.htm

The file that installs the ranges in your FS2004 world can be found here:

http://www.simviation.com/simviation/static.php?ID=201&page=8






If that is too much bother, you can just listen to the sounds here... scroll down to the WAV links ("Sounds"):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Frequency_radio_range
 
Dang it says when you cross the station, the a's and n's switch sides!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Its probably too much to ask for an online AN range sim, anyone at least seen a place where we can hear what those pilots heard, when they were intercepting and tracking a radio range?

I understand they had two sounds, which when superimposed (on the beam), would become a steady tone.
ie wasn't it something like . . . . plus _ _ _ _ equals _______
and the other quality they used was volume increasing or decreasing (closer or more distant from the source)
and of course, station passage - cone of silence.
Click to expand...

The sounds were the Morse code letters A and N, that's why it was called an AN range. A is dot-dash, and N is dash-dot, when both were heard at equal strength you heard a steady tone indicating airway centerline.
 
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Hi Dave,

My husband Kevin used to fly w/ the AN range. Next time we all get together for a safety meeting ask him about his hangar story of staying awake across the Southwest on the AN and the beacon (lighted beacons that you followed). BTW, the steady state tone is called the Null. That was back in the 50s he just told me.
 
Re: Flying The Beam --- PS

Kevin just told me he was flying a Tri Pacer from Pennsylvania to Albuquerque and it was about 2am. He'd been flying for about 15hrs and was 19 yrs old.....

Hard for me to imagine going across the country in a tri-pacer. It's hard enough in a C-152.
 
AdamZ said:
My Uncle flew that in a C46 from Indy to Burma in WWII
Click to expand...

My dad flew that route ("the Hump") several times in a B29 but AFaIK there was no electronic guidance except at the ends of the trip. Quite a few aircraft were lost to severe weather and mis-navigation, enough that such trips were considered to be in the same category as a bombing mission. His plane was decorated with pictures of camels representing each such mission alongside the pictures of bombs for the bombing missions.
 
Re: Flying The Beam --- PS

Jeanie said:
Kevin just told me he was flying a Tri Pacer from Pennsylvania to Albuquerque and it was about 2am. He'd been flying for about 15hrs and was 19 yrs old.....

Hard for me to imagine going across the country in a tri-pacer. It's hard enough in a C-152.
Click to expand...

A Tri-Pacer has about the same capability as a C172. Given the choice between a C152 and a Tri-Pacer for x-country, I'd take the Tri-Pacer. Is there something about the C152 you like better? Maybe the metal construction?
 
Re: Flying The Beam --- PS

Jeanie said:
Kevin just told me he was flying a Tri Pacer from Pennsylvania to Albuquerque and it was about 2am. He'd been flying for about 15hrs and was 19 yrs old.....

Hard for me to imagine going across the country in a tri-pacer. It's hard enough in a C-152.
Click to expand...
At 19, it woulda' been a piece of cake!:D
 
This new fangled system looks too complicated

Dept_of_Commerce_Aeronautical_Radio_Range_Beacons_PlateXI.jpg


I think I'll stay with the well established lighted routes. It was good enough for grandpa.

31_dec_1927_sm.jpg
 
Re: Flying The Beam --- PS

jnmeade said:
A Tri-Pacer has about the same capability as a C172. Given the choice between a C152 and a Tri-Pacer for x-country, I'd take the Tri-Pacer. Is there something about the C152 you like better? Maybe the metal construction?
Click to expand...

Well, actually, Kevin told me that the tri-pacer he flew cruised at 85mph which is slower than my 152. Maybe it had a different engine than the ones "nowadays" that are similar to a C172. Anyway, it's all still slow.. but you get to see more that way and wave to the 18 wheelers when they are passing you as you slog against a headwind :rolleyes:
 
I've flown an A-N range. ONCE. In training. Very intuitive and works very nicely!
 
My Dad put a LF receiver in his Cessna 140 in 1948 so he could fly the range. This was just about the end of it, as VHF/Omni was expanding rapidly. The 1950 170 came with a LF nav/com set, but Dad quickly replaced that with a Narco Omnigator. What an improvement!
 
bsdunek said:
My Dad put a LF receiver in his Cessna 140 in 1948 so he could fly the range. This was just about the end of it, as VHF/Omni was expanding rapidly. The 1950 170 came with a LF nav/com set, but Dad quickly replaced that with a Narco Omnigator. What an improvement!
Click to expand...

I think your date's off a bit. The first Victor airway was established in November 1950, the last AN range was commissioned earlier that year. Colored airways remained in operation through most of the fifties as the Victor airway system was built up.
 
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gismo said:
My dad flew that route ("the Hump") several times in a B29 but AFaIK there was no electronic guidance except at the ends of the trip. Quite a few aircraft were lost to severe weather and mis-navigation, enough that such trips were considered to be in the same category as a bombing mission. His plane was decorated with pictures of camels representing each such mission alongside the pictures of bombs for the bombing missions.
Click to expand...

Lance my uncle flew the range from Indianopolis to Palm Beach Florida then to Puerto Rico then to Brazil then from there to the Azores then to West Africa and then onto Egypt, then to Iran then to India and Burma where he flew the hump. I think the A-N range was only for the trip to West Africa or Egypt certainly not over the hump. Also FYI Bruce's father helped build the airstrip at Kungming China the Eastern Terminus of the HUMP flights.
 
AN ranges were still in use when Learned to fly in the early 50s. VOR was the new fangled sissy way of navigation. Right in the middle of the range the A and N overlapped and there was a steady tone. You could fly to one side or the other by letting either the A or the N get louder than the steady tone.

Cheers:

Paul
N1431A
2AZ1
www.indianhillsairpark.com
 
Ghery said:
Almost looks like a map of the interstate highways in the west. :D
Click to expand...

Yup. I-80, I-40, and I-10 across the rockies, but I also see I-84, I-5, I-44, plus pieces of I-30, I-20, US50/I-35, I-57, I-85, I-95, I-70, and I-90 represented. In fact, the entirety of I-80 is represented, the northernmost one that goes approximately SFO-ORD-NYC shows cities that are all on I-80 now.

No surprise, really - Where the people are, the people and stuff must go. :yes:
 
pmanton said:
AN ranges were still in use when Learned to fly in the early 50s. VOR was the new fangled sissy way of navigation. Right in the middle of the range the A and N overlapped and there was a steady tone. You could fly to one side or the other by letting either the A or the N get louder than the steady tone.
Click to expand...
ahh...the good ol' days...(drifts off)...and ya didn't hafta 'scan' so much, with your eyes. You only had to watch heading and altitude, and gradually ease your heading one way or another depending on the sound...and you didn't have ATC in your head all the time. Hardly never. Except when 'on approach'...ahhh.. (drifts off again)..:sleep:
 
AdamZ said:
Lance my uncle flew the range from Indianopolis to Palm Beach Florida then to Puerto Rico then to Brazil then from there to the Azores then to West Africa and then onto Egypt, then to Iran then to India and Burma where he flew the hump. I think the A-N range was only for the trip to West Africa or Egypt certainly not over the hump. Also FYI Bruce's father helped build the airstrip at Kungming China the Eastern Terminus of the HUMP flights.
Click to expand...

That sounds a lot like the route my dad took to India.
 
nosehair said:
ease your heading one way or another depending on the sound...and you didn't have ATC in your head all the time.
Click to expand...

I was wondering how hard it was to hear the faint morse beeps through those old radios, without even decent passive headsets over the roar of the motors!
 
Man, listening to that solid tone constantly would give me a headache. Or did pilots turn it down and just check it every few minutes to see how they were doing?
 
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