No GPS, no FMC, no nothing.

Hi, guys. I would have loved to be a commercial passenger pilot back in the mid 1950's through early 1970's before GPS and FMC's, etc. I've watched a few videos on YouTube of pilots flying classic jetliners (like the DC-9) built in the mid 60's, but these are now equipt with an GPS device of some sort, and sometimes even an FMC. I want to do a flight on FSX lets say from KJFK to KDFW on the DC-9 without cheating by using the FSX GPS, I want to fly just as pilots did back in the early 60's. I would need to learn how to do VOR's and ADF's, correct? :pilot:

I would bet that ATC and Autopilot had been invented back in those days! I would think that even if the pilot/copilot were hand flying the aircraft, they would still be following ATC directions.

 

Maybe back in time a little further, say the late 40s and fifties, flying DC-4 and DC-6, I would bet they were using LORAN systems for direction finding. It's a good practice to learn navigation using VOR, NDB, and ADF.

hi, mrzippy. yep the autopilot had been invented during that time (60's), but it was very basic. not like today's planes (way too automated)

I think Autopilot was there much earlier than the 60s, probably introduced in the early 30s, in a very basic form. I see that Wiley Post's Vega had one and Amelia Earhart's Electra too was equipped with it. Wikipedia tells us that Sperry produced the first autopilot in 1912! albeit a very primitive one. I agree with Mr Zippy it is a requirement that one learns to navigate pre-GPS using navigational aids (VOR NDB ADF DME etc.) you open your charts and plan your cross-country flight VOR to VOR and (like highways in the sky) use the two VOR gauges to stay on the track and operate both NAV radios, the basic way.

Flying old school navigation is a lot of fun. Tuning in VOR's and NDB's teaches you a lot about navigation. If I were to fly KJFK to KDFW, I would make a flight plan using direct GPS, then I would drag the red line to VOR's on the default map from one airport to the other. That will give you the course to dial in for each VOR listed in the NAV LOG during the trip.

Hi, guys. I would have loved to be a commercial passenger pilot back in the mid 1950's through early 1970's before GPS and FMC's, etc. I've watched a few videos on YouTube of pilots flying classic jetliners (like the DC-9) built in the mid 60's, but these are now equipt with an GPS device of some sort, and sometimes even an FMC. I want to do a flight on FSX lets say from KJFK to KDFW on the DC-9 without cheating by using the FSX GPS, I want to fly just as pilots did back in the early 60's. I would need to learn how to do VOR's and ADF's, correct? :pilot:

 

More likely to be using celestial navigation or INS - early Inertial Navigation Systems were used in many of the early generation long range jets. But not DC-9's which were primarily short range jets.

 

Both systems are available as freeware downloads if you want to experiment.