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Navigating the Pacific Ocean by air was a technological feat in the 1930s. Pan American 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 glass or 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. A bubble sextant was used to sight stars from an observatory in the ceiling. Once a fix was determined, star charts were consulted to determine position. Pan American installed radio stations on the California coast and at island bases for its new Adcock Direction Finder, developed under chief communications engineer Hugo C. Leuteritz. Its 1,800-mile range was a major technological breakthrough and gave Pan American great advantages in air safety. 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 #ChinaClipper Crew of the first Sikorsky S-42 survey flight in Hawai’i, l-r, 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 1935 photograph San Francisco Airport Museums Pan American World Airways Archive 1993.11.25 R2010.2201.140
This image was posted on August 28, 2016.
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