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Quest For All-Weather Flight

By Tom Morrison

ISBN: 9781840372595
PUBLISHED: October 2002
PAGES: 288
BINDING: Hardback
SIZE: 246x189 mm
INSIDE: 140 photographs, 60 line drawings

• Fascinating account tracing the development of instrument flying which allowed pilots to fly at night and in any weather conditions • The first book to provide comprehensive coverage of this subject

Fog, low cloud, darkness and storms were all enemies confronting both military and civil aviation for much of the first part of the last century. An even more dangerous scenario was to have become airborne in glorious conditions and then to be surprised by bad weather en route.

When flying blind, the early aviators could barely keep an aircraft on an even keel, flying strait and level, let alone navigate to the nearest runway in zero visibility.Between the years 1903, when man first took to the skies in a powered aeroplane, and 1982, when a scheduled airliner landed automatically in blind conditions of dense fog, the problem of all-weather, anytime flying was solved.

This is the story of how it was accomplished. We learn of the development of the first elementary flying instruments, the invention of the giro compass and the rapid development of electronic and other radio aids during World War II. The revolution was led by four countries; the USA, Britain, France and Germany. The achievements of this quest, the political events that drove it and were driven by it, the aircrew who made it happen and the acceptance of certain ultimate limitations are the theme of this book.

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