René Magritte's L'Oiseau de Ciel (1966) was commissioned by SABENA Belgian World Airlines. The great surrealist Belgian master was one of the foremost artists of this century who looked to the sky for inspiration. For a special report on art and aviation in this issue, turn to page 79.

Four-colour plan-view display for air traffic control providing very high resolution is driven by a minicomputer. Developed by Raytheon as a Direct Access Radar Channel, it has been dubbed RAYDARC. It employs a patented method for rapid colour switching. Colours can be adjusted to match an individual operator's colour perception and preference.

This wide-body test article, actually a section of an old Douglas C-133 Cargomaster aircraft, is being used by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to study post-crash cabin-fire hazards at its Technical Centre at Atlantic City Airport in New Jersey.

American Airlines has contracted with two firms to provide it with L-100-30 Super Hercules cargo services to feed a number of hubs, at which American B-747 freighters pick up the payloads for delivery to major cities within the United States. The Hercules is a good companion for the larger cargo aircraft since it can accommodate the M-I cargo container shown.

World Communications Year — 1983. Future uses of space technology in aeronautical communications and navigation as well as current applications in search and rescue covered in this issue arc part of ICAO's interest in WCY 83, proclaimed by the United Nations under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union. In a state letter, ICAO's Secretary General Yves Lambert noted that WCY 83 represents a unique opportunity for furthering the improvement of aeronautical telecommunications and invited civil aviation authorities to actively participatc in national efforts to develop communications infrastructures, including aeronautical telecommunications.