Before getting into a presentation of tourist air traffic and the facilities to handle it, I think it most appropriate to acquaint you with the history of aviation in Humboldt County starting some 48 years ago.

Our aviation history starts back in 1919, immediately after World War I. Dayton Murray, Sr. was the first pilot in Humboldt County, operating off an airport in Eureka where the Cottage Garden Nursery is now located.

Murray Field, the former Eureka County Airport, was named after this pilot. Daytom Murray, Sr. is still enjoying good health and has the distinction of having an airport named after him while still alive.

Aviation progressed at a rapid rate, and in the late thirties, Murray Field was acquired by Humboldt County and a small runway was constructed with a kodiac type hanger. Aviation in Humboldt continued to advance until 1941 and the declaration of war.

In 1942, the United States Navy constructed the Arcata Airport - known then as Auxiliary Naval Air Station - Almada, at the cost of $6,000,000. This was used as a training center for Naval fliers. During the latter part of 1944 and 1945, the Navy conducted experimentation in fog dissipation, first starting in England, the Aleutians, and then Arcata. In 1946 after World War II, Transocean Airlines, as the prime contractor, was awarded a contract in landing aids experimentation and fog dissipation. From 1946 until 1950, this station became known as the Landing Aids Experiment Station. Many experiments were conducted during these years in various types of landing aids such as the slope line, strobe lighting, FIDO (fog intensity dispersal of) and many others. The FIDO was the most spectacular and quite successful.

In 1950, Congress discontinued appropriations for the Landing Aids Experiment Station, which was then turned over to Humboldt County for operation.

In 1950, when acquiring the airport, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, with much foresight, created the Department of Aviation, giving recognition of a function of local government that has become considered responsibility of State, County and Municiple authorities; said responsibilities having been necessitated to meet the requirements of a transportation factor that is of increasing importance to trade and commerce as a means of private conveyance.

The prime mission of the Department was to provide modern, safe, efficient, and economical aviation facilties that were in keeping with the advancing progress of the parent industry; to administer the seronautical resources of the county in such a manner as will provide for their maximum utilization in the interest of commercial and private aircraft operators; and to promote a constantly increasing volume of itinerant flights to and from county airports, as a step toward realizing widespread economic gains.

During this period, six airports were acquired by the County, namely Arcata Airport, Murray Field Airport, Rohnerville Airport, Garberville Airport, Shelter Cove Airport and Dinsmore Airport. Shelter Cove and Dinsmore Airports are under lease agreements, the others are owned outright by Humboldt County.
In 1957, the Humboldt County B of S, created the Department of Public Works, and the D. of Aviation became the Division of the Department of Public Works. This was a deciding factor in the aviation advancement of Humboldt County. The Division of Aviation now had access to the Public Works' talent and engineering guidance that has been so evident in our aviation development and construction over the past seven years.All construction plans have been formulated and administered in the Public Works family without the necessity of hiring cosultants.we have seen, over the past seven year, exstensive face lifting to our airport system. All airports were Master Planned and approved. Adherence to these Master Plans is in evidence as each year progresses.

Air transportation has become such an important and necessary part of the nations economy that no industrial community, regardless of size, can afford to be without adequate airport facilities.

Today, our nation's airports provide a base for some 40,000 business aircraft, owned and operated by corporations and businessmen to expedite sales and production, to decrease travel hours, and to reach of-line communities. Businessmen also use charter services available at airports to reach there plants and customers in smaller cities.A chartered plane may fly a staff of five or six men halfway across the United states and make a dozen stops in fewer hours that would be required to make airline connections and takeoff-line surface transportation.

At no time is an airport so incalculably valuable to a community as during emergancies which no one can foresee. During our Humbolt County disastrous floods of 1955-1956 and 1964-1965, this value was demonstrated time again. Missions of mercy happen so often today that they are rarely noted by the public; but to the individuals involved, they have meant life itself. The airport not only permits service to the community in times of emergancies, but also provides a means of bringing aid to the surrounding rural areas.

All successful air traffic movements start and end at the airport, and their safe and efficient flow depends upon the quality of each falility and the relationship of one to the other. Airport planning must advance simultaneously with development of aircraft, or the advantages of one segment of the industry will be offset by the disadvantages of the other.

FIDO

U.S. Navy publication, 1947

Fog Intensive Dispersal Of

Fido Can Be A Fog_Bound Pilot's Best Friend Flames Bite into Ceiling Zero at NAAS Arcata

Being the foggiest naval air station in the country sounds like a liability rather than an asset, but NAAS Arcata, California, capitalizing on its worst feature, has become the center of an important experimental program on fog dispersal.

This station on the coast about 300 miles north of San Francisco is located on a bluff which rises abruptly 200 feet from the ocean, a situation contributing to the high incidence of fog over the runways. Since other factors were satisfactory and the fog was availableÛthick, juicy, and reliableÛArcata was selected by the Navy in December, 1944, as the Landing Aids Experiment Station for continuing the fog dispersal work pioneered by the British and first used by the U. S. in the Aleutian area.

