1950s Navigation

Hi, I'm keen to try a bit of a flying challenge, I have a couple of nice 1950s aeroplanes and wondered what the state of nav aids was in that decade. I think NDBs are being used, but that VORs are new and only become routine after enough have been built in the 1960s. Am I right?

I figure that navigating just using NDBs and dead reckoning could pose a challenge, especially crossing water or deserts.

I see circular type aerials on large planes in WW2, what are those, steerable antenna? What are the beacons?

Thanks for your help!

The VORs actually started being deployed in the 1940s and had fair (though not quite complete) coverage by the middle of the 1950s. NDBs were, of course, still in use, and there were some four course ranges remaining, though perhaps not many, even into the late '50s. Wikipedia can help with understanding a four course range. The four course range used transmitters with audible Morse code "A" and "N" sent in different directions to make the four courses. You had to listen, since there wasn't any visual depiction. On the charts airways color coded Red, Blue, Green or Amber were defined by these beacons.

Those "circular type aerials on large planes in WW2" were loop antennas, basically NDB receiving antennas that could rotate in order to point towards the station, but it was ambiguous because it would signal the same when "aimed" directly at and directly away from the station. So something was needed to resolve the difference, which was done by adding a "sense" antenna, the long wire you often saw running from the top of the vertical fin to well forward on the fuselage. With the advent of the ADF (Automatic Direction Finder), motor driven loops and additional electronics compared the signal from the loop with that from the sense antenna to force a needle to point correctly. Later loop antennas were often enclosed in a housing for weather protection and reduced drag.

The non-directional beacons are just a radio transmitter (you could use an AM radio station or an aviation specific beacon) with a constant signal that could be received by the aircraft. The range transmitters were more complex. There is a tremendous amount of detail that can be had with a quick web search to fill this in.

The NDBs (and the four course radio ranges) were signals in the 200 KHz to 400 KHz frequency range, but most of the receivers for them could also receive AM radio stations, which run from 535 to 1605 KHz.

If you've not already read it, I'd suggest you get Fate Is The Hunter by Ernest K. Gann, a fairly thick book (even in paperback) that details most of his professional life as an airline pilot from the late 1930s to the mid 1950s. You'll be mostly in the cockpit, and you'll get a very good sense of what it was like to fly DC-2s, DC-3s, DC-4s, C-87s (cargo version of the B-24) and more, along with navigational challenges and much more. And in typical (for the time) pilot fashion, a lot of things were rather understated, but I've found the book to be fascinating, even after rereading it several times over the years.

You can also get an additional feel for things by reading his novels Island In The Sky and The High And The Mighty, both of which were made into movies starring John Wayne, and based on certain incidents he detailed in Fate Is The Hunter.

Many thanks Larry, that is very enlightening. I did some research, and came across the four course stuff, and it sounded complicated! I couldn't find good dates for the introduction of NDBs or VORs, it looks like the VOR system is earlier than I thought. I was considering a trip from London to Capetown, or London to New Zealand, just using NDBS and dead reckoning. I thought the VOR system might not be very well constructed through Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the 50s. Just to add an extra challenge. Fate Is The Hunter sounds like an interesting book, 'in the cockpit' books are what interest me, not aviation books full of dates, airlines, registration numbers and the introduction of variants. Thanks again!

This is a nice idea to simulate. For a challenge, yes, NDB to NDB navigation along with some pilotage and dead reckoning is the way to go. Perhaps, you can use VORs when flying through areas that were significant during the 50s as these would probably be the areas that would have them.

..I have a couple of nice 1950s aeroplanes..

Which would those be? Would be great if you can let us know.. :-)

Thanks for starting this thread. This thread has brought back some great memories from a conversation eons ago that I had with an old timer who was a paratrooper during those times. He told me about how they would get around in airplanes during those days in the MENA and SE Asia regions. Also told me some other interesting facts and stories concerning flights in those areas.

Back in the day in the the MENA region and in SE Asia, there were navigational aids at military installations, business/trade centers, and along routes between them. If you were flying to or between such places, then air navigation wasn't too much of a hassle provided those navigation stations were working. The harsh climate and remoteness of some of them often mandated frequent maintenance. There were a few VORs and many NDBs.

There was a problem, however, when flying to remote areas. Most of the time, these areas didn't have navigational aids and didn't even have any en-route to them. Sometimes, even for a few 100 kilometers at times. In such cases, the flight crew would have at least one member who knew the area like the back of his palm. This combined with some pilotage and dead reckoning is what saved the day. It was important to be able to correctly identify geographic features like lakes, rivers and mountain passes to correctly determine your position and put yourself on the right course.

It goes without saying that crashes were not uncommon. Running out of fuel after getting lost, going via the wrong mountain-pass/valley and not being able to turn around, CFIT due to clouds were some of the reasons planes flying to remote areas went down. Sadly, several of such planes have never been found. The old timer says these birds are now buried under tons of sand, resting on an inaccessible part of a mountain or are somewhere in a deep and dangerous part of a dense jungle.

He went on to say that due to a general lack of 'regulation' and 'formality' in these areas at the time, many of these flights were often undocumented and flown with aircraft that were 'off-the-books'. This is the reason that there isn't a lot of information on the internet about many such flights that went missing. Down a few generations of families, this knowledge fades away too. In many cases, an attempt wasn't even made to locate the aircraft.

Sometimes, they were supply runs to remote camps and communities. Sometimes air drop runs for on-foot exploratory expeditions. Sometimes, they were secret cargo delivery flights! It got really interesting when he told me that some of these flights, particularly those in the MENA colonies, were flights to support expeditions that were out in search of the stuff of legend like the Fountain of Youth and the Holy Grail! I was shocked to hear this! He claimed that such 'treasure hunts' were pursued with great fervor back in the day. And the operations revolving around these expeditions were executed in a 'black ops' fashion.

A pity the old timer is not among us anymore.. I now have so much more to ask...

Another book that might shed some light on early flying is Round The Bend by Nevil Shute, circa 1951. It has an odd premise, but is a good read and talks a lot about what flying was like in those days in England, the Middle East and some of Asia. Song Of The Sky (1955) and The World Aloft (1960) by Guy Murchie are a couple more good reads (non-fiction). Murchie was a WW II navigator, later also a flight instructor, and these works are almost poetic, but talk a lot about flying, weather, navigation, etc. Song Of The Sky was also a Book Of The Month Club selection.

For understanding flying from a different perspective, Stick And Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche discusses the mechanics of flying from a pilot's perspective, rather than that of the engineer. Straight On Till Morning by Mary S. Lovell is a biography of Beryl Markham who was, among other things, a bush pilot in Africa. In 1936 she was the first person to fly the Atlantic the hard way -- against the headwinds -- from England to North America. And That's My Story by Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan is another interesting read.

And those are just a few of the books on my bookshelf that I can recommend.