Airway No. 1 has been established by the State commission and the Department of Commerce, and has been designated as the Columbus-Philadelphia Route, the cities and towns within Pennsylvania on the route being Washington, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Ebensburg, Hollidaysburg, Altoona, Williamsburg, Newton Hamilton, Blain, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Coatesville and Philadelphia.
Airway No. 2 has been designated as the Cleveland-Washington route and will be operated by the State commission and Federal bureau. The route extends from Beaver Falls, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Buckstown, Everett, McConnellsburg and State line.
Airway No. 3 will connect with No. 2 and will extend through McConnellsburg, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, York and Lancaster, where it will connect with No. 1 to Philadelphia.
Airway No. 4 will connect with No. 2 at McConnellsburg and extend to Carlisle, Harrisburg, Lebanon, Reading, Allentown and Easton, following the William Perm Highway east from this city. At Easton this route will connect with the New York-Cleveland mail route.
The State commission expects to have No. 2 lane in operation by July 1 and No. 1 by early September. Routes 3 and 4 will be established and maintained exclusively by the State commission, which is now completing surveys of these routes.
The routes to be put in operation during the summer will be lighted by beacons erected and operated by the Department of Commerce. These beacons will be stretched along the lanes at ten-mile intervals, and on Route 1 will be located at Washington, Thompsonville, Pittsburgh Municipal Field, Export, Saltsburg, Jacksonville, Indiana, 'Strongstown, Ebensburg, Cresson, Duncansville, Williamsburg, Marklesburg, Huntingdon, Mt. Union, Newton Hamilton, East Waterford, Blain, Steretts Gap, Harrisburg, Middletown, Elizabethtown, Mt Joy, Lancaster, Compass, Coatesville, Downingtown, West Chester and Philadelphia.
The beacons on Route No. 2 will be at the Ohio State line near East Palestine, Beaver Falls, New Sheffield, Moon Run, Pittsburgh, Irwin, Greensburg, Baggaley, Laurel Ridge, Stoyestown, Buckstown, Grand View, Wills Mountain, Everett, Sideling Hill, McConnellsburg, Tuscarora Summit, Upton and State line at the Maryland line.
The radio beacon system of aerial navigation consists of a series of radio broadcasting stations, established 200 miles apart.
The "beam" or wireless code message, to be more exact, is projected out along the course widening in its path as the distance from the station increased. The signals become fainter as the distance increases, 100 miles being about the Iimit. At this point the signal of the next radio beacon should begin to come in.
Three Signals
The radio beacon sends out three signals continuously. If the pilot is straight on his course, he will hear a succession of long dashes, commonly known as the international code letter "T"; should he stray to the right, the signal will change to a succession of "A's"; should he be bearing to the left, the signal will be the letter "N."
There is another method of reception known as the "Visual Reed." Here an instrument is mounted on the dash board in front of the pilot consisting of an oscillating reed or needle which varies in length to the right or left. When its length remains constant and equal, the plane is on its course. Radio beam broadcasting beacons will be located in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Washington and Hadley Field, N. J.