Interesting article

[fireftr18]

A Facebook friend found this and posted it. Interesting little article on how pilots found their way across the US before the days of radio.
http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/1...cross-america/

[Sailor Steve]

Pretty cool! Thanks for sharing.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Very interesting, thanks.

[Jimbuna]

Nice one

[GoldenRivet]

I used to teach about those in my ground school. not many of them to be found anymore i don't think. The old air mail days were a serious and often deadly business.

I recall reading about Charles Lindbergh telling of an encounter with instrument meteorological conditions during an airmail flight in an aircraft which had recently been equipped with a new artificial horizon instrument of sorts. An instrument with which he confessed only a vague familiarity.

In picking apart his description of the event - he was essentially losing control of the aircraft, then regaining control repeatedly until he learned - in a life and death scenario, how to fly by instruments.

lots of folks have bought the farm that way... even with tens of thousands of dollars worth of advanced instrumentation aboard.

Those were the days when we were still learning about how and why airplanes do the things they do and learning about various strange phenomenon of the sky - learning things which today are considered basic and most common knowledge among the pilot ranks.

thanks for sharing the article... brought back many memories of late fall and winter evenings with a class room full of student pilots.

EDIT: I remember during my first solo cross country i became disoriented and lost over northeast Texas many years ago. I was mistaking one lake for another and was considerably south of course. I recalled my instructor mentioning these old methods of navigation. So, i descended from cruise altitude to the nearest town i could see. I circled the little town at about 1,000 ft spotting a water tower i clearly read the black text "W I N N S B O R O". I corrected my course and landed at my destination about 15 minutes later. that was a fun flight

[TarJak]

Nice find. Thanks for sharing.

[kranz]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

I remember during my first solo cross country i became disoriented and lost over northeast Texas many years ago. I was mistaking one lake for another and was considerably south of course. I recalled my instructor mentioning these old methods of navigation. So, i descended from cruise altitude to the nearest town i could see. I circled the little town at about 1,000 ft spotting a water tower i clearly read the black text "W I N N S B O R O". I corrected my course and landed at my destination about 15 minutes later. that was a fun flight

I had a similar situation a few years ago. I was lost in my F-16 'somewhere' over Europe. All the electronics were down, left my compass at home and the crystal ball on the backseat. I nearly commited a suicide by f####ing into the breathing system. After i regained consciousness i spotted a wicked metal construction resembling a tower. Since i hate those Frenchies i dropped one of my bombs but eventually i was pretty happy to see that landmark as i knew where i was. However, the moment the bombs exploded i saw a creepy dog with a human face. 'Egypt - da fuq?', I thought. I made a few corrections in my not working navigation and turned the auto-pilot on. I took a short nap but all of a sudden i was woken up by a series of loud bangs. I reduced the speed and realised that a bunch of black people was throwing stones at my fighter. 'Ah - dem unmannered Africans'. I didnt see any camels, only cars with 'illinois' license plates. I figured out that it was a new way in which white people branded color people ('ill-inois' as if they were sick - so i dropped two napalm bombs to put an end to this blatant example of appartheid. I put another waypoint on a piece of toilet paper my mum packed into my posh fighter. The paper served as an ad hoc map. For safety reasons i encrypted the waypoint as 'nelson mandela' (in case i was shot down). A few bottles of whidky later, i was still lost. I was losing altitude as my furl reserves were dropping drastically. Releasing the remaining bombs, the diapers and ejecting Susan The Hooker didnt help much and i was approaching the ground too fast. 'I'm too young to die. I havent tasted a virgin, killed a Jew and planted a tree so why do i have to die Dear Adonai? Why me?' - I was thinking. He must have heard my prayers because at the altitude of 10 meters i saw a huuuuuge road sign 'Marlboro' and a guy on the horse in the background. I'm saved, i shouted as i recalled the 287 highway in New Jersey. I managed to land safely on the belly as i completely forgot about the landing gear. Fortunately there was no fuel in the tanks so there was no explosion. While i was leaving the cockpit...to be continued

[Wolferz]

There are benchmarks scattered all over the country so hikers can figure out where they are too.

Interesting that they put arrows down for the early aviators.

Here's one for you Kranz....

--> exit

[kranz]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Here's one for you Kranz....

--> exit

I just wanted to share my experiences - they might be helpful for other fellow aviators.
Next time I will tell you how I helped raise funds for disabled kids in Burkina Faso and how I hunted elephants with a slingshot.
Stay tuned.

[GoldenRivet]

Kranz... you're a little strange

[TorpX]

Maybe, more than a little.

What was the point of that post anyway? Don't do drugs? Don't post when you're drunk?

EDIT: I remember during my first solo cross country i became disoriented and lost over northeast Texas many years ago. I was mistaking one lake for another and was considerably south of course. I recalled my instructor mentioning these old methods of navigation. So, i descended from cruise altitude to the nearest town i could see. I circled the little town at about 1,000 ft spotting a water tower i clearly read the black text "W I N N S B O R O". I corrected my course and landed at my destination about 15 minutes later. that was a fun flight

I was thinking they could have used water towers, or rail lines, or existing topography instead, but if they had to fly at night, I guess they would need to build some kind of "lighthouses", as they did. Interesting article.

[kranz]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

Kranz... you're a little strange

you got me here. I couldn't be in Burkina Faso as I was hanging around with Kim Kardashian.
But the 'elephants' and 'slingshot' are true.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by kranz

I had a similar situation a few years ago. I was lost in my F-16 'somewhere' over Europe. All the electronics were down, left my compass at home and the crystal ball on the backseat. I nearly commited a suicide by f####ing into the breathing system. After i regained consciousness i spotted a wicked metal construction resembling a tower. Since i hate those Frenchies i dropped one of my bombs but eventually i was pretty happy to see that landmark as i knew where i was. However, the moment the bombs exploded i saw a creepy dog with a human face. 'Egypt - da fuq?', I thought. I made a few corrections in my not working navigation and turned the auto-pilot on. I took a short nap but all of a sudden i was woken up by a series of loud bangs. I reduced the speed and realised that a bunch of black people was throwing stones at my fighter. 'Ah - dem unmannered Africans'. I didnt see any camels, only cars with 'illinois' license plates. I figured out that it was a new way in which white people branded color people ('ill-inois' as if they were sick - so i dropped two napalm bombs to put an end to this blatant example of appartheid. I put another waypoint on a piece of toilet paper my mum packed into my posh fighter. The paper served as an ad hoc map. For safety reasons i encrypted the waypoint as 'nelson mandela' (in case i was shot down). A few bottles of whidky later, i was still lost. I was losing altitude as my furl reserves were dropping drastically. Releasing the remaining bombs, the diapers and ejecting Susan The Hooker didnt help much and i was approaching the ground too fast. 'I'm too young to die. I havent tasted a virgin, killed a Jew and planted a tree so why do i have to die Dear Adonai? Why me?' - I was thinking. He must have heard my prayers because at the altitude of 10 meters i saw a huuuuuge road sign 'Marlboro' and a guy on the horse in the background. I'm saved, i shouted as i recalled the 287 highway in New Jersey. I managed to land safely on the belly as i completely forgot about the landing gear. Fortunately there was no fuel in the tanks so there was no explosion. While i was leaving the cockpit...to be continued

Some pieces are open to individual interpretation...stay on course and within acceptable politically correct boundaries if you'd be so kind.