Do you know how planes were detected before the invention of radars?
Do you know how planes were detected before the invention of radars?
New The range of the equipment was not long; however, the time between the sound identification and the arrival of the aircraft was enough to point the weapons in the right direction. After this successful case, the solution was improved, giving rise to aircraft acoustic location equipment.
The sound receivers were connected to tubes like a stethoscope used by doctors. Someone needed to analyse the sound that the equipment picked up, as the first signs of enemy aircraft engines usually appeared a few minutes before their arrival.
The British used the mechanism ostensibly, deploying a network of devices during First World War. The first radars began to appear in the Second World War, making the initial solution obsolete.
For some time, they were used together to complement each other and deceive the enemy, who was still unsure about the functioning of the new equipment.
After the end of the war, the old equipment was replaced by the radar, which had already gained enough reliability.
Each country has developed a different
model of aircraft detection equipment. The Germans developed a device for visual/auditory detection, as shown in the image below. As soon as the sound was identified, the person would already have their eyes on the target.
The Dutch created the model in the next photo, which had an inflatable pillow inside. This way, the equipment could be adapted to anyone's head.
The French Nobel Prize winner, Jean-Baptiste Perrin, developed the following model based on mathematical calculations. Each one of the four main pieces had 36 horn-shaped hexagons, which would make capturing more effective.
The Japanese used the same detection method.
Below, you can see what the equipment used by the British army looked like, with four pickups and three operators which provided stereo sound.
In this German solution, operators could identify the direction and elevation of the enemy aircraft (with stereo sound) by capturing the vertical and horizontal directions.
