Trained Lifeboat

One way to rescue the crew of an airplane forced down at sea is to drop a lifeboat. Chief difficulty: the survivors, whether on rafts or swimming, have a hard time getting to the lifeboat, particularly in a stiff wind. Last week the Air Force announced a solution for this problem: a radio-controlled lifeboat that picks up survivors as if it were a seagoing taxi.

When a rescue plane (a modified 6-29) spots the survivors, it drops the lifeboat on a giant (100 ft. in diameter) parachute. When the lifeboat hits the water, a radio operator in the aircraft starts the boat's engine by remote control, then steers it toward the rafts or swimmers. Once on board, the survivors can talk with the plane over a two-way radio. The operator sets their gyro compass on a course that will take them to the nearest land. The boat has fuel for 800 miles; more fuel and water can be dropped. Early in 1952, says the Air Force, all its A-3 lifeboats will be equipped as radio-controlled taxis.

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