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What was it like navigating open waters in an aircraft during the 1930s? Complicated to say the least! In addition to celestial navigation and a radio compass, Pan American Airways pilots used a process called dead reckoning, which involved calculating a position based on a previously determined position, or fix, using data such as speed, elapsed time, and wind drift. Wind drift was calculated by dropping a ceramic drift marker overboard. Filled with metallic powder, it created a highly visible slick on the ocean surface. This fixed point was viewed through a drift meter to measure ground speed and sideways diversion from a crosswind that could then be calculated for a heading correction. 1st 📸: the crew of Pan Am’s first survey flight to Hawai’i, flown in 1935: Radio Officer W.T. Jarboe Jr., Junior Flight Officer Harry R. Canaday, First Officer R.O.D. Sullivan, Captain Edwin C. Musick, Navigator Fred J. Noonan, Engineer Officer Victor A. Wright. 2nd 📸: the navigation and radio kit used by Pan Am in the mid 1930s and early 1940s. Learn more about the China Clipper and early transpacific travel in "China Clipper" on display, pre-security, in the Aviation Museum and Library in the International Terminal. The Aviation Museum and Library is open daily 10am to 4:30pm. http://bit.ly/chinaclipper
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