IFR in the 1930's

Let me change that from "any thoughts" to "any helpful" thoughts G.


"Dick" wrote in message
m...
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.

On my project plane, I'm considering just a airspeed/altitude/ ball & tube
slip (no needle) indicator/compass setup in order to avoid the venturi or
vacuum pump setup. Since I consider "electric" too expensive and wondered
whether a dome style compass might be the key??

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks, Dick -Lakeland, Florida

"Dick" writes:

Let me change that from "any thoughts" to "any helpful" thoughts G.

In his AvWeb piece on scud-running, Rick Durden mentions that the mail
pilots in the 1920's just kept flying lower until they could see the
ground, even if that meant skimming the tree-tops:

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182679-1.html

By the 1930's, I imagine, some of them had gyroscopic instruments.
Perhaps Rick can point us to online references.


All the best,


David