FIDO. "Fog Intensive, Dispersal of," proved its value in the British Isles during the war when the fog_bound fields were cleared to allow take_off and landing of bombing missions in spite of soupy weather. Hundreds of bombers which otherwise might have been lost in the fog were brought down safely through holes cleared by the heat from: gasoline burners outlining the runways. The cost of the gasoline burned was heavyÛ$4000 to $5000 to land one planeÛbut well spent. In fact, FIDO became so valuable in landing bombers returning from missions over Germany that 15 bomber command airfields were equipped with fog dispersal systems.

The U. S. Navy's interest in this system was centered chiefly in the possibility of its use in the Aleutians where bad fogs prevail in conjunction with moderate to high wind conditions. Following a survey of the Army and Navy fields in the area, it was decided to make the first installation on the Army Air Base at Amchitka. Work started on the project in April, 1944, with Seabee personnel installing the equipment, a tough job because of the nature of the terrain. Enormous amounts of tundra had to be moved to providea firm and level foundation for burners. Special supports driven through the tundra to rock strata were necessary to carry the burners over small ponds and uneven ground. The burners, based primarily on British design, were constructed right at the sight, 100 of them being produced in a five-day period.

The first aircraft landing to test Amchitka FIDO installation under zero-zero condition was made on July 25 1994. The burners were lighted just before dawn, and within about 10 minutes the area over the runway and down wind of the burners had been completely cleared of fog, making the sky visible. A PBY-5A took off in a 15-mile crosswind the limits of the burner line. The plane then made a normal instrument let down and broke out in the clear at about 150 feet altitude at the down wind end of the runway. This was followed ny two successful takeoffs and landings by an army C-47. Both pilots agreed that the landings could not have benn made without the use of the dispersal equipment.

In August, 1944, the Amchitka equipment was used tactically for the first time when, in spite of heavy fog, six aircraft were launched with the aid of FIDO to form an anti-submarine screen for president Roosevelt who was in the Adak area.

Although the costs of operating the fog dispersal equipment as used in the British and Amchitka installations are insignificant when evaluated against the crews and aircraft which might be lost in zero-zero conditions without it, nevertheless much remained to be done in refining the equipment and developing better burner efficiency to cut fuel expense. The importance of the program warranted further experimental work both on different types of burners and on fog dispersal methods other than thermal. The Landing Aids Experiment Staion at NAAS, ARCATA resulted from this need. The experimental program is a project of the Landing Aids Section, Maintenance Division, BUAER, under direction of Cmdr. J.P Lunger and Lt. Cmdr. R.L. Champion.

When the Arcata set-up was approved the war was still in progress, and the immediate aim was to develop the best possible fog lifting equipment for installation on the islands north of Japan to aid in aircraft operations from that area. With the pressure removed, experimental work has continued. It is significant that the program has been watched and participated in by the Army Air Force, Royal Air Force, British Petroleum Warfare Department, Royal Canadian Air Force, the National Development and Research Committee, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration. Leading iniversities have contributed through research projects.

Many Types of Landing Aids Tested in Project Civil and Military Research Findings Pooled

FOG CLEARANCE of airfields at a cost low enough to be practicable is obviously of very great importance to both military and commercial flying This goal of economical operation is being achieved. Directors of the experimental work estimate that with the progress made so far planes could be landed on fog_shrouded fields at a cost of $100 to $200, figuring 10 minutes per plane. And with planes coming in rapidly at a busy airport the costs could be reduced further.

Doing a thorough job of developing .and testing low visibility landing aids lies called for a variety of installations and research at the experimental station. Besides the thermal systems which form the backbone of the work, the field is equipped also to test other landing aids: sonic, wind curtain, water screen, high intensity lighting, and radio aids.

Since the British had developed the majority of the fog dispersal systems based on the heat method, it was decided to install the most effective of these at Arcata to be used as a yardstick for evaluating new equipment under development by various agencies.

Thermal installations include the "slot" burner, one of the latest designs used operationally by the British and also installed at Heathrow, a commercial field near London. A Hades_Rapex installation, providing the highest thermal output of any burner system, is also in operation, as is a modified Haigill system using Navy, Army Air Force, and British experimental designs.

The "slot" (USN Mk_5) burner consists of two one_inch pipes, one immediately above the other a few inches apart. Gasoline feeds through the top and at the end of the line makes a U_turn back into the bottom pipe. The lower pipe is drilled with regularly spaced holes through which gasoline feeds out and burns. This heats the gasoline above until it becomes a vapor and creates pressure. In a few minutes enough pressure is produced to shoot flames about the height of a man. Fuel consumption for 10 minutes operation is 2500 gallons of 60 degree octane gasoline at a cost of 6.7c per gallon.

The Hades_Rapex (USN Mk_3) burner has 16 vaporizing tubes feeding into a collecting pot. From the collecting pot the gasoline vapor under intense pressure is fed into a single eight inch burner pipe which, when ignited, throws off an extremely high temperature.

