# Charles Lindbergh's flight--how did he navigate? **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/21 "2014-11-26T22:38:36Z")
His own explanation was “[Alcock and Brown showed me the way!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flight_of_Alcock_and_Brown#Other_crossings)”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/22 "2014-11-26T23:54:02Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > (on edit: note to mods, please move this to GQ. ) Done. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/23 "2014-11-27T00:00:54Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > His own explanation was “[Alcock and Brown showed me the way!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flight_of_Alcock_and_Brown#Other_crossings)”. Alcohol and what? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/24 "2014-11-27T01:40:40Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Alcohol and what? So, you’re an American, huh. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/25 "2014-11-27T02:55:55Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > So, you’re an American, huh. So was Lindbergh. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/26 "2014-11-27T04:12:50Z")
He was bound to hit land sooner or later. Dead reckoning would work. He aimed in the general direction of Ireland, follow a compass heading, and based on air/land speed, it was what he reached. If he’d been deflected further south he would not have made landfall so soon. The western coastlines of Ireland, Land’s End England, and Brittany are pretty easy to tell apart. Once you have a rough Idea where you are, follow the coast. Between the compass and the shape of the coastline, and then the towns you encounter, you can follow where you are. I imagine once you establish, for example, that you are following the south coast of Ireland, finding Paris is a trivial exercise with maps and compass and rough speed guide. (If it’s not too cloudy). You time your traversal of a known distance on the map, and that gives you airspeed vs. land speed, and direction you travel on the map vs. compass heading tells you what angle the crosswind is deflecting you (and therefore what angle to compensate). Worst case, he’d be blown too far north and after a while realize he should turn south hoping he’s not actually too far south, in which case he’d make landfall at Bordeaux instead of Cork or Galway. But stellar navigation would give a rough latitude, and north of Ireland to Basque country is about 12 degrees difference in latitude. “If I’m at 52 degrees and travelled at least the distance to Ireland, I should hit land any time or the headwind is seriously stronger than I thought.” ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/27 "2014-11-28T07:28:52Z")
Were there radios then? I know during the Pearl Harbor attack, the Luftwaffe pilots homed in on commercial radio broadcasts from Hawaii. Over? Did you say “Over”? Nothing is “over” until _WE_ decide it is! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/28 "2014-11-28T09:35:49Z")
And don’t forget Twinkletoes and Lucky Jim. The first cats to cross the atlantic by air. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/29 "2014-11-28T13:56:25Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Were there radios then? I know during the Pearl Harbor attack, the Luftwaffe pilots homed in on commercial radio broadcasts from Hawaii. > > Over? Did you say “Over”? Nothing is “over” until _WE_ decide it is! The “Spirit of St Louis” did not have a radio as Lindbergh wanted to save weight so he could carry more fuel. > **[Spirit of St. Louis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_St._Louis)** > > The Spirit of St. Louis (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France, for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize. > Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt Airfield in Garden City, New York, and landed 33 hours, 30 minutes later at Aéroport Le Bourget in Paris, a distance ... ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/30 "2014-11-28T16:02:57Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Were there radios then? I know during the Pearl Harbor attack, the Luftwaffe pilots homed in on commercial radio broadcasts from Hawaii. No wonder they couldn’t hit anything with precision in London, then, if they were using Hawaii radio. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/31 "2014-11-28T16:15:21Z")
Luftwaffe pilots just loved the steel guitar. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/32 "2014-11-28T16:30:05Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Were there radios then? I know during the Pearl Harbor attack, the Luftwaffe pilots homed in on commercial radio broadcasts from Hawaii. > > Over? Did you say “Over”? Nothing is “over” until _WE_ decide it is! I’m not a WWII expert, but I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say the Luftwaffe was kinda rare over Pearl Harbor. Imperial Japanese Naval Aviation, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/33 "2014-11-28T17:18:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m not a WWII expert, but I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say the Luftwaffe was kinda rare over Pearl Harbor. Imperial Japanese Naval Aviation, not so much. A Wright Whirlwind, even throttled down, sounds more like a hardware store being shaken by Godzilla than a whoosh, so the sailors probably couldn’t hear or understand Lindbergh. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/34 "2014-11-28T17:49:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m not a WWII expert, but I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say the Luftwaffe was kinda rare over Pearl Harbor. Imperial Japanese Naval Aviation, not so much. Forget it. He’s rolling. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/35 "2014-11-28T19:08:24Z")
The British or the Germans had two radio beams for their aircraft to navigate. The other side attempted to jam or fake them. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/36 "2014-11-28T19:17:09Z")
British planes had RADAR quite early in the war although it was successfully kept secret. Much development was done in the US from the original work which was passed to them on Churchill’s orders. > **[Tizard Mission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizard_Mission)** > > The Tizard Mission, officially the British Technical and Scientific Mission, was a British delegation that visited the United States during World War II to share secret research and development (R&D) work that had potentially significant military applications. It received its popular name from the programme's instigator, Henry Tizard. Tizard was a British scientist and chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee, which had orchestrated the development of radar. > The mission travelled to the ... Pilots on a slow aeroplane could easily use celestial navigation to fix their position so long as they could fly above any cloud cover. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/37 "2014-11-28T19:59:33Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Pilots on a slow aeroplane could easily use celestial navigation to fix their position so long as they could fly above any cloud cover. WWII bombers had small windows for the navigator to view stars. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/38 "2014-11-28T20:43:28Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > 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: I had something like that happen to me once. A large boat was going by and someone on the boat had a bullhorn. The boat was too big to get close to shore, so the pilot yelled thru the bullhorn, “Ahoy on shore! Anybody! Which way is the canal?” I ran down to the shore, and realized he would never hear me, so I just pointed south. I guess it worked, as he took off in that direction. Obviously that was before GPS. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/39 "2014-11-28T20:53:19Z")
Did you search the paper the next day for shipwrecks? 🙂 That is a pretty cool story. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659/40 "2014-11-28T23:37:09Z")
It’s cool that Charles Lindbergh posts here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-lindberghs-flight-how-did-he-navigate/705659.md?page=3)