HISTORIC FLIGHT LINKS

          THE TAT ROUTE

The TAT route was flown using, what is called today, VFR. Railroads, roads and other familiar landmarks were followed from airport to airport.
In the western half of the route, there are some very tall mountains. You don't have oxygen and the planes are not pressurized, so you will have to thread your way between peaks, just as the original pilots did. For authenticity, stay below 10,000 feet above sea level. That's the top for no oxygen. If you look on a roadmap of the state you are flying through and, in the legend, read the altitude of the highest point in the state, it won't match the altitudes of the mountains in Flight Simulator. The simulator, in some states, has much higher mountains than can actually be found there. This especially applies in the west. They cheated you, so if you have to get higher its ok.

FLYING THE ROUTE > Use FSNav or GPS if you need to.
The route (going west) begins at Port Columbus.  Begin the trip leaving Port Columbus and follow the directions below to each airfield:
Set your time to 7:00 am.

FIRST LEG:

Port Columbus to Indianapolis, heading-270, airspeed-90, altitude-3000
Indianapolis to St. Louis, hdg-250, ias-90, alt-3000
St. Louis to Kansas City, hdg-270, ias-90, alt-3000
Kansas City to Wichita, hdg-225, ias-90, alt-3000
Wichita to Waynoka, hdg-216, ias-90, alt-4000 You will pick up Waynoka before you leave Kansas City. Waynoka is the last stop on the first leg. You should be there before dark.

NIGHT LEG:

Although TAT did not fly at night between Waynoka and Clovis, they built a route to do so, and so we will give it a shot. At about the mid-point is Amarillo, Texas.  Just steer 240 upon leaving Waynoka.

SECOND LEG:

Clovis to Albuquerque, hdg-275, ias-90, alt-7000
Albuquerque to Winslow, hdg-282, ias-90, alt-8000
Winslow to Kingman, hdg-280, ias-90, alt-9000 Weave between mountains. Stay below 10,000.
Kingman to Glendale, hdg-260, ias-90, alt-9000 Weave between mountains. Stay below 10,000.

To fly west to east, use the next airport frequency, and subtract 180 from the heading. For instance, flying east from Kingman to Winslow, use frequency 308, heading 100 at 9000 feet.

THE FORD TRIMOTOR:


 

• Charles Edward Kingsford-Smith

• NAS Rockaway New York Historical Page [by Todd]

• Famous Aviators of Floyd Bennett Field

• Kodiak Alaska Military History Page [by Todd]

• Amelia Earhart

• http://www.ameliaearhart.com/

• http://www.acepilots.com/earhart.html

• McRobertson Air Race - London to Melbourne

• National Air Transport

• United Airlines History [by Todd]

• Boeing Air Transport

• The First Modern Airliners

  Boeing built what generally is considered the first modern passenger airliner, the Boeing 247. It was unveiled in 1933, and United Air Lines promptly bought 60 of them. Based on a low-wing, twin-engine bomber with retractable landing gear built for the military, the 247 accommodated 10 passengers and cruised at 155 miles per hour. Its cabin was insulated, to reduce engine noise levels inside the plane, and it featured such amenities as upholstered seats and a hot water heater to make flying more comfortable to passengers. Eventually, Boeing also gave the 247 variable-pitch propellers, that reduced takeoff distances, increased the rate of climb, and boosted cruising speeds

  Not to be outdone by United, TWA went searching for an alternative to the 247 and eventually found what it wanted from the Douglas Aircraft Company. Its DC-1 incorporated Boeing’s innovations and improved upon many of them. The DC-1 had a more powerful engine and accommodations for two more passengers than did the 247. More importantly, the airframe was designed so that the skin of the aircraft bore most of the stress on the plane during flight. There was no interior skeleton of metal spars, thus giving passengers more room than they had in the 247.</

  The DC-1 also was easier to fly. It was equipped with the first automatic pilot and the first efficient wing flaps, for added lift during takeoff. However, for all its advancements, only one DC-1 was ever built. Douglas decided almost immediately to alter its design, adding 18 inches to its length so it could accommodate two more passengers. The new, longer version was called the DC-2 and it was a big success, but the best was still to come

  The DC-3 Called the plane that changed the world, the DC-3 was the first aircraft to enable airlines to make money carrying passengers. As a result, it quickly became the dominant aircraft in the United States, following its debut in 1936 with American Airlines (which played a key role in its design).

  The DC-3 had 50 percent greater passenger capacity than the DC-2 (21 seats versus 14), yet cost only ten percent more to operate. It also was considered a safer plane, built of an aluminum alloy stronger than materials previously used in aircraft construction. It had more powerful engines (1,000 horsepower versus 710 horsepower for the DC-2), and it could travel coast to coast in only 16 hours - a fast trip for that time.

  Another important improvement was the use of a hydraulic pump to lower and raise the landing gear. This freed pilots from having to crank the gear up and down during takeoffs and landings. For greater passenger comfort, the DC-3 had a noise-deadening plastic insulation, and seats set in rubber to minimize vibrations. It was a fantastically popular airplane, and it helped attract many new travelers to flying.

  Copy of a DC-3 flight-plan > leg one.

