On the recordMarch 10, 2010
I would like to say a few words about the aviation trust fund reauthorization. I support the bill, and I strongly urge my colleagues to support it as well. In addition to discussing the bill's specifics, however, I would like to give some perspective about our current aviation system. Our current system relies on the use of radio detection and ranging--more commonly known as radar. Radar was once a tremendous leap forward; that is, it was a tremendous leap forward right before World War II. Let me take a couple moments to retrace the history of air traffic control, starting before radar. Before radar, pilots followed prominent landmarks, such as rivers or railway lines, to navigate their routes. Naturally, bad weather and darkness made flying especially hazardous. In the 1920s, commercial night flights relied on something called the transcontinental lighted airway. That is an impressive-sounding name. What was it? It was just a series of bonfires. Local farmers maintained those bonfires across many parts of America. More developed areas could use gas-fueled beacons. In 1922, the first civil aviation midair collision happened in France. That collision created awareness of the need for some sort of air traffic control. I use the word ``control'' loosely. It took more than another 10 years before this country's air traffic control center opened up in Newark, NJ, in 1935. The following year, additional centers went up in Chicago and Cleveland.
