IFR in the 1930's

"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

Don't forget the seegar in place of the clock!

Rich S.

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/

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/

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/

"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/

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/

"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

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

Dick,

The first instrument flight was made 1919 by Jim Doolittle, with no
visibility at all. Good reading is the "I could never be so lucky again"
and also "The Spirit of ST Louis" (1953) The last one tells a lot about how
it was to be a mail pilot in the 20's

Jan Carlsson
www.jcpropellerdesign.com

"Dick" skrev i meddelandet
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