Instrument Flying, Then and Now

[DMD]

This is a really interesting book. Back in 1943, it looks like there were about 150 instrument approaches into civil airports. All of the approaches in the United States are contained in this book.

 

The method was to use the radio range system. A low frequency transmitter broadcast a signal that resulted in 4 beams, and you would home into the transmitter by flying along one of those beams. If you were flying down the beam, you heard a constant tone in your radio. But if you drifted to the right of the beam, you would get a Morse Code "A" on the radio, and an "N" if you drifted to the left. You knew which way to correct from the letter you heard, and you were on the approach with a solid tone.

 

Here's the cover of Army Air Forces Instrument Letdown Procedures, November 20, 1943.

 

[DMD]

Here's the approach into the Kansas City, Missouri airport. The picture shows how you might head away from the station down one of the beams, then make a procedure turn to bring you around on a heading of 148 degrees toward the station. You start out at a minimum altitude of 2500 feet, make your procedure turn at 2000 feet when you are 4 minutes away from the station, and then decend to the minimum altitude of 1750 feet. That's 1000 feet above airport elevation, and you have hopefully broken out of the clouds by then. If not, you have a missed approach procedure to climb back to 2500 feet and turn to the southwest.

 

The Kansas City airport is the second one in the illustration. The first one is the old Fairfax airport, on the Kansas side, now closed and gone.

 

[DMD]

By contrast, this is the current procdure. Looks like some information overload in this one. As compared to the 1943 procdure, this one has you make your approach on a heading of 218 degrees, and you can go a little lower, 1600 feet vs. 1750.

 

The airport elevation has been surveyed at 759 feet, instead of 750 feet in 1943.

 

[DMD]

The stack on the left are the volumes for 10 states, and the book on the right covers the United States.

 

[Steindaddie]

Ah, the good old days of flying ! I have a bunch of the old charts and enjoy going over them with my dad who was a WW2 navy pilot and flew for United from 1944-81. He says the system worked pretty good and that ATC back then consisted of station reporting with time, speed & alt. just like we still use today when flying over water to Hawaii, etc.

 

When I was a C-130 flight engineer we always carried all the IAPs for the US plus all the charts and the STARs & SIDs. It was quite a library and makes one appreciate a simpler time.

 

You have a neat book

 

- Will

[Bluehawk]

Very nice to read this...