The newest thing in air defence is an automatically controlled, pilot-monitored, intercepter fighter, exemplified by the Lockheed F-94C Starfire, which is the subject of a brief description in this issue. By means of its special electronic equipment this machine locates its quarry, "locks on" to it, tracks it, closes in, and aims and discharges its battery of rocket projectiles - "all by itself", as Lockheed's Hall Hibbard remarks. This leaves the pilot and/or radar operator with the responsibility of taking off, manoeuvring into the general target area, switching on the appropriate electronics at the appropriate time, monitoring the piloting and rocket-firing gear during the attack, and returning to base with the aid of an automatic pilot, Zero Reader and I.L.S.
British Bomb Site
Largest island of the Monte Bello group off W. Australia - chosen as the scene of the first British atomic explosion - is Hermite island. Here the R.A.A.F is reported to have built an airstrip to facilitate the movement of V.I.P.s and high-priority equipment. It will be interesting to see what types of aircraft will be used for experimental flying in this undertaking.
Mlle. Maryse Basti‚
One of the most distinguished of air-women, Maryse Basti‚, was killed last Sunday in the crash of a Nord 2501. The aircraft had just made a single-engined take-off as final item in a display at Lyons. The only woman Commander of the Legion of Honour, Mlle. Basti‚ had been a pilot 24 years; she held many pre-war world records, her most famous flight probably being a solo crossing of the South Atlantic in 1936.
Source: Flight International
