IFR in the 1930's

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

In article , Jan Carlsson wrote:

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

_The Spirit of St. Louis_ is one of those books all pilots should read
(because they'll probably like them), like _Fate is the Hunter_. If I
recall correctly, Lindberg talks about getting caught over a deck
and letting the plane find its own way down while he walks. I think
*that's* how the mail pilots handled hard IFR. (If it's really in a
different book, it still doesn't change the recommendation to read
it!).

Mike