Re: IFR in the 1930's

[Del Rawlins]

On 29 Aug 2003 01:15 PM, Dick posted the following:
> Staring at my empty instrument panel while considering which
> instruments and their placement, I got wondering how old time Mail
> pilots flew if caught in IFR conditions.

Mostly, they flew into the ground.

----------------------------------------------------
Del Rawlins-
Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email.
Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/

[[email protected]]

A little flip, really sad but mostly true.

Del Rawlins wrote:

>On 29 Aug 2003 01:15 PM, Dick posted the following:
>
>
>>Staring at my empty instrument panel while considering which
>>instruments and their placement, I got wondering how old time Mail
>>pilots flew if caught in IFR conditions.
>>
>>
>
>Mostly, they flew into the ground.
>
>----------------------------------------------------
>Del Rawlins-
>Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email.
>Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
>http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/
>
>

[William T Bartlett]

They flew very effectively on the Adcock range, which was set up across the
nation. This was a aural navigation system in which all that was necessary
was a tunable low freq radio, a watch, compas. and chart (some knowledge of
Morris code
"ADCOCK RANGE - National radio navigation system replaced after World War 2
by the omnirange system. It consisted of segmented quadrants broadcasting
Morse Code "A" (dot-dash) and "N" (dash-dot) signals in opposing quadrants
so that pilots could orient their position relative to a "beam" broadcasting
a steady tone, and a Morse Code station identifier. Using a "build-and-fade"
technique, a pilot could (ideally) pinpoint his location by the strength or
weakness of a signal"
look up adcock range on Goggle.DF was also available.
Bill
> wrote in message
...
> A little flip, really sad but mostly true.
>
> Del Rawlins wrote:
>
> >On 29 Aug 2003 01:15 PM, Dick posted the following:
> >
> >
> >>Staring at my empty instrument panel while considering which
> >>instruments and their placement, I got wondering how old time Mail
> >>pilots flew if caught in IFR conditions.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Mostly, they flew into the ground.
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------
> >Del Rawlins-
> >Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email.
> >Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
> >http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/
> >
> >
>
>

[Dave Stadt]

"William T Bartlett" > wrote in message
. ..
> They flew very effectively on the Adcock range, which was set up across
the
> nation. This was a aural navigation system in which all that was necessary
> was a tunable low freq radio, a watch, compas. and chart (some knowledge
of
> Morris code
> "ADCOCK RANGE - National radio navigation system replaced after World War
2
> by the omnirange system. It consisted of segmented quadrants broadcasting
> Morse Code "A" (dot-dash) and "N" (dash-dot) signals in opposing quadrants
> so that pilots could orient their position relative to a "beam"
broadcasting
> a steady tone, and a Morse Code station identifier. Using a
"build-and-fade"
> technique, a pilot could (ideally) pinpoint his location by the strength
or
> weakness of a signal"
> look up adcock range on Goggle.DF was also available.
> Bill

That came long after the original airmail pilots and did absolutely nothing
to help them keep the dirty side down. Knowing where you are doesn't mean
much if you don't know which way is up. One tool they did use if caught on
top was to drop a parachute flare and follow it down through the soup hoping
they broke out before hitting the ground. If all else failed they hit the
silk.



> > wrote in message
> ...
> > A little flip, really sad but mostly true.
> >
> > Del Rawlins wrote:
> >
> > >On 29 Aug 2003 01:15 PM, Dick posted the following:
> > >
> > >
> > >>Staring at my empty instrument panel while considering which
> > >>instruments and their placement, I got wondering how old time Mail
> > >>pilots flew if caught in IFR conditions.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >Mostly, they flew into the ground.
> > >
> > >----------------------------------------------------
> > >Del Rawlins-
> > >Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email.
> > >Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
> > >http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Barnyard BOb --]

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 03:49:50 GMT, "William T Bartlett"
> wrote:

>They flew very effectively on the Adcock range, which was set up across the
>nation. This was a aural navigation system in which all that was necessary
>was a tunable low freq radio, a watch, compas. and chart (some knowledge of
>Morris code

<big snip for obvious reasons>

>look up adcock range on Goggle.DF was also available.
>Bill
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bill..

Morris code?
Yeah, right.

Like Del said.....
They mostly flew into the ground.


Barnyard BOb - pre VOR pilot
==================================


>> Del Rawlins wrote:
>>
>> >On 29 Aug 2003 01:15 PM, Dick posted the following:
>> >
>> >
>> >>Staring at my empty instrument panel while considering which
>> >>instruments and their placement, I got wondering how old time Mail
>> >>pilots flew if caught in IFR conditions.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >Mostly, they flew into the ground.
>> >
>> >----------------------------------------------------
>> >Del Rawlins-
>> >Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email.
>> >Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
>> >http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>

[Tim Ward]

"Barnyard BOb --" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 03:49:50 GMT, "William T Bartlett"
> > wrote:
>
> >They flew very effectively on the Adcock range, which was set up across
the
> >nation. This was a aural navigation system in which all that was
necessary
> >was a tunable low freq radio, a watch, compas. and chart (some knowledge
of
> >Morris code
>
> <big snip for obvious reasons>
>
> >look up adcock range on Goggle.DF was also available.
> >Bill
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Bill..
>
> Morris code?
> Yeah, right.
>
> Like Del said.....
> They mostly flew into the ground.
>
>
> Barnyard BOb - pre VOR pilot
> ==================================

Sure, Morris code. That's where you tie bells to your feet and communicate
by dancing.

Tim Ward