Transcribed
This section of the site contains articles which are included for their inspirational, educational, or historic value. Instructions for self-dictation are located at the bottom of this page. The material is dictated a various speeds at the bottom of the page as well.
We move on to aviation as it was in its infancy, a far cry from what it has become today. If we want to talk about "passenger comfort," let's talk about where I'm supposed to put my legs, people! And, while I'm on my soap-box, I miss in-flight food with REAL utensils. Yes, I know the world has changed and airlines have had to change with the times, but I'm old enough to remember when flying somewhere was fun, not an exercise in endurance.
Moving right along. . . this piece has some great phrasing (at least for Anniversary Gregg writers) and some good, solid vocabulary. As always, be sure to practice the text before taking the dictation at whatever speed suits you, then try to push the speed so you're writing 20 words per minute faster than you would normally on unpracticed material. Increasing your shorthand vocabulary and stretching your speed capabilities will aid you in reaching your speed goals.
Gregg Speed Building, Gregg Publishing Company, John Robert Gregg, 1938, p 177-178
199. Aviation’s Rule of Three: (1) Safety, (2) Passenger Comfort, and (3) Scheduled Performance
Union Airlines requires that planes being flown “on instrument” (that is when visibility is restricted) must maintain prescribed altitudes sufficiently above the terrain to clear the highest point for a total airway width of from 50 miles to more than 100 miles.
Actually, under the revised flight altitudes, Union planes fly at least half a mile above the terrain on the radio range course. This is a substantially higher margin than is required by federal regulations.
These new higher altitudes are now maintained so that if the remote possibility of drift off the radio course should develop, the flight level will still be definitely above the highest terrain on either side of the regular radio airway level.
Flight planning and dispatching of Union Airline’s schedules is supervised by flight executives who are veteran pilots of long experience and by meteorological and dispatch officials.
Union captains and first officers are required to appear at flight-dispatch offices an hour or more prior to the scheduled time of departure. They must make an analysis of weather conditions prevailing on the division. This analysis is based on periodic United States Weather bureau airway maps, divisional forecasts, and real teletype weather reports from observing stations. These stations are situated on the average of approximately every 50 miles along the airway as well as at strategic off-line points.
Observations are also obtained from 50 upper-air reporting stations and 24 observation planes at various strategic points over the country. These plans fly to 20,000 feet with special instruments automatically reporting weather conditions at each thousand-foot level. Periodically throughout the day, weather maps are prepared showing general atmospheric condition of the area plus more detailed forecasts obtained from United States Government and airline meteorological sources.
Before an airplane is returned from flight duty, it undergoes a stringent series of test flights to insure its proper mechanical condition. In addition, before and after every scheduled flight, each airplane is systematically check and serviced.
For more information on shorthand speed building, click here.
Instructions
for Self-Dictation Practice:
Copy and paste the above article into a word-processing
document, using double or triple spacing and 12- or 14-pitch type.
I suggest starting each work day off with a
warm-up of the self-dictation presented above. By the
close of the month, after having written the piece many times, you'll find
you can write the material with ease. As always, be sure to check your
shorthand dictionary for correct outlines before "drilling"!
Dictation
Practice:
After you've practiced the material as outlined just above,
take the material from dictation. Simply select the desired speed below
and click. Note that the material was counted and recorded for
dictation at 100; all other speeds were copied from the 100 take and
electronically adjusted and may therefore sound unusual.
PLEASE ALLOW SUFFICIENT TIME FOR THE DICTATION TO LOAD.
It may take 90 seconds or more depending upon your connection and the size of
the dictation file.
The dictation material above is copyrighted, all rights reserved.