When Lindbergh did it, he made small course changes at set time intervals, using an earth-induction compass (sort of a radio receiver that picks up the Earth's magnetic field) to set his heading, following a carefully-planned Great Circle route across the ocean. It worked out pretty well, even though he could only guess as to how much the wind would really drift him- not too many reliable wind forceasts available those days, and he had no radio to get weather reports with... too heavy.
He used a wet compass (regular old iron-bar compass that always points more or less towards the North or South Pole)to check against the earth-induction compass, but it had to be placed in an area where he needed a miror to see it. The day it was installed, they had no mirror, but a young lady in the crowd gathered outside the hangar at Curiss Field gave them the mirror from her compact, according to Lindbergh's own account. It was just the right size, and not too heavy (LOL).
He could have used a radio to get bearings from ships at sea, but decided the marine-band units available at the time were too heavy.
So other than the fancy-for-its-day induction compass, he did it by sheer deduced reckoning: no landmarks to see, so it was all about careful planning, accurate timekeeping, precision maneuvers, and lots of luck with the wind...
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:48 pm