  From - To	Flight Description. "Allocated runways and related information may change when flying online or using Real Weather"					Course (Leg)	Distance (Leg)	ETE(leg) HH+MM
  	Dep. Rwy -28	Init. Hdg – 036deg	Init. Alt – 3,000ft		Apt Elev. – 531ft
  Presque Isle, Maine, USA. (KPQI) to Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. (CYYR)	Departure.  To YSL NDB, 404.0. After take off make a right turn to 036deg and commence climb to 3,000ft MSL…………………………………………………………………….   Enroute.  To YVB NDB, 243.0. On station passage YSL turn right to 081deg and commence climb to 7,000ft MSL……………………………………………………..  To GP NDB, 232.0…………………………………………………………………….  To NA NDB, 385.0…………………………………………………………………….  Track to YR NDB, 257.0. When signal is lost from NA maintain Hdg 043deg until YR NDB is received, then continue Hdg for a further five minutes……………….   Approach.  To YR NDB, 257.0. Commence a 500fpm descent to 3,000ft MSL………………  To runway. On station passage YR turn right to Hdg 053deg for two minutes and commence a 400fpm descent to 500ft MSL. Make a standard rate 210deg right turn to runway Hdg 263deg. Visual approach to runway…………………………… Land Goose Bay Rwy 26. Length – 10,841ft. Width – 157ft. Surface – Concrete.   Missed approach. Climb straight ahead to 3,000ft MSL then turn left until heading direct to YR NDB. Repeat approach.					036deg       081deg 073deg 072deg   043deg     043deg     263deg	35.2nm       107.5nm 61.6nm 132.1nm   174.4nm     20.4nm     9.6nm	00+17       00+42 00+24 00+51   01+07     00+09     00+06
  Flight No.196-01-01	Arrival Airport Elev. – 157ft			Estimated totals for this flight>>>			541nm	03+34

   

• 1950's Prop liner flights

  1953:
   
  B377:  NYC-London/Amsterdam/Brussels-Frankfurt, NYC/Boston-Paris-Rome,  NYC-Bermuda, London-Frankfurt-Istanbul-Beirut-Karachi-Delhi-Calcutta-Rangoon-Bangkok- Hong Kong-Tokyo, SFO-HNL-Canton Is.-Fiji-Sydney/Auckland, LAX/SFO-HNL-Wake Is-Tokyo, SFO-HNL-Wake Is-Guam-Manila

  Boeing - 377 page LINK
   
  DC-6B:  NYC-London-Brussels/Amsterdam-Frankfurt (Tourist), NYC-Shannon-Paris-Rome-Zurich (Tourist),  London-Frankfurt-Istanbul-Beirut, NYC-Boston-Azores-Lisbon-Madrid-Barcelona-Nice-Rome, NYC-Azores-Lisbon-Dakar-Monrovia-Accra-Leopoldville-Johannesburg, Tokyo-Hong Kong, NYC-Port of Spain-Georgetown-Rio de Janeiro-Montevideo-Buenos Aires, Panama-Ecuador-Lima-Santiago-Buenos Aires
   
  CV240:  Miami-Havana/Nassau, Miami/San Juan-Cuidad Trujillo DR, services throughout the Carribean from Miami (Camaguey Cuba, Montego Bay & Kingston Jamaica, Port au Prince Haiti, Curacao, Barranquilla Colombia, Maracaibo/Caracas Venezuela)
   
  All other service was handled by Connies, DC-4's, and DC-3's.  Local Germany/Austria service was all DC-4's.
   
  1956:
   
  B377:  All routes listed above, Seattle-Ketchikan-Juneau, Seattle-Portland-HNL,
   
  DC-7C:  Many routes over the Atlantic and the Round the World service (along with 377's), NYC-Bermuda, SFO/LAX-HNL
   
  DC-6B:  NYC-Boston-Shannon-London-Hamburg-Copenhagen-Stockholm-Helsinki, NYC-Azores-Lisbon-Barcelona-Rome-Teheran-Beirut-Karachi-Calcutta-Rangoon -Bangkok-Hong Kong-Tokyo, London-Dusseldorf-Istanbul-Beirut, NYC-Bermuda, NYC-Johannesburg (stops listed above), Seattle-Juneau-Whitehorse-Fairbanks, Miami-Camaguey-Montego Bay-Kingston-Port au Prince-Ciudad Trujillo-San Juan, NYC-Caracas-Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo-Montevideo-Buenos Aires, SFO-LAX-Guatemala City-San Salvador-Panama City-Barranquilla-Maracaibo-Caracas, other Latin American services.
   
   
  CV240:  Still has considerable numbers of Carribean flights, but fewer than 1953.
   
  The rest were flown by Connies, DC-4's, and DC-3's.  Fewer Connie flights (taken over by the DC-6's), but internal European services were still flown by DC-4's.
   

• First Commercial Jet - DeHavilland Comet

  The first scheduled service by a jet airliner commenced with the departure from London's Heathrow airport by DeHavilland DH-106 Comet Mk 1 registered ALYP operated by British Airways (predecessor to BOAC) on 2 May, 1952. 

  Route of flight was: London; Rome; Beirut; Khartoum; Entebbe; Livingstone, to Johannesburg.

• History of the Airlines
• Airline Competition - by Tom Gibson