# Charles Lindbergh's flight--how did he navigate?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 26, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659 "2014-11-26T11:12:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/1 "2014-11-26T11:12:16Z")
Specifically, how did he account for cross-winds?
I’m reading\* an entertaining history of 1927, which covers the many attempts to fly across the Atlantic, both before and after Lindbergh’s famous flight. One part of Lindbergh’s success is that he actually landed where he intended, in Paris. The other pilots, if they didn’t die , generally missed their targets by hundreds of miles.
How did Lindbergh navigate? He had a compass, and could do simple calculations of speed/distance covered, etc. But what about the wind blowing his plane around?
If you point your nose at a certain bearing on a compass, obviously you can fly in that direction. But how do you know if you are being pushed sideways by the wind? Over land, there are visible points of reference which you can focus on, and make corrections as necessary. But over the featureless ocean, how did Lindbergh do it?
(on edit: note to mods, please move this to GQ. )
(\*by Bill Bryson–“One Summer: America in 1927” . It’s a fun, entertaining look back in time.)
---
### Author:  [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/2 "2014-11-26T13:15:56Z")
I’m reading the same book. According to [this page](http://timeandnavigation.si.edu/navigating-air/early-air-navigators/charles-lindbergh/lindberghs-calculated-risk), he had some tools for navigating but he also got lucky that “winds during his flight had caused no significant drift.”
---
### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/3 "2014-11-26T14:04:38Z")
The best answer is probably found by reading Lindbergh’s account of the flight, _“WE”_. Wiki mentions a combination of celestial navigation and dead reckoning.
---
### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/4 "2014-11-26T14:52:58Z")
_not a serious reply_
“No, Jimmy, don’t cite this in your book report.”
[spoiler] Rumor has it that as he was lost in heavy clouds he heard [an unusual sound](http://bit.ly/1tj9XET), one that he had never heard before…
[/spoiler]
---
### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/5 "2014-11-26T14:58:45Z")
Am I misremembering a ludicrous scene from the Jimmy Stewart movie: he circles his plane above some guy in a boat, and yells something like, “Hey! Which way is Paris!?!” Sounds totally absurd, but it _was_ a dramatization.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/6 "2014-11-26T15:09:34Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> Am I misremembering a ludicrous scene from the Jimmy Stewart movie: he circles his plane above some guy in a boat, and yells something like, “Hey! Which way is Paris!?!” Sounds totally absurd, but it _was_ a dramatization.
I vaguely recall that being factual.
---
### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/7 "2014-11-26T15:24:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> I vaguely recall that being factual.
But wouldn’t he have to be flying really low, make an incredibly tight circle at that dangerously low altitude, and yell loud enough to be heard over the noise? To fly a tight circle (afaik), you have to fly faster than usual because stall speed is lower in turns. So the boat guy would be dazzled by a plane screaming around him, but conversing with the pilot would be difficult :dubious:
---
### Author:  [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/8 "2014-11-26T15:26:53Z")
> [@asterion](#):
>
> The best answer is probably found by reading Lindbergh’s account of the flight, _“WE”_. Wiki mentions a combination of celestial navigation and dead reckoning.
Which sounds about right. Sailors were navigating open seas for hundreds of years before Lindbergh’s flight, and they had to account for currents pushing them around, right?
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/9 "2014-11-26T15:29:36Z")
You are [correct](http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/lindbergh.htm):
> [@Charles Lindbergh](#):
>
> I have carried on short conversations with people on the ground by flying low with throttled engine, and shouting a question, and receiving the answer by some signal. When I saw this fisherman I decided to try to get him to point towards land. I had no sooner made the decision than the futility of the effort became apparent. In all likelihood he could not speak English, and even if he could he would undoubtedly be far too astounded to answer. However, I circled again and closing the throttle as the plane passed within a few feet of the boat I shouted, “Which way is Ireland?” Of course the attempt was useless, and I continued on my course.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/10 "2014-11-26T15:36:51Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#):
>
> Which sounds about right. Sailors were navigating open seas for hundreds of years before Lindbergh’s flight, and they had to account for currents pushing them around, right?
I think one can get a rough idea of leeway from the angle of the sails and trigonometry.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/11 "2014-11-26T15:43:52Z")
Double post.
---
### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/12 "2014-11-26T16:29:30Z")
nm
---
### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/13 "2014-11-26T16:43:31Z")
Over land, Lindbergh followed the highway and railroad networks, using (duh) highway and railroad maps. When near coastline of course he could also follow the contour of the coast.
Over water he had a compass and a speedometer. As noted he was at the mercy of wind drift, but he didn’t take off until he had decent weather at least as far as Canada. And, he got lucky and didn’t drift much.
As he approached Europe of course he would again pick up the coast, and could ask people in boats, albeit as discussed above with poor results.
---
### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/14 "2014-11-26T17:42:34Z")
Adcock and Brown landed not far from their intended destination seven years earlier and by the time Lindbergh had made his flight about 80 people had already flown the Atlantic (some as passengers of course)
What Lindbergh did it by himself is pretty remarkable but there were quite a few around the time doing similar long haul flights in pretty horrible aircraft by today’s standards - Ramon Franco, Charles Kingsford Smith and Bert Hinkler are a few.
---
### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/15 "2014-11-26T17:58:59Z")
He also would go low at times to check on wave direction: that would tell him lower level wind direction. But that didn’t work too well at night, of course.
A lot of seat-of-his-pants stuff went on.
As long as he didn’t run out of fuel, have an engine or other failure, and didn’t fall asleep, he was going to make it. So at least 2/3 of his “luck” was having a fine airplane.
---
### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/16 "2014-11-26T18:44:17Z")
Lindbergh fitted the plane with an earth inductor compass, which was not part of the original navigation equipment.
> **[Earth inductor compass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_inductor_compass)**
>
> The Earth inductor compass (or simply induction compass) is a compass that determines directions using the principle of electromagnetic induction, with the Earth's magnetic field acting as the induction field for an electric generator. The electrical output of the generator will vary depending on its orientation with respect to the Earth's magnetic field. This variation in the generated voltage is measured, allowing the Earth inductor compass to determine direction.
> The earth inductor compass...
---
### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/17 "2014-11-26T19:34:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> I think one can get a rough idea of leeway from the angle of the sails and trigonometry.
Sails don’t work that way.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/18 "2014-11-26T19:45:18Z")
> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> Sails don’t work that way.
The angle of the sail has nothing to do with your true course? Googling I see that one uses a compass and the wake and trig.
---
### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/19 "2014-11-26T20:01:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> The angle of the sail has nothing to do with your true course? Googling I see that one uses a compass and the wake and trig.
It’s complicated and you’ll have to ask for a sailor for better details, but basically: no. The sail is what moves the boat. The direction is determined by the keel.
And measurements with respect to the wind or water can’t determine the true course, because they are moving too. Only measurements of celestial bodies can determine true course.
---
### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/20 "2014-11-26T22:30:59Z")
> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> It’s complicated and you’ll have to ask for a sailor for better details, but basically: no. The sail is what moves the boat. The direction is determined by the keel.
The keel helps keep the boat on course, but you also need to adjust the boat’s rigging so the sails will react to the wind in a way that moves the boat forward. If a competent sailor saw a sailboat, saw its motion through the water, and saw how the sails were set, he could make a reasonable approximation of the wind direction. I don’t know if Lindbergh had the knowledge to do that.
I could do it for most sailboats, but for something like those catamarans that they used in the America’s Cup I wouldn’t have a clue. Those things sail downwind faster than the wind itself; how do they even do that?
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659.md?page=2)