The most promising improvements being worked out to cut costs and increase efficiency are along the lines of atomizing fuel by high pressure rather than by heat. This method involves no smoke and no waste and can be operated with gasoline, kerosene, or diesel oil. Various types of burners developed for the cheaper fuels by the National Development and Research Committee, the British Petroleum Warfare Department, and other agencies are being tested.

Automatic control of the Arcata installations has been arranged so that an operator in the control tower can press a few buttons and electrically ignite more than 2000 feet of burners lining the runways with banks of flame. At the same time experts are at their positions on the field gathering data on the experiments. The type of fog, size of its particles, dew point, temperature, temperature of the ocean water, wind velocity, and barometric pressure are all recorded. From the control tower an amplifier allows the officers in charge to speak to any of the men on the field. Walkie_talkies also are used.

Among the non_thermal systems being tried out, the sonic method has created a good deal of interest. It is based on the principle of changing fog to rain by high_frequency sound wave bombardment. Sound waves bounce the fog particles around, causing them to meet and merge, thus forming units large enough for precipitation as rain drops. The equipment consists of 12 powerful air raid_type sirens with 94_foot wooden horns to direct the sound. Local scuttlebutt has it that farmers in the neighborhood are worried about the effect of the sound bombardment on temperamental flocks of turkeys, but so far the Navy has received no complaints of feathered casualties. Sound wave fog dispersal, if it can be effected with more easily portable apparatus, has possibilities for aiding carrier aircraft. Investigations underway may lead to developments which will allow carriers operating in fog_bound waters to improve their own weather conditions.

The wind current method is still another phase of the work that shows promise. With a crosswind blowing on the runway a huge blower throws a curtain of hot air at right angles to the wind. This causes the wind to move in a vertical circle, consequently dispersing the fog.

With the advances made in automatic controls for piloting aircraft, it might be supposed that full instrument landings could eliminate the need for fog dispersal projects. Low approach equipment and navigation aids will bring a blind plane safely down within 50 to 100 feet. but from then on the pilot wants to know what he's doing. Even if full automatic instrument landings become possible in the future, the psychological and actual benefits of having the pilot able to see that everything is cleared for the ground contact still will make a certain amount of fog clearance necessary.

Since using radio glide and localizer beams to direct the automatic pilot will line the plane up with the runway, fog clearance need not be so extensive as most of the test burns have provided; a ceiling of 200 to 300 feet could do the job. The Arcata landing aids include "sliding" beam apparatus used to supplement the work of the weather fixers, not as a substitute for it.

A typical FIDO test flight report shows the results being obtained at the experiment station. When the burners were ignited, the field had zero visibility and zero ceiling. Five minutes after ignition there was a ceiling of 1000 feet near the center of the runway with visibility quite good the full length of the installation. The plane, a PBY4_1, took off from a cleared runway, but as soon as the last burner was passed it entered it a zero_zero bank of heavy fog.. The fog was topped at 2700 feet over the ocean and gradually raised to 3500 feet over the land. FIDO burned a hole through that! Landing was accomplished with use of the radio range station and SCS-51 approach gear, the runway becoming clearly visible at one_half mile and l00 feet. However, the ground could be seen from 150 feet and approximately one mile from the runway. This clearing was due entirely to the FIDO operation, as the surrounding area was still zero_zero visibility and ceiling.

Pilots making the test runs expressed satisfaction with the FIDO operation, reporting that no undue turbulence or floating was noted and that the use of flame is not a mental hazard after a flyer has once seen it working. On some of the test burns the hole cleared was large enough for aircraft to circle the field and land entirely contact. If modern approach gear is used, just a few minutes of heat will give enough ceiling

Man's control over nature in these experiments, of course, is only a temporary victory achieved for the time needed and then lost again. Lest he become too cocky over his success, the elements immediately revert to their former arrangement, as witness these conditions reported in a test burn. At 0945 visibility was 1,/16 mile, ceiling 50 feet, temperature 53 degrees F, humidity 100 percent. The burners were started, and at 1015 the sky became visible through thin strata, with a variable ceiling of 800 feet. Visibility was good the entire length of the installation. An hour after the burn started the maximum surface temperaure of 66 degrees F was reached, and humidity had dropped to 66 percent. Large portions of the sky showed through the fog 1700 feet deep. Then the burners were turned off. About fifteen minutes later the ceiling had lowered to 100 feet, the visibility had lowered from the full length of the installation to 1/8 mile, and the humidity had increased to 94 percent.

When the Navy made public its program at ARCATA NAAS, the interest evidenced by newspaper and magazine representatives reflected the importance of the experiments to an air_conscious world. Commercial airlines, realizing that zero_zero conditions at only one or two key stations tie up schedules over the entire system, are watching their developments intently. Just as the progress made so far has been the result of combined efforts of the Army, Navy, British, and civilian research activities, so the benefits derived from the Landing Aids Experiment Station will be widely shared.